Sunday ,( Thailand), 30 Oct., 2016 (Tour day 10)

  Today was a relatively quiet day.  We left at 8am for the “Largest Jewellery Store in the World”, the Gems Gallery.  We saw a video promoting jewellery then were whisked through the workshop and into a large showroom.  Eva and I attracted a ‘sales representative’ who stuck with us as we browsed with no intention of buying.  Some of the group bought items.

Eva drawing silk thread.

   We then moved on to a silk producing facility.  Unlike the one we saw in China, they spun and wove the silk.  There was a tour of the “plant” area and the group, minus Eva and I, moved to the showroom. We stayed behind and Eva had a chance to try drawing the thread out of the cocoon (something like unravelling a sweater) and I filmed the hand weaving process they use. We then browsed the showroom, but didn’t buy.


   Third stop was at an umbrella manufacturing facility.  These are hand made using bamboo ‘frames’ and generally paper hand made from mulberry tree bark.  They are then hand painted with standard or custom designs.  The showroom had many interesting items, enough to tempt us but not beyond resistance.

Lunch at a small restaurant we like near the hotel.

   Some of the group went off to a ‘Thai Cooking Class’ but us 6 caucasians declined while all 13 African Americans took the class.  Eva and I had lunch then a nap then went to the pool.

   Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok and the next day to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Probably no posts.