Bangkok again

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

Up early for our temple tour.  Our van was only ten minutes late and we were amazed at how much lighter the traffic was until about ten.  After that, it quickly built to the huge levels we experienced yesterday.  Meanwhile, we had an even better guide today on our visits to three very famous temples here in Bangkok.  The first was the Temple of the Golden Buddha, Wat Traimit.  Visitors must remove their shoes and hats, and be careful never to point the soles of their feet at the Buddha, but they may take all the photos they want, which, of course, makes us very happy.  The Golden Buddha is larger than life-size and made of solid gold, all donated over seven hundred years ago by the Thai people, who gave their jewelry to be melted down for this statue.  It weighs 5,500 kg, and is solid gold, not hollow.  The temple complex is ornate and beautiful as well. 

The second temple on the tour was Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  It is the oldest temple in the city and boasts 99 pagodas within its boundaries. The Buddha is 46 m. long and 15 m. high.  It is made of gold plated bronze and the soles of the buddha's feet consist of scenes made of mother of pearl.  We kept hearing metal coins clinking as we walked around it, and eventually realized one wall of the gallery is lined with metal pots into which the devout drop coin after coin.  The other walls of the gallery contain Thai style landscape murals telling the life story and spiritual journey of the Buddha.  Outside, there were other buildings, including one that was an International temple, welcoming people of all nationalities, and one devoted to the study of Thai massage which was illustrated with hundreds of diagrams of pressure points. 

Our third stop was at the Marble Temple.  This one is only about 150 years old and built of Italian Carara marble.  It is supposed to be the most beautiful of the temples, and it is certainly a little more to the modern taste with cleaner lines and far less exuberantly ornate decoration.  Personally, I think all of these temples are absolutely gorgeous!  The Marble Temple was built by Chulalongkorn and houses his ashes.  There was a ceremony going on when we were there, so we were not allowed to photograph the Buddha, but nearby was a gallery featuring many other Buddha statues in three of the four typical positions--sitting, standing, and walking.  The fourth is reclining, which is not so often seen.  There are also five hand positions used for Buddha statues used to represent meditation, peace, blessing, teaching, and charity.  This temple complex features an international temple surrounded by flags of all nations where everyone is free to worship.  In this one we were encouraged to sit down and were given a short explanation of some typical religious practices.

By this time, it was about 10:30 and we thought the tour was over.  John wanted to take a boat on the Chao Phraya river, and I wanted to go back to the hotel, so he left the tour to go off on his own, and after a surprise shopping stop where we could buy Thai rubies, sapphires, and diamonds (or not!), I was put on a different van and returned to our hotel.  Since I was the only passenger, it took only about 40 minutes to get there.  I arrived in time for another shower before lunch on my own in the hotel cafe.  John finally came back at about five, after a busy day trying to get to the river and a couple of hotels he wanted to visit.  Taxis to the river, boats between hotels, and two sky trains home, all in the increasing heat and humidity of Bangkok in late April. He had a terrific time and so did I sitting at "home" in air conditioned comfort after seeing all I really wanted to see.  I wouldn't have missed this trip for anything, but as always, I'm looking forward to arriving home in a couple of days.  If I had a working wand, I would "magic" myself there and bypass the long plane ride.  Alas, that dream is not to be.

Bangkok

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

We arrived in Bangkok, retrieved our luggage, and caught a cab to the JW Marriott hotel.  Alas, our driver neither spoke nor understood English, and of course we didn't understand him either.  After a small misadventure, we arrived at the hotel, very happy to be in the right place.  It would have been easier to have the hotel fetch us from the train, but that would have cost $100 instead of under $4.  Seriously?  We later learned to carry a card with us with the name of the hotel written in Thai so we could show it to cab drivers.  Lovely hotel, gorgeous bathroom (after train baths, even the nice one on the E&O, I'm becoming obsessed!), and once again, no free Internet. 

There is almost no way to explain Bangkok traffic except to say it is the worst we have ever seen anywhere!  Among other things, there are huge numbers of motorbikes on the roads, weaving among the cars and piling up at the intersections.  

Here is a typical intersection.  the first 30-50 feet of road are taken up by the motobikes that have beaten out the cars.

Here they are, ready to zoom forward as soon as the light changes and then weave their way through the cars they will soon catch up with on the way to the next interminable light.  

Sometimes you find something good on the roads in Bangkok, this happy monument being one.

 Nearly everyone we encountered on this trip who had been to Bangkok insisted this is one of their favorite places in the world.  Of course, they nearly always mentioned shopping in the same breath, but they also talked about the sights.  We don't care about shopping, but we were definitely looking forward to seeing the sights here, so we set off after breakfast with great expectations.  It was mostly downhill from there.  Because the only tour available from the hotel was outrageously expensive, we decided to try to find a tourist info site and go from there.  OK, first, we had to walk through traffic along a narrow sidewalk lined with food, flower, and trinket stalls to the SkyTrain stop and climb up to the station.  We were so obviously confused at the ticket window that a gate guard lady took pity on us after she stopped laughing and helped us take the money the ticket guy handed us over to the place where you buy the tickets, then pointed us in the right direction and helped us through the stiles and up onto the platform.  One stop later we got out at the place John had determined was the closest tourist info office.  We never managed to find it, but fortunately, a nice local police lawyer took us by the hand and led us to a trishaw, or tuk-tuk, which he insisted was the very best way to get to the TAT office where we would be able to book a tour that would be both "cheap-cheap" and "safe-safe".  He was typical of all the people we met in Thailand--friendly, happy, and helpful.  The tuk-tuk turned out to be a pretty nice way to travel as long as you aren't going too far.  Our tuk-tuk can't maneuver through traffic like the motorbikes, but they are popular and easy to find.  We wound down several streets and through a section that can only be described as a huge auto chop shop, and eventually landed at the TAT office we would NEVER have reached on foot.  We booked a tour to the palace complex for this afternoon since we thought we were dressed for it.  John was wearing long pants because of their no shorts rule, and I was wearing a dress. We also booked another tour for tomorrow morning to see several temples.  Then we had to take a taxi back to our hotel in order to be picked up there at 12:10.  We had a few minutes in our room before heading to the lobby.  One of the girls who checked us in last night showed us where to wait, and eventually made not one but two phone calls to try to find out where the van was.  Meanwhile, she told me the dress I had thought would work for the palace dress code might be too short in one tiny place (It has an uneven hemline.), so I decided to go up and change.  Long pants and a conservative top made me safe for the tour, but also very hot.  Our van arrived forty minutes late and then took well over an hour to get to the hotel where the other three people on the tour had been waiting for us for two and a half hours!  It took almost another half hour to get to the palace, which was nearby.  Did I mention that Bangkok is the worst traffic nightmare we have ever seen?

The palace compound was fabulous and something we were grateful not to have missed. Our tour guide was a very nice and informative man.  The complex includes the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in addition to many outbuildings and decorative structures in the distinctive Thai style.  We took tons of pictures everywhere except inside the throne room--the very one used by King Rama V, King Chulalongkorn, the king of The King and I fame. Rama V was the last king to live in this complex, but they still use the throne room for special state functions, and the palace is now used to house state visitors such as President Obama.  Fortunately for us, there were no unusual restrictions today and we were able to enjoy some great photo ops.   Seeing these fantastic buildings and statues makes even Bangkok traffic worth the effort.  This Palace complex is truly an international treasure.  The photos below give just a hint of how unique and special it is.

Our trip back to the JW Marriott took about two hours, and TWICE we were close enough to see our hotel but were not dropped off until nearly an hour after the first sighting because we were driven two miles the wrong way in order to drop off other passengers.  Yes, that's four miles in 50 minutes.  We truly can't understand how anyone can live here.  The traffic is simply appalling.  In retrospect, if our hotel had been close to the palace instead of the business district, we might have a better impression.