JUST PICTURES

This is the engine of a long tail boat.  Mostly I put picture up for Matthew.  This is how they power the speed boat like things that travel up and down the river systems and in the canals.  On the left hand side of what you see in this picture sits the driver who puts the egg beater like thing in the water to propel us forward.

 

 

This is the egg beater like thing that is in the water - it is basically a propeller on the end of a very long pole and can create quite a rooster tail when we are picking up speed.  They really go fast on the river.

 

This is the whole boat put together.  The are quick and efficient and can take up to 18 people.  They are fun to ride in especially when going fast - but soooooo noisy.  I don't know how the people who live along side the canals can stand the racket - over here there seems to be no such thing as a muffler and with these rather large engines....well, you can imagine.  Oh and they are constantly on and off with the gas - so they tend to sound a lot like 4:00 Charlie from old tv show M.A.S.H.

 

 

This is what a feeding frenzy looks like. When we stopped by a temple where fishing is not allowed on our long tail boat ride, we had loaves of bread that we broke up and threw into the water - catfish by the score or maybe some other kind of fish - I'm not sure but they practically climbed into our boat to get some.  It was quite a performance and lots of fun to do.

 

 

 

The other fun thing that happened on our trip in the canals was "a floating market".  A floating market that came right up to our boat to sell us some souvenirs and other assorted stuff.  He had some cold drinks, pencils, bookmarks, hats and the usual wares that you find on the streets in Asia.  It was funny and a bit fun - I bought some bookmarks from him.  As he approached our boat he said, "floating market coming to you!"

 

That's it for now!