Impromptu Boat Trip in Krabi

Today was another amazing example of making plans, and then dashing them when a different opportunity comes along.  I do owe this entire adventure to Melissa who decided that she wanted to walk into town to just walk around and explore and asked if I wanted to come along.  

So, we walked...

Then we decided to talk to some of the people getting on the boats and got approached by one of the boat captains.  The weather was nice, and the idea of just cruising around the tributary seemed quite hard to pass up.  So we hopped in the boat with no real clue where we were going, how long we would be gone, etc.  

We started by just cruising up the river, an obvious and beautiful choice.  We took a few photos of the boats passing, some pretentious posed photos, and other needed things.  

Then, the boat captain pulls up to to the cliff-side featured in the above photo.  This is where the adventure started to turn a bit weird, but quite awesome.  While we had no clue what the site was, there were a few obvious advantages to exploring it. It was empty, it was getting dark fast, and there were super creepy stairs leading up to a cave opening.  

I mean, how do you turn down an adventure like this?  So, after stopping long enough to take notice that we could hear bats, and that we did not have any flashlights, we bounded up the slippery and God only knows what made the stairs take on that look covered stairs.  Yeah, I washed my hands when we got back...

The inside is some archaeological site.  It seems like it has been in use since prehistoric times, though being used most recently by the Japanese during the Second World War.  

The inside was amazingly cool, bats were flying all around the ceiling and you could see movement in the darker areas that were lower as well.  The area was somewhat dim, and we used our cell phones for flashlights in places, but talk about an amazing find!

After the trip to the cave, we went over to the nearby boat village and had some fun walking around it as twilight fast faded into night.  

This might be the best aspect of traveling.  I often find I learn more about an area and see more of what should be seen when I am in-between plans.  We had no intention of seeing either one of these places.  To be honest, I don't think we knew either one existed.  As we walked around the village in the early hours of the evening, we both kept saying over and over that this was exactly what we wanted to see, and never knew it.  Sometimes a quick-talking boatman and a casual stroll in the evening can lead to the right adventure.

A Plethora of Penises

Disclaimer: I did not intend to find this awesome phallic oasis today, it is one of those adventures that just happens and needs to be written about.

Second Disclaimer: I had to look up the plural of penis.  In my entire life, I have never had the chance nor need to write the plural of penis, let alone use the word plethora in the same sentence. Great alliterations should never be turned down.

I think that this post needs to start off with how we wound up walking a half a kilometer down a small alley that led us to the Swissotel Nai Lert... 

My friend Eddie and I had been out geocaching all day, along with using our various models of fitbit to try to get in a certain amount of steps.  Suddenly I remembered an item that had been on my "bucket list" for quite some time.  I am not sure where I first caught wind of a penis shrine in Bangkok, but I for some reason the memory came back to me with a vengeance.  We looked up the location, and we were within a few kilometers.  What luck?!?

We decided that we had no choice but to walk the streets of Bangkok in search of... a shrine.  (I know what you thought I was going to write there... but that joke would have been way too easy).

After finally wandering around the quite lovely Swissotel Nai Lert (no, that is not a typo, there really is no "h" in Swissotel), we asked a groundskeeper where the penises were.  Thankfully we had a picture, as I don't think we know or ever wanted to know what the word "penis" is in Thai.  

He quickly escorted us off the grounds and pointed us in the right direction.  As the hotel is quite expensive and features an exclusive resort, I have a feeling that we were just a bit unwelcome wandering around in the guest area looking for wooden phallus objects.  

I can only imagine that TripAdvisor comment:

"Had a great stay at the Swissotel Nai Lert, except for the two random people who were wandering around searching for penises.  Not sure if they were crazy or bored, but it put a damper on my ingesting gin and tonics while sitting by the poolside."

While it was a bit awkward to walk around asking random people to show us where the penises were located, the eventual finding of the shrine was quite worth it. 

Needless to say, if you ever want a good laugh, walk up to someone in another country who speaks another language, while covered in sweat from walking around in a very humid and hot environment, and ask them where the penises are located.  Trust me, quite funny.  

Now, the shrine itself is a dedicated to a Goddess of Fertility and as such, people bring lots, (yes, lots), of different penis offerings.  Now, before you get all Lorena Bobbitt on someone to make yourself more fertile, the offering of a carved wooden, stone, or other artsy phallus is quite acceptable.  Make your choice, but make it wisely. 

Most of the penises, (I still want to say something like penisi, like octopi), are pretty normal, just scaled up or scaled down version of their human counterpart.  However, some look like an art project gone wrong.  I was going to search a version of that on google, but decided against it as I really did not want to see any art projects of this type either beautifully done or gone wrong. Feel free to do that on your own if you so desire.     

Without further teasing and/or gratuitous use of the word penis, here are some of my better penis pictures.   

A great feature for your backyard 

Carved... Wooden...

Must be a connection

I am not going to pretend to explain this one...

I like how this blends into the tree

Be careful climbing the tree

A display case

No clue why they are red...

The ribbon is a nice touch

I like how this shot framed Eddie

Bucket List:

See a penis shrine

I am sure it is going to be hard to top this one, but don't worry my dear readers, I shall try.  Until next time, be careful who you go up to in foreign countries asking to see penises. 

Well, this blog post had more references to male genitalia than I have ever used before in paragraph form.  A quick count has the direct references, not including photos at 16.  The things I do for my readers at home...  

For those of you who find yourself in Bangkok with a few hours to kill, here is the map of where you go to see this lovely feature for yourself.  You know, because you are bored and want to be able to tell this story to your friends as well...

Tao Hong Tai Ceramics Factory

You know it is going to be quite an adventure when your faculty retreat starts off with one important decision - Transformers or Avengers. As a person of arguable discretion and taste, I of course went with Avengers. I am sure that makes perfect sense to everyone reading this blog. Seems like a no-brainer.

So, after hopping on to one of the most fantastically decorated buses in human history, we took off to Richy Fields, more on that in the next blog post though.

The bus looked like a kids arcade threw up in it. Needless to say, it was amazing...

So, after a nauseating few hours of driving in a rather comfortable tour bus that was decorated at a thrift store, we made it to our rest-stop. I am not one for tourist traps, but as someone who really does appreciate ceramics and art, this one was great. The entry-way alone was worth the price of admissions. Also, it was free to get in.

Plus, as a fan of dogs, who does not love a 6 foot tall dog made of fired clay?

I am not sure if they were using holes to save clay or if it was supposed to be a dalmatian, but either way it was very cool.

There also seemed to be quite the obsession with clay sheep. Not sure why, but apparently sheep are quite fun to make and decorate using a kiln. Who knew? 

Suffice it to say, I knew I had to spend a tiny bit of money and secure a sheep of some kind for my wife. 

Despite the fact that the grounds had no noticable order and the "display" of products was a bit... Scattered, it was all very beautiful. 

Of course, for anyone who knows my wife, I had to buy something - so I purchased this awesome little sheep for an overcharged prices of 100฿. 

Super cute, right? 

Of course, this was an amazing trip and I loved seeing this art studio and factory in action.