We decided to visit our first couple of shrine and begin our collection of Goshuin, shrine stamps.  Our first shrine was Namba Yasaka Jinja, a favorite of students,  studying for exams.  Maybe it scares away the bad grades?

We purchased the Goshuin book and you receive a page to stick in it or a page of red stamps and black calligraphy at each shrine.   Our book reflects the shrine we visited first!  There we only got a page to glue in.

Our second shrine was a small one with a Buddhist temple there as well,  Hosen-ji Temple,  where we received a beautifully hand written stamped page.  This temple has a moss ridden statue that everyone throws water on top keep it mossy!

our third was just a narrow ally way of Dotonbori, but no stamp there.

Collecting these pages make an interesting souvenir of the many Shrines we will visit on this trip!  I will add more as we visit them.

After our wonderful walk to see the blossoms in the morning,  our visit to Osaka Castle,  and a great buffet lunch at the Doubletree with the view of the Castle,  we were tired!  We had a SCAN appointment for the afternoon.   Senior Citizen Afternoon Nap SCAN.  We are old.   we needed it!

But after a few hours resting we were ready for our evening outing!  We walked just a few blocks to the canal and the Dotonbori section for street food and the lights, sights, and people!

a few nibbles here and there.

Dotonbori is famous for its signs and lights

altogether a fun first full day in Japan!

Just a couple more day time photos

We all arrived last evening and we have it the cherry blossoms just before peak here in Osaka.   Emmett’s cousin Bert arrived first,  then our friend Cheryl Thoreen arrived just a few minutes after our flight and we took the train in together to our hotel in the Namba area of Osaka

Today we picked 2 areas for a walk to see the blossoms.  Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Andover our walk at Osaka Castle

We walked up to the castle but did not do the tour

Even the view from our lunch stop,  the restaurant at the Doubletree had a great view

The rain held off for a lovely walk! 

Today we visit the ancient capital of Siam,  Thailand, Ayutthaya.  It was established in 1350, and was the capital for  400 years.  It was attacked by Burma in 1767 and destroyed totally by fire so the king moved the capital to modern day Bangkok area. We visited the ruins of temples lWat Maha That and Wat Phra Si Sanphet.  The entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

On our way there, we stopped at the summer palace, still a beautiful location about an hour away from the city and the Grand Royal Palace,  however it is no longer used by the current king.  

Our last temple was a reclining Buddha, the largest in Ayutthaya.   Our farewell picture,  our last stop on SE Asia

Our lunch stop was authentic local Thai! Pad Thai with chicken and vegetarian,  and Satay. 

After our visit to the Royal Palace,  we took  the “ferry”, a long tail boat,  across the river and through some of the canals on the other side of the River.   Along these canals are many private homes,  some communities of families who have lived there 200 years.   We passed many wat, or temples also.  

In reality, many homes are very modest

This 200 year old neighborhood had converted some homes to cafes and is very popular to visit

We saw 3 water Monitor lizards,  from tiny, to 2 meters long!

Our ferry ride ended back in the river,  at the Arun temple across from the Royal palace

We had a lunch stop for Pad Thai. a pork dish,  and Mango sticky rice,  my favorite dessert.   with mango smoothie and iced coffee.   The temperature got up to 95° F , so the AC and cool dessert were refreshing

We were sitting close to some university students and I discovered they are studying Medical Technology!  I asked if we could get a picture together!

We finished the day at the Golden mountain.   it is a wat at the top of 344 steps!  Emmett was brave enough to go to the top,  but for me,  at 95° , it was toooo much!

The wat and Buddha and the View from the top

I like the sound of Buddhism better than the sounds of Islam

We are staying in Chinatown at the Grand China Hotel, and after arriving we found our room on the 16th floor was directly below a very loud bar. Thankfully there was another room available on the 11th floor!  Our tours beginning early.  We have 2 full full days of sightseeing in Bangkok, so I will post reach section of sightseeing separately. 

First stop is the Temple for the Grand Royal Palace.   Thailand is a constitutional monarchy since 1932, But had been ruled by 1 dynasty,  1 family of kings for over 200 years.  The queen mother passed away at 93 just 4 months ago.   The country will be in mourning for 1 year so there are pictures of her everywhere.

The Temple, or Wat has been built by the first king, of 10 kings, but especially by the 5th king.

All the gold is gold leaf, covering buildings and statues,  everywhere!  The Emerald Buddha is inside,  actually only about 26″ high and 19″ at the widest,  across his lap.

The 3rd king,  I believe it was,  built this reclining Buddha, 150′ long and 30′ high

After the temple,  we visited the public party of The Royal Palace.  It is not the Residence of the current king but the official home of the royal family.

Even in the Royal palace compound there are temples with Gold Buddha

Before we left the Royal Palace ground we were treated to a 30 minute Thai Massage.  I chose a for massage. Emmett got the whole Thai Massage.

On our way our we caught the changing of the guard!

Our guide recommended a great Michelin recommended restaurant misty a 10 minute walk from our hotel in the old town, The House by Ginger

We have found similarities in Southeast Asia cuisine but differences too.  Thai is more spicy than Cambodian,  which I think is my favorite, especially the dishes made with lemongrass and cashews!  All of them have noodle dishes,  many with curry,  but Thai has more and spicier curry than the others too.  Generally the beef is very tough.

Our tour included a nearby Elephant camp,  however not 1 where you interact by washing the elephants,  but we did get to feed them some snacks! 

They eat about 300kg of grasses a day, but we just gave them a snack of pumpkin,  sugar cane and bananas.  They do seem to enjoy them!  And they recognize the baskets as you walk up the path towards their enclosure!

This big fellow seemed to dance for us

This part of Thailand is only a couple hundred kilometers from Myanmar,  where there is often unrest in their political scene.   Several of the mountain tribes of people have moved down into Thailand for security mostly.   Thailand has encouraged them to settle in a village near Chaing Mai, to show tourists their tribal customs and crafts.  

One of these are the Kayan or Karen people,  where the women wear brass neck rings,  originally as protection against Tiger attacks,  but they have become a symbol of beauty,  the longer the neck. the more beautiful, they say.  Mostly their craft is weaving.

Another tribe with a few homes in this village were the Akha people.   Their craft is in silver work and they have elaborate costumes and head dresses.

These 2 young ladies were very beautiful,  without long necks! 

There were a couple others tribes,  I believe 5 in all,  that live in this village.

If you remember the Clint Eastwood Movie Gran Torino, this people group will sound familiar

We have a travel day before and after our tour in the north of Thailand, But the tour included several very interesting places. Here is the first stop,  the Silver temple in the City.

It is set in the center of the silver artisans section of Chaing Mai. There are still silver artisans working around it in workshops,  demonstration how the temple was covered in these beautiful motifs.

Only men and monks can enter so Emmett took a picture of the interior for me!

Chaing Mai was a walled city in ancient Thailand.   Our hotel is just inside the more of the old city. across the street from part of the wall,  rebuilt about 38 years ago.   there is a small portion of the old city wall still remaining.  

Our lodging,  Hotel M, was adequate but not remarkable.   It does have a nice pool. Our room was on the back side,  facing into the old city. and from our view,  within just a couple blocks,  you can see several temples

We walked past this one after dinner last night and heard the monks chanting