DAY EIGHT: TALAD THAI & AG MUSEUM

We traveled to Pthumtanee province to visit Talad Thai, the biggest wholesale market in Thailand. It was unbelievably big -- over 200 acres -- and is open 24 hours a day. It is all open air, typically with a roof only. We received a map (it's that big) illustrating how it is split up into categories such as flowers, fruits, seafood, meat, vegetables, etc.

We walked through a great deal of the market with a fantastic tour guide. I took so many photos of all the strange fruits, vegetables, and seafood options! We walked through the meat market, but I could hardly stomach it. The Thais utilize most every part of animals, which I really appreciate, but viewing pigs' heads, intestines, etc. was waaaaay too much for me.

We ate lunch after that. It's ocurred to me that I never see the names of restaurants here. Maybe it's cause they're written in Thai characters or perhaps it is not common to have names; nevertheless, I'll start checking more intently.

I should mention a new Thai friend joined us today -- his name is Naan. Sue get a lot of help from her friends. They do so much for us! Serve us food, make sure we don't get hit by cars, translate for us, etc. And they are so much fun! Always laughing.

After lunch we visited The Golden Jubilee Museum of Agriculture. It's so exciting to see a culture that appreciates agriculture so much. The King had a huge part to do with this. He was enrolled on June 9, 1946 making him the longest-reigning monarch in history. To make a long story short, when he was enrolled he toured all over the country visiting people of all economic classes. He immediately saw that there was a need to improve agriculture. He greatly increased the food security of this country by helping increase rain through some mind blowing work with clouds, introducing biogas, and other technologies.

The museum also featured homes from all different regions and time periods in Thailand which I thought was really cool. The most modern home is considered an "earth home" and is made of cob. It is really energy efficient. It's something Cody and I have actually been researching recently, so it was really cool to see that they're even realizing the awesome potential of these homes on the other side of the world!

After that we had a whirlwind of activity. Going to the mall for a quick trip to the phone store turned into a celebration for Ghan's birthday! We took the subway, then the airtram, then a boat to get to a restaurant to meet Ghan, Ahn, Naan, and his girlfriend. Public transit was literally packed. I have never touched so many people I didn't know. It was pretty uncomfortable. When we were on the airtram, we could see that the traffic below was completely stopped.

Bangkok metropolis holds 8.3 million people (2010 consensus) while greater Bangkok was estimated to have about 14.5 million people which ranks at about the 15th biggest city in the world according to worldatlas.com. Of coure this data could be completely unreliable, but it still gives you an idea of how big it is here!

It was such a long day, but a great one to say the least as they all are. The other girls went out that night with the Thais to continue the birthday celebration, but I stayed back at the hotel to rest up and try to beat the cold I had. Afterall, we never slow down here in Thailand!