December 30, 2024
JAMBELI, ECUADOR - CHRISTMAS EVE 2024
How lucky am I to spend the afternoon with these 2 gorgeous men?!?! We just wanted a relaxing day in the sun. Jambeli is a little island off the Port through mangrove forest, only accessible via water taxis. We got a private ride, which took around 25 minutes, each way. We practically had the island to ourselves. Besides the locals we seemed to be the only ones strolling around. We walked the beach and promenade and just moseyed around chatting. Gary took a nap in a hammock in the shade, while Scott and I went for a dip in the ocean. We bought out the entire stock ( all 3 ) of the local Hammock Maker, on our way back to the dock. Made him very happy!
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Wat Bang Kung Temple was a quick stop along the way to the Train Markets . What makes this unique is the Temple is completely enclosed by roots of four giant trees (a banyan, bodhi and others). From the outside, it looks like nature has swallowed the building. Inside the chapel is a golden Buddha image, that locals still visit to pray. It was quite active during our short visit there. The Temple dates back over 250 years and survived the Burmese invasion.
We picked Sunday, hoping for less traffic, to explore two famous Markets. First we traveled about 1.5 hours to the Floating Markets at Damnoen Saduak . We hired a driver with a van for the day, to take the group of us. Below is some of the interesting architecture along the way.
I was looking for a neighborhood to walk around in Bangkok , hoping to escape all the thousands of people and shady sex elements, that were all over the area ( Nana, Sukhumvit ), unfortunately where we booked our hotel, for supposed transit connivence. Shame on me for trusting others recommendations and not doing more research on my own, lesson learned! Thankfully Talad or Talat Noi provided that escape for me, for one night. Sadly we didn't make it there till after sunset, when a lot was closed. But I still enjoyed the quiet and chatting with Sherrie, as we explored the neighborhood's knooks and crannies.