gardens

“I” is for Impressive (Thailand)

Posted on by Debbie

I honestly didn’t think that anything could be as impressive as the day we had experienced in Bangkok,  but our second day, while docked in Leam Chebang, was equally as enjoyable.   The ship had overnighted and we were scheduled to take a private tour to the nearby town of Pattaya.  This town has a reputation for beaches and the bawdy,  so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect today.  Most people come to Pattaya for the nightlife and we were due to depart at 4pm, so we would see none of that.  With its close proximity to Leam Chebang, it is an easy location to get to, so we were off the ship by 8am.  Unfortunately traffic was very congested and the 20 minute journey took about an hour and a half. With our already shortened day in port, we knew it would be a whirlwind of the three activities on the schedule for the day,

Suan Nongnooch Botanical Gardens

We would begin the day at Nong Nooch Botanical Gardens.  Anyone who knows me, knows that flowers are my passion (right up there with photography).   Combine these two things and it creates a time management problem as I while away the hours!  Because we are on tour, I must stay on task.

The Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden (Suan Nong Nooch) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Thailand. It is one of the largest tropical gardens and the world’s largest botanical garden.

The Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden (Suan Nong Nooch) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Thailand. It is one of the largest tropical gardens and the world’s largest botanical garden.There are over 20,000 tropical trees, collected from 50 countries around the world. The most distinctive flower collection consists of more than 600 species of orchids.

The land which it occupies was originally bought for the cultivation of an orchard. The initial goal was to grow mangoes, coconuts, oranges and other Thai fruits there. After a trip abroad, the owner of the land, after whom the Nong Nooch Pattaya garden was named, decided to plant a tropical flower garden instead of an orchard.

 

Later, having realized how attractive this place could become for tourists, it was fully equipped for a variety of interests. The complex is huge, covering over 500 acres! Besides the massive Botanic Gardens, you can find a swimming pool, restaurants, a banquet hall and hotels.  There is a zoo of sorts, an elephant arena and a performance hall.  There is even  a hall featuring a car collection!  Each section has its own entrance fee and it is a reasonable day out for families, making the site a popular tourist destination.

The garden was opened to the public in 1980 and is now run by the founder’s son. Each areas is divided into specialized “gardens”.  By my count there were at least 14.  We were so limited on time, we hopped aboard a shuttle, to be able to see most of what the grounds offered, which meant I couldn’t get up close and personal with the plants.  This was probably good since there are 8 of us in the group. It also meant views were limited based on the side of the shuttle you had chosen.

I don’t want to do this beautiful space any disservice by saying it is also an amusement park.   There aren’t rides per say (except for the elephant rides)  but there are themed areas such as the massive Dinosaur Garden.

Seeking respite from the 90+ degree heat, we moved to a massive, enclosed auditorium, which was blissfully air conditioned.  Here, we would be treated to the most spectacular stage presentation of traditional Thai cultural performances. The 45 minute performance included traditional and more modern dances which rivaled Las Vegas. A little Thai martial art was also thrown in for our entertainment and then the elephants were brought in for a reenactment of what is called the elephant fight (the riders battle with long poles).  The entire show had me spellbound.

We still weren’t done at Na Nooch.  Next we were taken to a big arena to see the elephants perform.  This is a circus-like environment where the elephants pose for pictures, can be fed, play basketball, soccer, bowl and paint.  They are extremely well trained but I would have preferred time at the floating market, which we then had to cut from our schedule.  My fellow passengers might have preferred if I hadn’t smelled like an elephant the rest of the day, after playing with them!

 

I was holding out hope that we could still have some time at our final destination, the Sanctuary of Truth, which would blow our socks off.  I had researched this amazing place but we were only given 30 minutes at the location, which translated to about 15 by the time we actually got to the structure.

Sanctuary of Truth (UNESCO)

The Sanctuary of Truth is another of the most popular places to visit in Pattaya.

While many people refer to it as a temple, it is actually a privately owned museum. The distinctive 105-metre structure, built on the headland near Wongamat Beach, was visuaalized by a businessman to celebrate Thai craftsmanship and it certainly does!

The intricate structure is built completely out of wood. The pieces are held together using different techniques such as lap joints, dove tails, and large wooden pins.  No nails have ever been used.

Each elaborate carving tells the stories of Thai mythology and philosophy. It’s a tribute to traditional craftsmanship and spiritual values.  Talented craftsman work daily to repair the building and/or to add to the structure.  Since it is a working construction zone, visitors are required to wear hard hats.

We didn’t have enough time to partake but beyond the temple, there are boat rides, cultural shows, and scenic viewpoints of the coastline.

On our last day in Thailand, we reflect on all we have experienced in this country and conclude the memories have been absolutely incredible!

 

 

 

 

“C” is for Chinese Gardens (Singapore)

Posted on by Debbie

When we travel plan, we make copious lists.  We write out the places we want to see, the things we want to do, what and where to eat, how to get there etc.  Mostly it is me who is delving into every resource I can find…hence why these trips take a year to plan!  However, it was the mister who located today’s adventure.   Our goal was to cover gardens today.  We would also be revisiting the Bay of Gardens later in the afternoon.  It is a place  everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.  I will cover that part in a different post.

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Singapore is like every city:  big, loud and filled with people.  After our long journey, we needed a respite before delving into it all.  Following a great “Western” style breakfast,outside on the patio at the hotel, we set off to find the sanctuary of green space known as “Chinese Gardens”.  Alan had found this place like he does so many of our other special locations, simply by giving me a photo off the internet and a mission to track down what it was called and how to get to it.  This is how we came to plan our first activity in Singapore.

We loaded the handy backpack we take on most of our adventures.  Sunscreen check, umbrellas and raincoats (based on our last experience here) check, sunglasses and good walking shoes, check.  As the temperature soared to about 95F by noon, we soon remembered we should also carry water.  We won’t forget that again!

We had picked our hotel because it was close to the subway station..  The walk to the subway station is about 10 minutes from our hotel.  Along the way we discovered a Chinese temple, the first of our unplanned detours for today.

Chinese Temple near our hotel

Getting to the Chinese Gardens would test our traveler’s skills.  It was the first time we had used the Mass Rail Transport system (MRT), which is as easy as tapping a credit card at the entry and exit points of your desired destinations.  There are about 5 rail lines but all are color coded and the trains run every 5 minutes. Everything is presented in English here, so it is pretty straight forward.

 

One station change and a short subway ride later,  we got off  at the Chinese Garden depot.  We knew we were in the correct place because there was a giant, 7 story. cloud piercing pagoda across from the station. As planned, the Chinese Gardens were the perfect place to begin our day.  With Singapore being situated just 85 miles from the equator, the morning weather was very comfortable 80 degrees but climbed quickly to about 95F! We will remember to bring our water bottles tomorrow.

Here was the quiet space we craved, a place we could wander, while enjoying the wildlife and nature.  Best of all, the gardens and monuments were free to enter!  We love free things since we only carry the equivalent of $50 per day in local currency,  which is meant to cover all the small expenses such as transportation, tips,  market purchases, coffee etc.  We would later spend $12 on a cup of ice cream!

There was so much to see at the gardens, before we knew it, a couple hours had passed.  We finished our time there with a $12 ice cream.  The skies opened up as we made our way back to the MRT station.  We were ready with our umbrellas.

 

We spent the remainder of our 10 hour day in the Gardens by the Bay, where we would explore the Cloud Forest, Floral Fantasy and end the evening by laying on our backs under the metal trees, to watch  the famous Garden Rhapsody Light & Sound Show.  We are surprisingly energetic for our first day in Singapore!  We will see how our feet recover.  I estimate we walked 10 miles today. One of us drew blood, the other had her socks meld to her toenails after melting  my nail polish.