Bangkok part2

Yesterday we spent the day touring with our group led by Leky, a 48 yo Thai woman, very pleasant. We started with a trip through the flower market. Every color and smell and shape of flower imaginable. They start at 2 AM and run till late at night. We then boarded a longboat which is sort of a long canoe with a car engine at the back. We toured the klongs- canals - of Thonburi a rather ancient and unspoiled part of Bangkok. The people live in houses on stilts and open to the water. The water is pretty fetid but they fish- catfish- in it and we even saw a 6 foot long monitor lizard swimmimg next to our boat. It was fascinating to see the women in their sampans with their meals cooking onboard. We attended a cooking class given by Toom who was about the most entertaining cook I have ever met. She was so engaging and had us laughing for the whole hour as we made chili paste - a staple ingredient in the very spicy Thai diet.