a museum and more

Monday evening in Sattahip as I write this.  Happy Thanksgiving!  Although I will likely post this on Tuesday in Thailand, so perhaps belated happy Thanksgiving.  Conrad and I are relaxing in bed after dinner and before lights out, so what perfect time to check in.

I was up early as usual, before 6AM, and I headed out to the common room for hellos and coffee.  No one was around, however, and I eventually came back to our part of the villa to blog a while.  Conrad got up, we joined everyone for breakfast, and planned the day.  A boat trip was not to be, alas, due to the high tide and water conditions following the overnight storm.  That being the case, J-J took us to the Sanctuary of Truth Museum.  Resembling a Buddhist temple, it is a glorious structure, all of wood.  Beautifully carved, still in process, a challenge to maintain.  

The funny thing is that it is not actually a temple.  Maybe a place for contemplation, but it’s really a tourist attraction at heart, and we were mandated to wear helmets inside and for Conrad and J-J to don some pants because their shirts were disrespectfully short.

Just the same, though, we had time to wander and take shots after the obligatory guided tour group was done.  Better still, from the time we arrived to the time we finished the tour, skies were turning blue.  A fine morning for seeing it.

We were home by 1:00, in good time for Vanda to have a very satisfying lunch for us.  An assortment of things to fill betel leaf pouches and a pomelo and dried shrimp salad to start.  I think pomelo may be one of my new favourite things.  That and longkong, a very tasty fruit with a nice balance of sweet and sour.  Vanda also had a duck curry, rice, and vegetables saiteed with shrimp.  And wine!  A huge meal, a filling meal.

While we ate lunch, the rain came on along with thunder.  So much for an afternoon dip in the pool.  Conrad and I retested to our space and napped a goodly while instead.

We rejoined the others after 5, darkness coming on.  There was much discussion of dinner options before we settled on pizza at a nearby place in their town.  

Yes, we had non-Thai food.  The people here do like eating other cuisines, after all.  The pizza was fine, the salads were alright, the wine was decent.  It was a fine enough meal, and perhaps a welcome break from all of the SE Asian cuisine before we re-immerse ourselves in the days ahead.

Tomorrow promises more rain at times, and we think exploring markets will be in the works.  A last full day with our lovely hosts, and then on to the fourth stop on this trip.