Quick trip to China

Today I've had my best trip ever! :-) 

I don't even know where to start! :-)

So, I decided that during the 4-day holiday, I'll do something different - other than Ayutthaya. Yes, Ayutthaya is close but I always go there and it's not that I'm getting tired of the old temple ruins (will I ever?) but I wanted to see something different and surely, there are other things as nice as that nearby, as well. So I looked for places within a 100 km circle and that's how I found Suphan Buri and its museum: Dragon Descendants Museum!

(PS: if you live in Thailand or planning to come here before the 31st of December, the museum has reduced prices until the last day of this year. So hurry up! It's REALLY worth it! :-D ).

Needless to say, I was a bit tense during the bus ride because I got the information that it takes approximately only 1 and a half hours to get there. Apparently, the van took 2,5 hours! So from now on, I'll know that I always have to add an extra hour to the vanride if it's compared to cars. :-) So instead of 11, I arrived there at 12 pm but I had an instantly good vibe of the city itself. I took a tuk-tuk (again because of recommendation, but again, I'll know if I go outside of the bus station, just wandering around by myself, I'm sure, I'll find a cheaper motorbike or even a bus! to ride! ;-) ). 

 Anyway, I asked the driver to take me to the museum directly and so he did. After that,a 4-hour long jaw-dropping followed because I was just wondering and wondering! 

In this museum-complex, or rather Chinatown, you can find four different pavilons (two of which you can even climb!), a museum that takes to visit approximately one hour (that is the only drawback, I've experienced: too little time for too much information!), an old market which functions as a noodle-soup restaurant and a market (with gadgets, Chinese sweets, etc.). 

The museum is very interactive and highly recommended for children. We can follow the 5000 years of history of China, try to virtually fish in the Yellow River, re-live the Wars with Great Britain (real smoke comes out of the ship-makeovers!), so I enjoyed myself A LOT! (Maybe not suitable for people who graduated from Chinese major though... but still. :-) ) It was a remarkable experience! We were provided audiophones (on "we" I mean any non-Thai visitor), so we could get the translation in English with the same sound effects and music, too! :-) There is even a room where the statues are moving! So cool! 

Here are some pictures for you to imagine: 

After this museum, I was walking around the market place, before and after this, I've climbed the two pavilons, I've mentioned before and in general, I was enjoying my time. I ate a noodle soup on the Old Market (it was really delicious with the fish balls served in it!), and I was taking countless pictures and drawing the pavillions, as well! Ah, it was a really fantastic day! :-) I don't have words for the trip! I was really happy in the museum, too because I gained a lot of information (and refreshed a ton more) and, moreover, because I didn't know that there was a Chinese settlement in Thailand. It was interesting to learn for example, that the Royal Kingdom of Thailand has welcomed Chinese settlers, as well - as Japanese ones in Ayutthaya! (By the way, the Chinese settler arrived during the Ming Dynasty and they also have a temple in Ayutthaya, too! Could it be the same I visited on the 8th of November? Close to the market?)

I've also learnt that China had only one empress (the others were emperors) and her name was Yancoana. Here is a picture of her: 

I also learnt that until the first Rama of Thailand, Chinese ruled in Thailand, too! And, that was the golden age for the Chinese opera here! Plus, I've also learnt that there was a rebellion against the Chinese emperor (was it against Qubilay Khan or against the Sun Dynasty? I can't remember now) and that's where the mooncakes originate from. People hid messages in the cakes and that's how rebels communicated with each other. 

All in all: wow! There is certainly a lot more to Thailand I want to get to know and a lot I haven't known before! It was an amazing day! 

Outside of the Chinese temple, there were two rows of statues: one for the thinkers and philosophers (I definitely recognized Lao-Ce and Kung-fu-ce), and the other one is probably for the gods (these ones normally had a head of an animal). I was fascinated by this, as well! 

Here are some pictures of the day: 

Suphan Buri city gate - of course in Chinese style!

The first pavilon, I've seen today

Walking out of the museum

Under the last pavilon

Through the Lop Buri river, picture taken from the bus!

And finally, here is a video compilation about the place. I found this beautiful music for it: 

And! My day hasn't finished yet! I went into DK on the way home because I saw tiny cacti in front of the shop. It was so nice! :-) I bought one! :-) Now I have some green in the flat! It's really tiny, only 2-3 cms long. :-) The shop assistant, I was talking to, could speak in English. So after a couple of meters, I have changed my mind and turned back to the shop and asked if she was working the next day. She did, so we agreed to meet up and chat a bit. :-) (I'll have a lot of questions of Saraburi!)

However, this is not the end of the story yet! I was in front of Suk Anan, when I just heard "Hello, hello!" and a girl started to talk to me (one of the girls of the 4 who were sitting together on a motorbike!) She asked me if I needed any help because she saw me entering the store twice so maybe I would need someone to guide me around. We chatted a bit and we exchanged contacts and soon hopefully we'll meet and have a cup of tea and chat, so maybe she could recommend me some nice place in and around Saraburi. :-) 

Today I've had a really happy day! I hope these happy days will keep going! :-)