This morning we ate a nutritious breakfast in the hotel of chicken soup, fried eggs and some type of spicy beef stir fry. Even though it wasn't what you might call "typical breakfast fare" it was very tasty.
Next, we went to a variety of different art shops in the city. The first store we visited was a jewelry shop. Thailand has a rich supply of garnets and other fine gems which are mostly mined in the southern part of the country. A tour guide took us through the workshop, where the artisans were cutting precious stones, shaping gold and silver, and engraving pieces of jade.
After the jewelry shop, we went to a marketplace in which there are artists who will paint different prints onto pretty much anything you want: T-shirt, purse, journal, etc... Although many of the different designs were dragons and elephants...
my personal favorite is shown below:
The next place we went was a fancy silk shop.
We got a tour of the workshop where silk is harvested from silk worm cocoons, unravelled, cleaned, woven together in a loom, and printed with a variety of different designs. Peter and I liked the silk robes, but they were too expensive to buy
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The last place we visited was a Lana art workshop. We got to see firsthand the process by which the artists turn strips of bamboo into beautiful decorative pieces by winding them together and coating them with Lacquer, a black sap-like material isolated from Lacquer trees found in northern Thailand. The pieces are then engraved, painted, and coated with gold in beautiful pictures and designs.
Overall, it was a great first day in Thailand and I am excited to finally be here.
We are riding elephants tomorrow so I better get to bed, but I have one final picture for you.
It's comforting to know that my tea didn't just taste good, but has medicinal benefits for the "unsettled" traveler.
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