The City of Wats

January 16 - 20


After 3 long days on a train (actually many different trains), we finally arrived in Bangkok, our second big city in a row after quite a long time in small towns and the jungle. The first thing that struck us was that Bangkok was certainly not as clean, sterlie and modern as Singapore (not a big surprise). We also quickly noticed that Bangkok is certainly a travel hub and prime destination for the whole of SE Asia and as such it is certainly crawling with tourists. This is understandable since Thailand has done an excellent job at marketing tourism and it seems that there is something for everyone in this country. From the ancient ruins to the all encompassing Buddhist tradtions, from the beautiful scenery and national parks to the hedonistic beaches, from the smiling, friendly people to the world renowned food: it is many different types of travellers' dreams come true. We were excited about the new country and the many things that it has to offer but were a bit unsure of how the overload of tourism factor would figure in for us. But we were intrigued by the new aspects of travel that Thailand would bring (i.e. Buddhist temples and culture and being off of an island for the first time in a long time). We would also be travelling with Laura's mom during our adventures in Thailand which would certainly change the way we travelled a bit. No more squat toilets, concrete floor beds, cold showers and long treks in the jungle.


The Transformation
Our first day in Bangkok it was still just the two of us however, as Laura's mom would not arrive until midnight. We had some errands to run and wanted to pick up some books. We had heard that there were lots of cheap used books along Khao San Rd, the main backpacker hangout in Bangkok . So we decided to head that way, knowing fukll well that it probably be like a circus for us. We had a chance to gawk at all the white people wearing skimpy clothes and doing funny foreigner things that we had not seen in quite awhile. It was the first time that we had seen so many foreigner in one place in quite awhile and it was a bit of a shock to the system. Probably the most interesting thing was the number of people getting dreadlocks along the street. This is such a thriving market in this area and tons of people are running around with dreads and for the life of us we cannot understand whta the deal is. It's not like dreadlocks are fashionable for Thais. Why do people come to Thaliand and decide, you know what, I really want some dreads. It is obviously not to fit in with Thais but maybe instead it is to fit in with all the other people with dreads. I thought dreads were supposed to be a mark of rebellion to society's norms but here it seems like nothing more than a trendy fashion statement. Laura has developed the hypothesis that most people come here looking normal but upon arriving they get their hair dreaded, buy 'hippie' clothes and decide not to wash themselves anymore which then gives them the label as a dirty farang. Why does this transformation seem to happen to so many people in Thailand? We really have no freaking clue but if someone could enlighten us that would be great.

The Land of Tourists

Laura's mother arrived safely to Thailand and the next morning we arose to start our touring of Bangkok. We decided to start in Chinatown and what better way to start a morning than with a little tour of a temple. Bangkok certainly does have enough of them (over 400) and the day before we had gone to our first (Wat Rajanadda) which was built in the mid 19th century and after climbing up four flight of stairs offered a nice view over the city. Our wat of choice for this morning however was Wat Traimit, temple dating from the 13th century which houses a 10 foot tall, 5 1/2 ton solid gold Buddha image. This golden Buddha was actually 'rediscovered' only about 40 years ago when it fell from a crane and the plaster exterior cracked off. the plaster had most likely been used to hide the gold from invading Burmese hundreds of years ago. It is crazy to think that such a large solid gold structure was forgotten about for so long but today many people come to pay reverence or take pictures of this gleaming image.

After our visit to the wat, we started on a little walk through Chinatown. We had heard somewhere that the Chinatown in Bangkok was one of the largest (outside of China of course) and while walking around it certainly appeared that way. The streets were hectic and crowded and the market was just pandemonium. Tons of shops were selling shark fins and bird's nests and in the market there was everything imaginable and more (sea cucumbers and huge fish from the rivers, dried fruit and roots and of course the odd assortments of Chinese medicines, teapots and tea, etc...)

We continued to wander for a few hours but part of the reason for coming to Chinatown area was to check out Phahurat, which is sort of like a Little India inside Chinatown. It is a place where many textiles are sold and since Laura's mother is very interested in this we decided to head over here. Casey also wanted some Indian food so it was a win-win scenario. So we spent a few hours walking around here purusing the rows and rows of fabric stalls and Laura's mother was in heaven with the wide selection of exotic and inexpensive cloths. After quite a long morning of walking we headed to a restaurant for some good Indian eats and then back to the hotel for a nap.


Casey decided to walk around the city a bit in the evening and got some great views of the palace and surrounding temples which are lit up at night. Unfortunately all the gates are closed but you can peak over a bit here and there. There was also a nice park near the palace where they put on free cultural shows and there was a dance presentation as well as a play, Ramayana which is a Hinddu influences story but still very important in Thai Buddhist culture. It was very interesting to watch with fantastic costumes and music.

Our next day would be a day of wats. Now I have seen pictures of the Grand Palace grounds and Wat Pho and have been told a number of times to go but sometimes things that are hyped up so much do not always meet expectations. This was not one of those times as this section of Bangkok is absolutely amazing and just makes want to sit and gawk a bit. Yes it is a bit extravagant and yes there are more touriststhan probably anywhere else that I have ever been but it still does not spoil it. Luckily we got to the palace early in the morning just as the gates opened before too many tour buses had arrived and before the sun was too high in the sky. As we walked through the gates we were approached by a tour guide and we decided to take her up on her offer to show us around Wat Phra Kew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace grounds and the associated Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most revered Buddha image and the number one pilgramage destination for Thai Buddhists, were constructed over a 3 year period starting in 1762. The construction was ordered by King Rama I, the first in the line of kings of the current dynasty. He has decided to make Bangkok the new capital of Siam, moving it from Thornburi, which lies across the Chao Phraya River. Thornburi had only lasted for a short time (less than 50 years) as the capital and before this Ayutthaya (about 40 miles upriver of Bangkok) was the capital of the major kingdom in the area which had lasted for more than 400 years (but fell to the Burmese in the early 1700's). When the king ordered the construction of the Grand Palace and the other buildings in the area, he certainly went all out and the area is still a remarkable sight today.


Our tour guide was very good and also very funny. She led us through the gates and one of the first things we noticed were the gigantic guards who permanently watch over the temple and palace grounds. Even though they are big and scary looking, they do not always do a great job at keeping the vandals from taking small pieces of the temple grounds home for themselves. This seemed to be a pet peave for our guide and she continually pointed out small pieces of statues, monuments and temples that were missing as a result of greedy and disrespectful visitors. One of the most prominent sights in the grounds were three beautiful pagodas done in three different styles: Sri Lankan, Burmese and Cambodian. The Emerald Buddha resides within this compound and is actually not emerald but jade has quite a long history and has moved around the region quite a bit. The Buddha image is also not as big as one might expect (only about 3 feet tall) but is raised up on a high goldan pedastal and it has 3 special outfits for each of the three seasons of Thailand which the King himself changes in a special ceremony. The palace itself is no longer used by the King and the grounds are used only for special occasions, but the beauty of the place and the importance that it holds for the Thai people was interesting to see and learn about.


Our next stop was Wat Pho which is right next store to the Grand Palace and inside these grounds there is the huge golden reclining Buddha image that is also a famous sight in Bangkok. We again took up the services of a tour guide who also proved to be informative and a novice and later a monk at Wat Pho before his time as a tour guide. The reclining Buddha is pretty impressive and the other structures in the compound are also pretty amazing especially the many pagodas with ornate porcelain decoration. This temple is guarded by a different group of statues which were brought over in ships from China and there is even one of Marco Polo. Inside the compound also lies a school for Thai massage and of course many Buddha images (even more than other temples though as it seems that this is a collection point for them and there are rows and rows of Buddha statues wherever you look).

After this we were a bit 'watted out' but decided to go for one more since we were in the area. Next on the list was Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn which lies across the river from the palace and Wat Pho. Wat Arun has the tallest prang or tower in Bangkok at a height of 82 meters which makes it an impressive sight in the day or lit up at night. This tower is actually intracately decorated with tons of Chinese porcelain that was used as weight for the ballasts of ships in the past. Even though we were at the wat limit for the day it was still a very interesting one and the porcelain decoration was really quite amazing.

The next day we met up with Casey's old friend, Rob, who has been teaching English in Thailand for about two years now. It was interesting to get his perspective on Thailand as an outsider who has lived here for quite a while. We had time to catch up and also compare our experiences living in SE Asia which were similar in many ways and different in others. Rob seems to enjoy living in Thailand a lot and it seems like it has done him well. We visited the Teak Mansion in the afternoon where there were some interesting textile and handicraft exhibits. The mansion was built by Rama V and was obviously very influenced by Western design which we were not exactly expecting.

In the evening we headed to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner as it was Laura's birthday the follwing day. We had not had a decent Italian meal in quite awhile so we decided to see if Bangkok would fulfill her wishes and it ended up working splendidly. It really was a good meal and was followed up by some good ice cream at Swenson's (which are everywhere in Bangkok). This was one of our first Western meals in quite awhile and luckily we had done a good job at choosing a good place.