Our guide, Nong, picked us up at 9:30 for a city tour. In one day, you can see most of the sights in Bangkok (at least the ones we wanted to see). Nong told us that most people visit Bangkok for one or two days. Two days was enough for us.
Ten percent of the population in Thailand are Chinese, giving Bangkok one of the largest Chinatowns. We drove through to check it out. It looked about the same as any other Chinatown. "Same same but different."
A drive by shot of a monk strolling through Chinatown.
Wat Traimit, a temple in Chinatown, houses the golden buddha.
Temple of the golden Buddha.
Oh how I want a golden Buddha of my own. It is 5.5 TONS of solid 18 karat gold. It was only recently rediscovered. During Thailand's last war, they hid the Buddha by covering it in cement. None of the temples wanted to house the unsightly cement Buddha. No one knew where the golden Buddha ended up. When the cement Buddha was being transported years after the war ended, it fell over while it was being transported. The cement cracked, exposing the golden Buddha inside. It is a bit difficult to believe no one was suspicious as to why the cement Buddha was so darn heavy.
A few tidbits about the Buddha in general. Buddhas protect the people; they cannot answer your prayers. The Buddha's feet point out, summonsing the goddess of the earth to come and protect the people from Mala (evil). Unlike the Buddhists here in Thailand, many of the Khmer in Cambodia pray to the Hindu gods to have their prayers answered. Here, most just pay their respects to the Buddha.
After we paid our respects to the Buddha, the monk blessed us and gave us more bracelets for good luck. I'm secretly hoping these don't stay on forever since I can't cut them off. I'm sure my law firm won't appreciate these string bracelets as much as I do.
Nearby was Thailand's largest wholesale flower market.
Bouquets of roses were selling for about $1.75 each.
Piles of gorgeousness.
Me giving a shout out to the Hindu gods. Marigolds are a typical offering to the Hindu gods and were at many of the temples in Cambodia.
Lotus flowers. About 90 percent of Thai people are Buddhist. Buddhists use lotus flowers to give offerings to the Buddha.
Mounds of orchids.
Flowers everywhere....
Another area of the market sold fruits and vegetables, among other things.
Looking fierce wielding a machete.
Tools for cutting rice stalks and other things.
Peppers.
We couldn't resist picking up some lunch from the woman who, according to Nong, makes the best food in Bangkok.
Frying up some kanompakkad (Anna's new favorite dish, which we had Nong spell for us since he said it is hard to find) and some pad thai (my favorite).
Oh yeah, she works some magic with that wok. About $2.50 for both.
Wat Po, which houses the reclining Buddha, was next.
The gold-covered reclining Buddha.
The Buddha's foot.
Its feet are ten feet long. Above are images of the bottom of its foot. You can see the intricate inlaid mother of pearl.
There were 108 alms buckets in the temple to give offerings to the monks. You place money in each of the 108 buckets while making a wish. I'm pretty sure I made a wish for everyone reading this.
We also bought a tile to be installed in the roof of a new temple building and wrote on the back of it.
This temple is also the birth place of Thai massage. The Thai were trying to imitate Indian yoga and somehow Thai massage was created. Below is a sculpture of someone performing Thai massage.
Instructional diagrams also lined the walls.
It seems you can never see enough temples or Buddhas in SE Asia. The Emerald Buddha (made from jade) at the Grand Palace is one of the most treasured in Thailand. Of course we had to see it. Cameras are not allowed in the temple, but you can snap a shot outside the temple's doors.
The Emerald Buddha draped in 18 karat gold clothing. The king typically changes its clothing each season. Because he has been sick, the prince changed its clothes this year. Ashes of Thailand's previous king are under the Buddha.
Outside the Grand Palace. I'm clearly taking this much more seriously than Anna.
The scaled version of Angkor Wat that the king had built after Thailand lost control of Cambodia. Feeling nostalgic, we were happy to see our old friend again.
Monks filing out of the temple. It takes 1 year and 3 months to become a monk. Often parents who cannot or do not want to raise their children bring them to the temple. The temple then cares for them and these children then become monks. During the rainy season, the monks stay at the temple. Other times of year, they are out in the country side. The reason for this, according to Nong, is that the monks damage the rice fields when they are out walking in the rainy season. I suspect there is more to the rationale. The monks mostly teach and learn. Children who go to the good schools in Bangkok are often taught by monks. People leave food and toiletry offerings for the monks.
Changing of the guards at the Grand Palace. The king does not live here--he has a separate palace. He is currently sick, so he resides in the hospital.
No trip to Bangkok is complete without a tour of Old Bangkok.
Eating the lunch we purchased from the market on our longboat tour of Old Bangkok.
The people living along the river in Old Bangkok are not all poor. Families have lived here for many years, passing the house from one generation to the next. If they leave, the government reclaims the property. I'm not sure all the details as to why this happens.
A woman selling trinkets to the tourists.
A Wat along the river in Old Bangkok.
The tour finished up with a tour through the government's gem factory.
Anna became best friends with her gem factory tour guide, who is now her second mother.
We crashed for a bit at our apartment before heading out to dinner and the red light district along Patpong Road for a quick walk around.
We were recruited to attend a few "special" shows. The shows certainly had interesting names. We politely declined.
For some reason, they didn't want to hang out with us....
We were off to bed for a 3:40 a.m. wake up to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Koh Samui.
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Location:Bangkok, Thailand
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