Weekend - Part II

We had an appointment with our friend Kob on Sunday.  He was to pick us up at 10am and show up King Taksin's Shipyard.  However, just after 9am, the phone went and it was Kob asking if we'd had breakfast.  So he picked us up 10 minutes later and took us to a Vietnamese place near the Catholic Cathedral.  I don't have any photo's of this but it was all so yummy, it won't be the last time we'll go and I'll be able to do the place justice.

The Shipyard is about 15 kilometres out of town and it was terrific.  Of course, we're very spoilt because not only can Kob translate signs but is also very knowledgeable on Thai history.  We were also accompanied by his lovely daughter Bitong (hope i've spelled it right) who managed to put up with all the "old" people and practice her English a little. 

Not a lot of Thai history is conclusive apparently, but this is supposed to be the place where Taksin, the soldier, gathered his troops and headed across the sea and up the river to what is now Bangkok, defeated the Burmese and united Thailand.  He then went on to be King.  The manager of the Shipyard, Joi, provided us with a lot of fascinating facts and he speaks a little English so if you go there without a Thai translator, don't be afraid to ask questions.  The museum also houses a lot of Chinese pottery and I was allowed to hold a spoon that was about 250 years old.

Also on the site is a co-operative weaving project and Bitong was able to try her hand at weaving.  We also bought a handbag each - well what girl can resist shopping?  I really liked some placements but they weren't the finished article.  Guess that means a trip back there.  Everything was very reasonably priced and if you're looking for a memento, I'd recommend it.

 As if all this wasn't exciting enough, we were then taken to another friend of Kob's who owns a shrimp (or as I would call it - prawn) farm.  It was a huge place with lots of pools for the shrimp.  As always Thai hospitality was at the fore and we were given a massive bowl of cooked shrimp to enjoy.  We could only eat a fraction of it and when we left we were given the rest of the bowl - fantastic!  We also left with an invitation to go back at the end of the month to see the harvest.  So there'll be some more details then.

Another fabulous day out - we're so lucky.