Lop Buri, Thailand 3/19/2008

Lop Buri is home to one of the pit stops filmed on the Amazing Race...for those of who you haven't seen the show or who don't remember the episode the teams stopped briefly in the town of Lop Buri for the following challenge: they had to build ceremonial floats made of fruit and veggies that are traditionally offered to the monkeys during an annual festival. The monkeys have taken over one of the local temples as their home (well and they pretty much run all over town too) and while the teams were attempting to build these floats they were being ransacked by the monkeys making it very difficult to complete the task. :) Crafty little monkeys!

Well unfortunately we have to admit that Lop Buri was really only worth a day trip...and we booked ourselves here for 2 1/2 days. It wasn't exactly our choice but the overnight sleeper cars, especially first class, book up a week in advance so we had to make decisions in advance. On the somewhat bright side, I was sick our entire stay in Lop Buri so it worked out that there wasn't a lot to see and I got to spend more time in bed recovering. Our travel advice to others: Lop Buri MAY be worth a day trip on your way to Chiang Mai but if you skip it and spend an extra day in Chiang Mai instead this would be the wiser choice!

One highlight from Lop Buri: dinner at the White House restaurant. What a treat in such a small town! It was a lovely dinner with good food, a live band and the best service we've had on this trip so far. The band played American rock, mostly Beatles, and they were surprisingly good with little Thai accent when singing!

Love,
D&J