On the road again!

Every time we head out on a road trip, Willie's song On the Road Again plays in our head. He must have been a travellin' man. Our 1-month Thai Visa expires on July 30th so we are going to Cambodia and southern Vietnam (after just returning from Nepal on June 30th where we had flown to for 8 days). This will complete our tours of Asia.

Leaving Sea Turtle Phuket on the July 23rd, it was an easy 2-day, 850-km run to Bangkok  on our motorcycle; here we applied for a Vietnam Visa which takes 4 days to process. Not wanting to hang out in busy Bangkok for that long as we had been there several times in the past, we made tracks to the touristy beach City of Pattaya to visit a friend from my hometown and do some sightseeing.

Jeff runs Pattaya Bungy Jump where we each, 1 at a time, took his exhilarating "slingshot" ride. We were strapped into a harness that is attached to long bungy cords that are attached to 2 tall poles. We were pulled back many yards till the bungies were stretched achingly taut and then released. We have never experienced any G-Forces as strong and instant as this thrilling ride as we were shot out like rag dolls then back and forth till we caught our breath.

Watch this video to see my experience.

https://youtu.be/t5M5HzOKhYc

It was suggested that we visit the Nongnooch Tropical Gardens. The Gardens cover a huge area consisting of several different themed sections such as orchids, bonsai, cactus, French, Italian, bird aviary, mini-zoo, etc.

Not real elephants!

Throughout the Gardens, you could walk on the shaded upper level boardwalk for great views of all below or you could stroll at ground level through and up close to the vegetation.

Where French meets Asia

It also had an area of amazing pottery designs...

Potty mouth

An avid car enthusiast, Al Baan Hawk, displays his very impressive car collection in a large room of the Gardens. Jordan, who knows his cars, said there were some there he had never seen or heard of before. But his favourite, the Lotus Super 7, was featured.

KTM: have you ever seen this car before?

The next morning, we went to check out The Sanctuary of Truth. This is an amazing all-wood temple building filled with an intermingling of Buddhist and Hindu statues intricately and labouriously carved beyond belief. We were in awe of the detail and the scope of the work.

The Sanctuary of Truth

Every square inch of intricate detail

The Sanctuary was started in 1981 but it will probably never be finished as new carvings are always being added and the older carvings are constantly being rejuvenated by dozens of artisan workers.

Statuesque appearances

Employing artistry

To watch the artisans at work, click on our short YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/CBMQg8N-cCA

Returning to Bangkok, we picked up our passports with Vietnam Visas and immediately headed east towards Cambodia, stopping along the way at the small town of Chachoengsao to retire our weary bodies before tomorrow's entry (July 29th) to Cambodia where Visas can be obtained at the border crossing.