Less than 10 minutes from where we are staying is the self titled “Amazon of Thailand” a waterway that winds through a rats nest maze of tangled roots dangling from giant trees. We hired a long tail boat driver who loudly drove us into this “wilderness”. He was quicker than us to spot large snakes sleeping on branches overhanging the waterway. He explained they sleep on these overhanging branches to quickly feel any movement of predators crawling out from the center of the tree.
Next up was a massage – normally massage businesses are a dime a dozen – especially in well visited towns such as this one and we usually pop into one of these small places for an hour foot massage. Today instead, we visited a small prison where all women prisoners were giving massages – they are in prison for mostly drug related offenses.
Dinner was as much fresh seafood as we could eat – we stopped by the local market and then later gorged ourselves on crab, prawns, snails, and the most amazing squid I’ve ever had. Most squid is not served fresh, it is rubbery, tasteless – bland and boring. This squid was cooked to perfection, soft and flavorful and full of black ink. We ate everything with our hands and by the end of the meal my hands were so black, they looked like I had been handling coal all day!
To cap off a activity filled day we drove out at night Rommanee Hot Springs – with one pool featuring the hottest water I have ever experienced – at a 145 degrees Fahrenheit or 63 Celsius – the “cold” pools start our around 100 degrees F or 40 Celsius) – coupled with the warm humid ambient air and temperatures, this is really a hot experience!
Thailand’s cuisine is becoming more widespread and appreciated. Grasshoppers, worms and cockroaches were used for centuries in the preparation of the most typical dishes of Thailand.
Yes, and it would be nice if more bugs made there way into other cuisines around the world! It is a cheap source of protein!