Episode 1: Bangkok
Temple God, Grand Palace
Grand Palace
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Ayuthaya to Chiang Mai
November 26, 1999 BangkokHere we are in Bangkok,
playing tourist once again. We are staying in the
Sukhumvit Road tourist region of town in a good hotel
& are finding it easy to find a taxi or tuk tuk to
take us around. Tuesday we went to the Vietnam embassy
the first day to arrange a visa for next month. This
takes 4 days to process so we will leave here Saturday.
Our tentative plans have us staying 2 weeks each in
Northern Thailand, Laos & Vietnam, but things could
change. The first place we visited in Bangkok wa s the
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (a Wat is a buddhist
monastery). We spent at least 1.5 hrs wandering around
this huge complex of ornate, baroque style buildings that
were once the home of the King. It doesn’t look quite
real, with all the gold and beautifully coloured
buildings. The only disappointment was they closed the
Wat with the famous emerald Buddha just before we were
entering. This is an active Buddhist temple &
ceremonies were starting.
The next day we took a taxi to the Chao Phraya river
& boarded the express taxi boat for a 6 Bhat (24
cents) trip up the river. You get a good view of several
other Wats plus a view of river life. On the return trip
we stopped off at Wat Pho, and since it was lunch time
started looking for a suitable res taurant. We weren’t
brave enough to buy from the many sidewalk vendors in
that area so we ended up on a main road wondering which
way to go. A Thai man approached & suggested a Thai
restaurant a distance away, as well as another Wat and a
Bangkok export exposition. He also haggled with a tuk tuk
driver for us so we decided we had nothing to lose &
got in. The driver took us to a small local restaurant
and while he waited, we enjoyed quite a good inexpensive
meal. He next took us to Wat Intharawihan with one of the
largest standing Buddhas. What made it most interesting
for us, besides the large golden Buddha, was the wall
surrounding an adjoining temple building. It was a
bookcase like structure filled with beautiful porcelain
urns, which we decided were burial urns of the faithful.
Next the driver took us to what I decided was the hook, a
jewelry store. But if our good samaritan was looking for
a commission, he lost. Finally we returned to Wat Pho,
all for 50 Bhat ($2 CAD). This was another interesting
site with a gigantic reclining gold Buddha plus other
temple buildings. Leaving there we took a water taxi
across the Chao Phraya (2 bhat) to Wat Arun on the other
side. This Wat is covered in ceramic pieces from Chinese
dishes used as ballast in trading ships. The guide book
said we could climb up the Wat to get a good view of
Bangkok, but unfortunately that is no longer allowed. It
was interesting anyway. We returned across the river
again & walked several blocks to find a reasonable
taxi back to our hotel. We ended up walking on a street
filled with food vendors and flower stalls and vendors.
Very colourful & not for tourists. Got a taxi &
returned in the worst traffic yet. It was near 5 PM &
I guess is commuting time as it is everywhere, but we did
manage in reasonable time.
Today we traveled to the National Museum. We spent
several hours exploring the huge display of Thai history
& art & artifacts. Gave us a good perspective on
the monarchy & the area we will be visiting next.
From th ere we went to the Vimanmek Mansion, the home of
King Rama 5 in early 1900’s. We had a tour through the 81
room mansion, made entirely of teak & beautifully
furnished & decorated with the many gifts given by
other nations.
Tomorrow we get ready to travel again, this time by
train & pick up our visas. Our first stop will be
Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. We will look
for another email spot in Chang Mai, so stay tuned.
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