Rob and Anna's travel adventure

NAKHON PATHOM
Regarded as the oldest city in Thailand, Nakhon Pathom was conquered by Angkor in the early 11th century. The city has the tallest Buddhist monument in the world - gigantic Phra (temple) Pathom Chedi. We took a train from Bangkok to reach the city, and spent the entire day wondering around the temple grounds and monastery. The best part was to be surrounded by the ancient walls later in the afternoon when not a single tour group was in sight. Rob and I were not surprised how many people choose to over-pay and purchase the tour package to come here, instead of coming here like locals do - by train - and have all the flexibility of the day instead of being pushed around like a herd. Anyway, on the way back to Bangkok, a young local girl, sitting opposite of us on the train, wanted to converse with us in English. She was very sweet, and just before getting off the train, the girl presented me with a little gift - a bookmark with depicted Golden Buddha. She wished us a safe journey, and we continued on back to Bangkok.

CHA-AM
While killing some time before heading out back to Bangkok (and taking care of some practical matters), we came up with another daily outing. We wanted to go back to the ocean just one more time, before leaving the Asian continent. After diving around the Similan Islands in the Indian Ocean, and snorkeling with sharks in Palau Perhentian in Malaysia, going to Cha-am beach was like going to a pond. However, it was appealing to get away for a day before heading back to Bangkok's notorious traffic, and dip the toes in warm waters before saying final good-bye to the Gulf of Thailand. So, we did. We picked up a lunch from Phetchaburi - some tasty grilled chicken with spicy chili sauce, but we couldn't get the sticky rice - because our usual vendor family were closed for the day, and every other seller was trying to rip us off. So, on the way to the beach, we made a stop at a local market, and tried to find a Muslim family, who almost always gave us the local price without any shenanigans (thank you!). It worked again. Then, we picked up our favourite Thai Chai from a local 7-11 store, which seems to be on every Thai corner, and we were in business for a picnic on a beach. We found a spot under the tree, and soon after another local Thai family started picnicking next to us. Compared to our lunch selection, theirs was a lot "posher", but they seemed to enjoy watching us consume our food with a great appetite and speed; and soon after we were finished with our chicken-rice combos, they cordially sent us some local fruits along with sincere smiles. It was very sweet of them, and we sent them our 7-11 candies, which their little daughter seemed to thoroughly enjoy. After a few food exchanges and laughs, Rob and I went to take a dip in the ocean (I should probably add that we had only one pair of swim shorts to share, but we figured it out); and it was time for us to head back. After a semi-hard bargaining with a bus conductor, we finally were able to reduce a rip-off bus fare closer to a local one, and we were off on a busy freeway back to our place in Phetchaburi - one of the most memorable places in Thailand, which I will dedicate the next entry soon.