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  Monday 21st of December 2015 and it is time to go to see the Red Lotus Sea (although most of the flowers are more pink or crimson than they are red) is about 45km south east from the Udon Thani ring road, at Lake Nong Han on the banks of Ban Diam, in the Kumphawadpi Reserve. I had have no more than 3 hours of sleep when they called me at 5 thirty. I was tired yesterday, but it was impossible to fall asleep. Tossin' and turnin' in bed for hours.  I met my friend in the restaurant at 6 o'clock and I was kind of impressed by the breakfast  buffet. There was plenty to choose from. I was surprised, real bread. OK, the butter was tasteless.
There was an egg station for whatever kind of eggs you wanted to have for breakfast. There was more than enough of Thai food so my friend was happy. Bacon and home fried potato, not the fries bull shit. And the bacon was very good, not the “sticks” you get served at many places. OK, I missed a tea pot, but the waitress filled up four cups for me so  I was OK. So I rate the  breakfast as a 4 star breakfast. Some items missing, but they are not easily available outside Skåne, so not available in Thailand.
I break out in cold sweat just thinking about how I will look coming back to Bangkok if they had a Marina Plaza breakfast. My friend ate like there was no tomorrow, but I kept a low profile as usually. No need to make a tit out of myself when there are beautiful Waitresses around. We went out to meet our driver and we left Centura Hotel a few minutes after 6 thirty bound for the Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง some 30 to 45 minutes away. We hired the same car that took us  from the airport to the hotel yesterday. He charged us 1000 Baht for the trip. He will wait for us and then bring us back.
Yeah, we were told later on that it was very expensive.  - OH! THAT IS TOO EXPENSIVE!!
My friend shat his pants and I had to calm him down. - Of course they think it is expensive, they are used to go on the back of a pick-up truck for a few hundred Baht. But I'm here to enjoy myself. There are hard core “shoestringers” going by bus to save a few Baht. I liked the car when we drove from the airport. A brand new car, friendly driver so the choice was quite simple. Everything  arranged and we have “local” knowledge with  us and that can come in handy.
And actually, as Udon Thani is as fun as watching paint dry we had decided to hire our car and driver for the full day. Yeah, we had used up everything “fun” to do yesterday with the walk in the park and the railway station. So we needed something else to do and a car it was. 2200 Baht including everything so we can go where ever we want when we are ready here at the Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง. Yeah, we're on holiday, I'm pretty sure we could have had a smaller and cheaper car. But we like to sit proper while on the roads.   We got out of the car and we went to see where to buy the tickets. They had three different tickets with three different prices:  • 200 Baht - A canoe, well, you will be comfortable if you're used to sit on the floor Japanese style. Or if you were Steven Segal some 30 years ago
• 300 Baht - 40 minutes in a boat in which you could sit kind of comfortable (at least the first 5 minutes of the cruise) • 500 Baht - 90 minutes in a boat in which you could sit kind of comfortable (at least the first 5 minutes of the cruise) And I was snooping around looking for a “Thai” price list. But it seemed to be the same price. We paid 500 Baht for a 90 minutes tour and we got on board and we were soon off to see the wonders of Udon Thani. Our boat, well, it was comfortable for a few minutes. It was just a wee bit better than to sit in the canoe.   We arrive to Red Lotus Marina
 Plenty boats at Red Lotus Marina
 Time to take off to explore the Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง
 The push us out on the Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง
 The push us out on the Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง
 Leaving the Red Lotus Marina
                       
OK, we had seen the red lotus flowers after about 30 minutes and, well, I had thought it would be  like a full lake of them. I guess it like the Sphinx trick in Egypt. The sphinx looks very big on all the pictures with the pyramid behind. In reality, the sphinx is a disappointment, very small.
I think they use the same technique here. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed myself. You had seen the flowers after a few minutes. But here was an amazing amount of different birds and my interest was soon turning from the flowers to the birds. We're in Thailand and the first 20 minutes was kind of terrible. They have loudspeakers at the  ticket office blasting over the lake. We had an electric guitar blasting over the lake, if it had been Ted Nugent I would not have minded so much.
Then there was a drum banging over the lake. It was annoying. And the chatter from the boats, I was surrounded by La Linea all over  again. Why can't we just be quiet and enjoy the birds and nature?
I asked our Captain to park us in the flowers and turn off the engine. Yeah, just to sit there African style until the birds are used to us.  Impossible, as soon as he had stopped the engine he went on and on.
- Is it possible to shut the foock up? I was soon realising that I needed to practice with my camera before taking off for my Tiger Safari in India. I had forgotten all the buttons etc. so a refresher is necessary.  Maybe practice taking pictures of the pigeons in the Benjasiri Park back home in Bangkok.
When the tiger attack there is no time to fumble around with the camera. Anyway, I was soon to find out why there were two different tickets. 40 and 90 minutes. 40 minutes is more than enough to see the lotus flowers. 90 minutes, the tour took us to a temple on a small  island in the middle of the lake.
It was a pointless tour, stopping at a temple with the garbage laying around. I did not even bother getting out of the boat. My friend went ashore for a few minutes. I was like what the duck is this? I'm not here to see a garbage dump, bring us back to the birds and the red flowers. Africa and even at Donsol, Philippines, and there were no garbage around because they lived from the  tourists coming to see the beautiful nature. But Thailand, garbage everywhere and well, what to say?
Well, I say it is sad that we're killing ourselves. Plastic is not the worst, oil, solvents and chemical, straight out in the sewer. We're are for sure looking at a bright future.
No respect for nothing
My friend was ashore for a few minutes and I was happy when we could leave, going back to the flowers and birds. Our boat was not, well, it was not a speed boat so it took us some time to get  back to the area with the red lotus flowers. They only grow in a small part of the lake, around the Red Lotus Marina. The temple island part of the lake only have boredom to offer.
OK, on the way back we stopped to talk with a fisherman catching the smallest fishes I had ever seen. What are they  doing with this small fishes? Looks to be exactly zero meat. And the fishing net was almost  empty so there was not much food to bring home.
My friend asked the fisherman if he could stay on the bottom. The fisherman took a bamboo stick and it was about 2 meters or more of water here. The lake is very shallow so 2 meter is maybe how deep the deepest parts is. We were soon on our way again and now we approached the area with the birds and  flowers and we started to see many birds again. Beautiful birds all over the place.
I was in the boat watching all the birds pondering an idea I got. I will check out if there is any bird watching clubs in Bangkok. Here are so many beautiful birds and it would be nice to go around Thailand looking for birds with some “experts” Or as they call it, an ornithologist                         We spot a Kingfisher
 We spot a Kingfisher
 We spot a Kingfisher
 We spot a Kingfisher
We left the fisherman behind and my friend spotted a Kingfisher and I asked our Captain to turn  around. My friend told us to be quiet and we sneaked back to see the Kingfisher. We  were lucky and we could study the Kingfisher for a minute or two before the Kingfisher left.
We left and I was soon pointing to the shore line. There were a group of blue birds and we went over to check it out. Our Captain took us through a shrimp farm as I understood it. 
There were 3 of the light and dark blue birds. And they were beautiful to see walking around looking for food. The blue bird reminded me a wee bit about the bush chicken I saw in Africa. 
We stayed for a few minutes before we left the blue birds behind continuing back towards the Red Lotus Marina. We were soon seeing a Kingfisher over the lake and she was looking for fish in the typical Kingfisher way. Easy to recognise a Kingfisher looking for fish. Was it the same Kingfisher we had seen before, maybe? But I count it as the second Kingfisher sightings at the Red Lotus Sea. Captain stopped the engine and we slide by under the Kingfisher and I got a few pictures before we continued.  Grey-headed Swamphen
 Grey-headed Swamphen
 Kingfisher looking for fish to eat
 Kingfisher looking for fish to eat
 Kingfisher looking for fish to eat
 Kingfisher looking for fish to eat
 Kingfisher looking for fish to eat
 Javan Pond Heron
 Javan Pond Heron
 Javan Pond Heron
 Great Egret / Great White Heron at Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง in Udon Thani
 Great Egret / Great White Heron at Red Lotus Sea/ ทะเลบัวแดง in Udon Thani
 Purple Heron
 Purple Heron
 Purple Heron
 Purple Heron
 Purple Heron
 Pheasant-tailed Jacana
One trip with the boat is more than enough for the lotus flower. But all the birds, require more than one trip. We told the Captain that we would like to add a 300 Baht tour. 300 Baht gives us  40 minutes and we will never have to see the temple or the garbage on the temple island.
But a tour to see more of the birds was something we really wished to do. We saw the second or third Kingfisher. We saw a green and blue spot flying over the lake. Too far away and too quick to take any pictures. We saw a stork hiding in the grass and  plenty Herons. We saw white Herons and a purple Heron.
So yes, I recommend you to take two short tours instead of wasting the time at the temple island. But to sit down in the boat, it was not very comfortable. I got cramp in my leg and that was just when I spotted the purple Heron with a big fish in the beak. Not easy to take pictures with cramp in my leg. But I really wanted the pictures so I tried not to think about the pain. But it was impossible and many pictures turned out, well, not as good as I had been hoping for. So the cramp destroyed some of the beautiful experience we had at the Red Lotus Sea. But my friend and I was very happy with the tour.                Back at the Red Lotus Marina
 A boat is coming back to Red Lotus Marina
 นักผจญภัย
We were back at the Red Lotus Marina, no more music. Now there were 2guys taking turn on a microphone. Giving directions to the boats and handing our totally pointless information. Wailing over the lake and I lost it. I'm sorry to say, but a beautiful morning on the lake and now these two twats destroying the whole experience. - Is it possible for you two to shut the duck up? OH! It was nice when it was silent. We got our pictures they had taken when we boarded the boat. 150 Baht each and I usually don't buy pictures like this, but as I had my web page in mind I bought a picture. My friend he also wanted a picture so the made big business. We said good bye and we left to go for our car. We had put about 7 meters between us and the ticket office behind us when they started with the microphone again. I'll be darned! And I was soon in for a shock. I had expected the noise to decrease the  further away we came for the ticket office. I was soon to discover that they had loud speakers in the trees all around the area.
Jeez, well, we have seen the place and I will not come back again. At least not until they stop with the noise.
It had been a beautiful morning, but I hope I can find a bird watching club so I can go around Thailand looking at beautiful birds in silence. We returned to our hotel for lunch. My friend managed to get a date with the Waitress before we left to look at some sheep and some 4 wheeled off road vehicles. My friend had found the place on the internet using his phone. He looked up every bird we saw in the lake and we learned a whole lot of things about the birds. But we could not find this place and we asked around out on the country side. We were directed back out on the highway. We saw a sign 1.5km and then after 2km we came to a sign saying 1 km to PC Cowboy Town. Suddenly there was a sign saying 3 KM turning right leaving the high way. We came to a place,  well, they had a little bit of everything to do there. Among them horse riding.
We took off, first stop at the sheep. The Driver told me that we had arrived to the sheep station. - YAWN!! 
Get me right here, I understand that sheep can be exciting if you have lived in Bangkok the whole life, or for small children. But I have, well, almost grew up on a sheep  farm. So I stay in the cart until we reach the horse riding station. The other passengers got enough of the sheep after 5 to 10 minutes and we continued towards the horses. We passed an area with different buffaloes before we reached the horse riding station.
My friend, 3 years Thai champion in Muay Thai, then he was Thai champion in normal boxing for 2  years. Now he pull a rabbit out of the hat and I lost my foothold. He was scared of  horses, what the duck is this!!
I told him that I used to do this as a child, or 500 kg ago. Now I cannot do it any more out of respect for the horse. I looked at the guy running the horses and he just chook his head.  Not even to think about that I should get up on one of the horses. Well, we returned to the gate and our waiting driver. And I was pestering my friend all the way.
We were back at the hotel and I was really struggling to stay awake, 3 hours sleep last night and now my friend wanted me to join him for his date. No way! I will go to bed as we will have to wake up early tomorrow to catch our flight back to Bangkok. My friend was disappointed, but I can imagine how disappointed the girl will be when I'm not showing up! Never a dull moment in Bangkok
 Today's Coconut Bangkok - HERE
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 22nd of December 2015 and, well, it was not that hard to get out of bed when they called me at 6 thirty. I called my friend to wake him up in room 615. Better to make sure he gets up, I don't know what time he was back from his date yesterday. We don't want to miss the flight back to Bangkok.
We left our room at 7 and we had a last breakfast in Udon Thani. Our driver was waiting for us at 7 thirty and we took off towards Udon Thani International Airport when we had checked out.
We were soon at Udon Thani International Airport and we said good bye to our driver and we went to check in at Thai Airways desk. Thai Smile flight WE 003 was not full so my friend got a seat  at the window and I was sitting in the aisle with an empty seat between us.
So we were happy when we left Thai Smiles check-in counter. I had got a voucher for 80 Baht to be used at the departure hall. I have my Thai Airway Gold card and they don't have any lounge in Udon Thani. So I got 80 Baht to spend in the departure hall. But first we had to take the escalator up to the second floor and the security check. There was a shop before the security check and we spend my voucher there, 2 sandwiches and we had wasted all of the 80 Baht. Security check and we were in the departure hall. Nice seats and a window so we could see the tarmac. But no sign of any airplanes. Well, there was a Thai Lion flight taking off. So we had to wait for the Thai Smile to arrive, and it should be soon as boarding time was in 15 minutes.  Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile check-in at Udon Thani International Airport
 Udon Thani International Airport
 Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Lion flight leaving Udon Thani International Airport
 Departure hall at Udon Thani International Airport
  Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Thai Smile flight WE 004 arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Air Asia arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Air Asia arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Air Asia arriving to Udon Thani International Airport
 Ready to board Thai Smile flight WE 003 to Bangkok
Thai Smile flight WE 003 from Udon Thani to Bangkok
Thai Smile, I have for sure not lost any weight and my time on board m/t Ternvag was a disaster. But there are plenty space in my seat, same as when we were flying to Udon Thani on flight WE 004. And the biggest surprise, it is an Airbus. I usually find Boeing much more comfortable. And I cannot remember ever reading about a Boeing involved in a crash. Might be my imagination, but it seems like it is always an Airbus involved in crashes. A nice flight and as we didn't check in any luggage we were soon in a taxi on the way back home. OK, worst airplane disaster was two Boeing 474 at Las Palmas, or if it was another one of the Spanish islands. But that was an Pilot error after waiting for the fog to clear and the KLM pilot brings a fully loaded 474 out on the runway when another “fully loaded” Jumbo Jet lands at the same runway. Yeah, you don't need much of an imagination to realise how that ended. Back home and I started to look for bird watching clubs in Thailand. I found a company arranging  bird watching tours around Thailand.
Have a look at their web page, www.thailandbirdwatching.com There are some very beautiful birds in Thailand. So I might have a closer look in to this when I have the time. My friend also told me about some forest and mountain where there is plenty of the Great Hornbills. So this caught my immediate interest. The Great Hornbill is a very beautiful bird and I still remember when we were in Khao Yai and we spotted one of the Great Hornbills The Great Hornbill in Khao Yai National Park
Not my proudest bird watching moment, but it was fun
My friend wanted to meet in the evening, well, I have given up drinking beer. But it is Christmas  so in the spirit of the season.
I called my friend when I was in the taxi and he explained the way for the driver. I think I would have found the way to his house, but it was easier to have the driver to know the way and I can relax in the back seat. Well, the driver didn't find the place and when he made a u-turn I asked him to drop me at Garage 66. My friend told me that we were going to a place called 66 something. So  how many places can there be with the number 66 in the name around here?
Not many I thought. So I asked the driver to take me to Garage 66 and I called my friend. I explained that the driver could not find his house. Turned out that (As I had expected) Garage 66 was the place we were going to and they would come here in a few minutes. I explored the beer options while waiting and that was not a nice  experience. No San Miguel Light!
• Beer Singh • Heineken • Hogaarden By then I was about to run off to the express way and throw myself in front of a truck. But the last option was Stella. So I asked for a bottle and a wine glass with ice. It was OK but far far from as good as a San Miguel Light. My friend arrived with my new friend and we enjoyed the evening. The second band was really good and Garage 66 turned out to be a very nice  place. Plenty beautiful girls and well, if I had been 700 kg lighter.
After 10 or 12 bottles of Stella we felt ready to go explore NOXS 200 meters away. 
Well, Garage 66 was very good, for us old people. The music was loud, but we could talk. Of course it was easier when we had have a few drinks. But NOXS, we could hear the music almost all the way to Garage 66 and it was impossible to speak. +++++++++++++++
Wednesday 23rd of December 2015 and I woke up at 11 o'clock when my friend called. He was  outside my door and we were going to do our almost daily boxing exercise. Darn, I was not feeling very well after not so many hours of sleep. Back home at zero 3 thirty so I could have had a few more hours of sleep.
It took me quite some time to get to the door and, well, I was in no mood for any exercise. I was kind of lucky, my friend had lost one of his boxing gloves so he went to buy a new pair and I could spend one hour eating ice cream while waiting. It was a terrible session, but that just made me much happier when it came to an end. A shower and it was soon 3 o'clock and I felt hungry. I will meet my friend at 6 for dinner, but  there is time for a quick lunch.
I asked the Security Guard if he had seen the fruit market passing by today. I normally give the Security Guard some  money to buy Papaya for me when the fruit market is passing by on our street.
He pointed across the street, my view was blocked by a truck, but when the truck moved along I could see the fruit market. I call the pick-up truck for รถตลาดผลไม้ - Rot Talat Ponlamai (Car  Market Fruit) They all understand what I mean. I crossed the street and I asked for Papaya and Mango.
I could see that they had apples as well and I decided to try 5 of them. If they are good I can as well by them here and I have less stuff to carry home from Tops Market on Sukhumvit Soi 19. And maybe the most important perk, to support the locals. Shop as close as possible to your home to support your local business environment. Anyway, no need to carry my fruit for very long, if I buy it at Tops I need to carry several kilos of fruit  back home as I don't want to go there every day.
Especially the apples, I force myself to eat 2 apples per day and it would be very convenient to buy them on the street. They come 2 times per week and it will be easy to plan my fruit purchases and I can avoid having my fridge full of fruits. And I can already now tell you that the apples were excellent and I will by my apples from the รถตลาดผลไม้ - Rot Talat Ponlamai from now on. I was in a good mood when I left for my lunch. The fruit guy had put the fruit with the Security  Guard and I will get it when I'm back  home from my lunch.
The Pizza House on Sukhumvit Soi 23, what is wrong with this place? They are always closed when I have a hangover. I was hungry and I was really looking forward to their excellent bread but they  were closed. And it was the same last time I had a hangover. Thinking of it, that was a Wednesday as well. But why keep closed on Wednesdays?
Last time I tried the Argentinian Grill on Soi 23 and this time I decided to try the Japanese across from the Argentinian. I was at Lawson 108 on the corner to buy Soda Water a few days ago and the owner of the Japanese restaurant was there to eat. Not a good sign! I have been at the Japanese one time  before with my friend, but we left as there really wasn't much to get excited over on the menu.
I had some whatever they call it, and, well, it was not the kind of food I liked so I might go to the Argentinian Grill next time. I went back home and it was soon time to leave for dinner with my friend. Well, yet another wasted day suffering a hangover. I had planned to study the recipes for the Friday dinner. I bought some of the heavy stuff at Tops Market after the dinner so there will be less to carry on Friday. Well, I will study what kind of ingredients I need and I will be off to Asoke Market on Friday to buy the stuff. And to see how the Thai food turns out, just click HERE
Fruit salad extravaganza
 Uppesittarkväll med Sverigedemokraterna
 Click HERE for Sverigedemokraterna's Christmas show from SD TV  
    
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in the beak. I saw storks and several of a beautifully blue bird.
the earth by saving the electricity. I call it bullshit. They want to save money.
Tea: They serve tea from pots!
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E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
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