N 61 Samut Songkhram

We took our leave when it was time for the" hsoon" offering ceremony and hired another taxi to go to Samut Songkhram. As it was new year the driver agreed to go by meter , when at other times he would ask for more.

    

This part of the journey is longer than the first part, but when we reach Samut Songkhram which is also called Ampawa it was still early , about 11.  But there were already many people and cars there, and many shops selling souvenirs and foods. We saw water ahead of us and headed towards there and arrived at a river’s bank. We bought tickets for a boat ride which said they would take us to 5 temples which will last 2 hours.

      

 And so we started our ride and before long reached the first temple on the bank of the river. Before alighting from the boat somebody said we have 15 minutes to visit the temple and have to come back to the boat after that, The first one is a beautiful temple and needless to say built in Thai style. There are some food shops in the ground and I noticed one particular , though not a strange food. It is half fried quail eggs and they are sold in every temple ground.  I have never seen fried quail eggs in our country  but only boiled ones.. What we did at the temple were taking photos, strolling around, put some money in donation boxes and then back onto our boats.

   

  I didn’t see many foreign tourists at these temples. Nearly all are locals enjoying the new year holidays. One Thai woman was friendly and she explained to us what we should know about the trip in English. I asked her what the name of the river is and she told us it is called Mae Klong River and flows towards Malaysia. I asked her if she has been to Myanmar and she replied “ No, I don,t have time to travel “ So she would be always busy ( with business ) I guessed.

   

  When we had finished our temple visits I heaved a sigh of relief as it had been a little difficult to get on and off the boat with my walking stick but I also had enjoyed the trip greatly.

 When we came back onto the bank it was past  time for lunch and we found a place to eat under a bridge. After lunch we enquired about how to get back to Bangkok and we came to know that there is a mini bus service to Bangkok which costs 80 bahts for each person. We bought tickets and fortunately didn’t have to wait  long for take off. The ride took about nearly 3 hours but we reached the bus station at Victory Monument in good time.

N 60      Samut Sakon

    

   

  This time I stayed in Bangkok for one whole week. After visiting the hospital for one and a half day for medical checkups, I didn’t want to go shopping all the time as it was so tiring. I tried to contact Sue Wan, someone I know, who would always send her friends to visit nice places and post nice photos on Facebook but unfortunately, I could not call her. U Sai called a number in Samut Sakon he got before coming to Thailand and had contact with people from  hometown. They said that they were going to offer ‘hsoon’ to ‘Sanghas’ the next day and invited us to visit their house. So I made the decision to accept their invitation and go there and then continue to Samut Songkhram where the guide book said there is  a floating market  and about 70 km away  with  Samut Sakon in between.

     

The next day we hired a taxi to Samut Sakon. I have heard about this name as many Burmese people  come to work as workers in the fishery business (and sometimes get into troubles with immigration or they would be trafficked). It is also called ‘Mahachai’ and it is about one hour drive from Bangkok. To locate the place we have to give our host’s no. to the driver (which was surprisingly a woman as female drivers were unusual in Yangon) who had to communicate with them in Thai and so they guided her to their place.

    

  We reached their place about 9AM. The people from hometown are Sai Tun Hla and his wife Nang Pwe. He had been living in Thailand for a long time but his wife and children had come to join him only a few years ago. He said that he teaches the Shan and Burmese people who come to work in Thailand Thai language. The children including their relatives also have their own jobs. They said that they are staying by permits. .

      

When we went upstairs to their small living room we saw many people sitting on the floor. It is still early for the ‘sanghas’ to come. So we sit in their living room and enjoyed the food they had prepared for us. They treated us prawn tempura, boiled squid, steamed pork wrapped in banana leaves, pet toke kyaw, nam pit and sour soup, (so it was mostly Shan food)

    

  While eating we talked with them  and also the men who had gathered there who are mostly young men. U Sai advised them to work deligently, save money and go back to their own country.I asked Sai Tun Hla if there are problems about working there and he said yes there are and sometimes he has to help them. Surely for people working in an alien land lives will not be a bed of roses.