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Thailand
Bangkok
December 28 - January 12
Not sure how long we'll be in BKK just yet. Spent a little time relaxing in
luxury, a nice break after Lao.
Bangkok has some interesting cultural experiences, some of which we'll not be
exploring in these pages.
The Royal Palace, Lumphinee Stadium and Muay Thai, museums and food are all
worthwhile here. We also have some friends to catch up with, so we'll spend some
time doing that before we move on.
I'm actually a bit tired of being on the road at this point. Lao really took
it out of me, so I'm enjoying what I can of culture and trying to rejuvenate. I don't feel like I'm holed up in a
cheap, uncomfortable hotel freezing to death and filthy cause I haven't showered
for three days. I'm actually quite warm and I took a shower this morning.
Today we went to the Royal Palace and went to see Muay Thai in the evening.
Just inside the Wat Prah Kheo is the stuppa that contains Buddha's hair and
some more temples.
This is the temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha is actually
made out of jade, but the green color confused someone at some point. It was
hidden for a while by being encased in clay and hidden in a rural temple, I
think to protect if from foreign invaders or something. It was essentially
lost to all the world for a time, but when a monk rediscovered it when he
noticed plaster falling off the nose and chipped it away. At the news of the
discovery everyone got busy breaking open their Buddha's looking for
treasure.
Garuda are again a big theme.
Kath meets up with her Ents buddy.
Lumpinee stadium and Muay Thai. We got 3rd level seats to facilitate
watching the crowd. The gambling is intense, and the system so intricate
that the gamblers know who's won by the 4th round (of 5). Coincidence? Only
one fight were people cheering through the 5th round, and that was the only
fight the fighters kept fighting through the fifth round. Both claimed
victory, and the loser was truly surprised at his loss. So I think they
actually can tell who's won the fight because they really know the rules,
and not because of some collusion between the gambling community and the
fighters. We stayed for 8 or 9 of the 12 fights. One was won by KO in
the second round, but the rest completed all 5 rounds.
The zoo we're staying in where all the foreigners get drunk and bring their
prosti... I mean Thai girlfriends at night. Khao San road, where backpacker
machismo takes on a whole new meaning. Truly a shit hole. But cheap and
convenient.
Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm
This Croc farm has many interesting things to see, and is well worth the
trip. The Samutprakarn farm is near Bang Na, though there is another one
near the Damnoen Saduak floating market that is generally part of tours to
the floating market. I'd been to Samutparkarn before on a business trip, so
we went back to this one. There are stores to buy croc skin and meat
products at, and displays of many different species of crocodile, hatching
facilities, croc wrestling shows, elephant shows and a zoo. You can also
have your photo taken with monkeys or tigers.
Here, I studied well how they do it for the show, then had a go myself. It's
really much easier than it looks.
We went to the elephant show, and gave the little guy some bananas, fed the
hippo's and hung out with a monkey. Notice the high security on the python
cage....
Damnoen Saduak ~ Floating Market
The floating market is awesome, but a total tourist trap. The ratio of
boats selling fruits and vegetables to boats selling souvenirs was about
1:15. But it's fun, and colorful, and loud, and there's interesting
things to eat (little fortune cookie taco things with coconut cream
filling, coconut sugar candies, fruits, etc...) and see. Shopping
includes all the traditional souvenirs like wood carvings, hammocks,
spices, musical instruments, pottery, etc.... as well as some food
products.
Wat Pho
Wat Pho has a long history, and is considered to be Thailand's first University
because they offered lessons in astronomy, anatomy, massage, etc.
For a more complete history, please visit their website:
http://www.watpho.com (They use pop-ups)
The Reclining Buddha is a huge statue of a, well, reclining Buddha. The inlay
work shows details from the feet of the Buddha. There are many little alters
around the statue where you can make offerings to Buddha by lighting candles,
incense, offering a lotus bud, and sticking a piece of gold leaf onto a statue.
Also, you can drop a bunch of little coins (real money, but not a lot) into the
line of collection buckets as offering. The sound of the little coins falling
into the buckets from the multitudes of people is a constant sound like rain on
a tin roof while you're in the temple. It's quite magical. Separately, there are
many Buddha statues around the complex including the Naga protecting Buddha
statue and the main Buddha of Wat Pho, “Phra Buddha Deva Patimakorn” where some
ashes of King Rama I are kept under the pedestal.
Some of the cooler doors in the place.... just for Susan. I particularly love
the 'Alice in Wonderland' style guards on the last one....
Some monkeys for Tess, and some general shots of the ornate decorations on the
rooftops in the complex.
Some of the scriptures and teachings that were carved into the walls and
preserved in the teaching halls.
Nice to see the fans get around....
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Copyright 2003, Dana M. Brash. All Rights Reserved.
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