Bangkok in Three Days

Tuesday we spent some morning time in the international Sukhumvit neighborhood and then taxied back to the old city to see what has to be the highlight of anybody's Bangkok tour: the Grand Palace. It is a walled city of sorts—not as sprawling nor as old as the Forbidden City in Beijing—but like the Forbidden City, was originally the royal residence and seat of government. It is as stunning visually as anything we have ever seen. It goes on, acre after acre of golden buildings, temples, residences, stupas, spires, and so on, porcelain and gold and gold-leaf and mirror-mosaic everywhere. The focal point is perhaps the “emerald Buddha,” and, certainly, its golden temple. The Buddha is not emerald (actually, it's jade), and is less than life-size, but it has much to do with national pride and history. In an important seasonal (winter, rainy, summer) ritual, the King himself changes the Buddha's attire, which is solid gold, of course. Sort of like the Mannequin Pis in Brussels, Vicki observed. The whole area is surrounded by arcades with hundreds of murals, drenched as it were in gold-leaf, depicting the Ramayana (the Thai version). Just when you think it can't get any more awesome, it does. We have seen some pretty great things, on this trip and earlier trips, but I can't recall anything that kept me wowing as long or as consistently. Photos can't do it justice.

We had lunch at a great little Thai hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the neighborhood and then walked back to Wat Pho, which we had seen at length on Monday (also Monday the Marble Buddha Temple, which I neglected to mention). Everyone says if you're going to have one Thai massage in Thailand, have it at the national massage school at Wat Pho. Vicki, who has had several Thai massages, had one more at Wat Pho. (I refuse to pay people to hurt me; read H. L. Mencken's essay on chiropractors for deeper insight).

Wednesday we joined a small day tour to nearby Ayuthaya, the capital of Siam from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese captured and razed it. Neither the scale nor the level of construction (mostly brick, not stone) compare with the sites in Cambodia, but Ayuthaya must have been fairly impressive in its day. The Burmese evidently used the chedi and other monuments for artillery target practice. In visiting the variety of ruins, temples and monuments, one has to use considerable imagination.

On the way to Ayuthaya, we stopped for an hour or so at the royal summer palace. It is a sort of Thai Epcot, a variety of mostly European buildings, intended in part to educate 19th and early 20th century Thais in the ways of the outside world. Thailand was one of very few places in this part of the world that was never colonized. Thais are justifiably proud of this. Their king in these times, Rama V (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame), was an especially skillful leader, I surmise, and is particularly revered. The highlight of the summer palace for us was the Royal Raft (a houseboat), tied up inconspicuously on the canal...thatched roof, but marble bath, five rooms of beautiful Victorian furniture, a hoot!

In Ayuthaya, we also visited yet another temple famed for its giant golden Buddha. About this time Vicki began singing (softly) “Here a wat, there a wat, everywhere a wat....” Oh, yes, a wat is a temple, and Thailand is said to have about 30,000 of them, an estimate clearly on the low side, we believe. Our return from Ayuthaya was a late lunch cruise (another!) down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya back into downtown Bangkok, viewing all the river-born commerce and tourism, as well as some pretty nice boats and houses...and a number of temples.

Somehow, we felt the day needed more excitement, and fewer temples, so we spent a few hours in the evening strolling and eating in Patpong, the once-infamous-now-mostly-touristy red-light district. At the night-market I bought myself a really cool Mt. Blanc pen that actually writes.

Thursday we spent the morning packing and checking out of the hotel, and then we toured the Dusit area, stopping by the Throne Hall, touring the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, a former royal residence, the world's largest teak structure, and, my personal favorite, the Royal Elephant Museum. (No rides, unfortunately). Toss in the Jim Thomspon House later in the afternoon, and you will appreciate that we saw a lot of teak this day. I did enjoy the gardens at the Thompson House, and the artwork.

We spent the early evening exploring and dining at MBK, one of Bangkok's colossal shopping malls. The food court on the fifth floor surpassed any such thing we have ever seen. (OK, we're from Montana, and the food court at Southgate Mall in Missoula would not impress many people). Great, reasonably-priced food from just about every cuisine there is, prepared to order as you watch. We both had our final Thai dishes there.

We taxied to Suvarnabhumi about 9 PM and cruised the duty-free shops, buying nothing, till our Thai Air flight to Sydney left, at midnight. It was only about 1/3 full. This normally would be the high season in Thailand, but tourism is already down by about 50%, the papers say, a result of the world economy, in part, but mostly a result of the airport occupations/closures two weeks ago. We both had room, a whole row each, to stretch out and sleep some on the 9 hour flight. Disappointingly, there was no ceremony about crossing the equator. It was a red-eye flight, of course, and I am sure the pilot was the only person awake (I hope) when we crossed over. We arrived in Sydney in the afternoon, got to our hotel, the Y at Hyde Park (as in YWCA), and promptly crashed. It has poured rain, in torrents, all day and night here. I will look for the Southern Cross tomorrow night if it clears.

At the Grand Palace

Another Root-Bound Buddha

Aboard the Royal Raft

Patpong

Tuesday we spent some morning time in the international Sukhumvit neighborhood and then taxied back to the old city to see what has to be the highlight of anybody's Bangkok tour: the Grand Palace. It is a walled city of sorts—not as sprawling nor as old as the Forbidden City in Beijing—but like the Forbidden City, was originally the royal residence and seat of government. It is as stunning visually as anything we have ever seen. It goes on, acre after acre of golden buildings, temples, residences, stupas, spires, and so on, porcelain and gold and gold-leaf and mirror-mosaic everywhere. The focal point is perhaps the “emerald Buddha,” and, certainly, its golden temple. The Buddha is not emerald (actually, it's jade), and is less than life-size, but it has much to do with national pride and history. In an important seasonal (winter, rainy, summer) ritual, the King himself changes the Buddha's attire, which is solid gold, of course. Sort of like the Mannequin Pis in Brussels, Vicki observed. The whole area is surrounded by arcades with hundreds of murals, drenched as it were in gold-leaf, depicting the Ramayana (the Thai version). Just when you think it can't get any more awesome, it does. We have seen some pretty great things, on this trip and earlier trips, but I can't recall anything that kept me wowing as long or as consistently. Photos can't do it justice.

We had lunch at a great little Thai hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the neighborhood and then walked back to Wat Pho, which we had seen at length on Monday (also Monday the Marble Buddha Temple, which I neglected to mention). Everyone says if you're going to have one Thai massage in Thailand, have it at the national massage school at Wat Pho. Vicki, who has had several Thai massages, had one more at Wat Pho. (I refuse to pay people to hurt me; read H. L. Mencken's essay on chiropractors for deeper insight).

Wednesday we joined a small day tour to nearby Ayuthaya, the capital of Siam from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese captured and razed it. Neither the scale nor the level of construction (mostly brick, not stone) compare with the sites in Cambodia, but Ayuthaya must have been fairly impressive in its day. The Burmese evidently used the chedi and other monuments for artillery target practice. In visiting the variety of ruins, temples and monuments, one has to use considerable imagination.

On the way to Ayuthaya, we stopped for an hour or so at the royal summer palace. It is a sort of Thai Epcot, a variety of mostly European buildings, intended in part to educate 19th and early 20th century Thais in the ways of the outside world. Thailand was one of very few places in this part of the world that was never colonized. Thais are justifiably proud of this. Their king in these times, Rama V (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame), was an especially skillful leader, I surmise, and is particularly revered. The highlight of the summer palace for us was the Royal Raft (a houseboat), tied up inconspicuously on the canal...thatched roof, but marble bath, five rooms of beautiful Victorian furniture, a hoot!

In Ayuthaya, we also visited yet another temple famed for its giant golden Buddha. About this time Vicki began singing (softly) “Here a wat, there a wat, everywhere a wat....” Oh, yes, a wat is a temple, and Thailand is said to have about 30,000 of them, an estimate clearly on the low side, we believe. Our return from Ayuthaya was a late lunch cruise (another!) down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya back into downtown Bangkok, viewing all the river-born commerce and tourism, as well as some pretty nice boats and houses...and a number of temples.

Somehow, we felt the day needed more excitement, and fewer temples, so we spent a few hours in the evening strolling and eating in Patpong, the once-infamous-now-mostly-touristy red-light district. At the night-market I bought myself a really cool Mt. Blanc pen that actually writes.

Thursday we spent the morning packing and checking out of the hotel, and then we toured the Dusit area, stopping by the Throne Hall, touring the Vimanmek Teak Mansion, a former royal residence, the world's largest teak structure, and, my personal favorite, the Royal Elephant Museum. (No rides, unfortunately). Toss in the Jim Thomspon House later in the afternoon, and you will appreciate that we saw a lot of teak this day. I did enjoy the gardens at the Thompson House, and the artwork.

We spent the early evening exploring and dining at MBK, one of Bangkok's colossal shopping malls. The food court on the fifth floor surpassed any such thing we have ever seen. (OK, we're from Montana, and the food court at Southgate Mall in Missoula would not impress many people). Great, reasonably-priced food from just about every cuisine there is, prepared to order as you watch. We both had our final Thai dishes there.

We taxied to Suvarnabhumi about 9 PM and cruised the duty-free shops, buying nothing, till our Thai Air flight to Sydney left, at midnight. It was only about 1/3 full. This normally would be the high season in Thailand, but tourism is already down by about 50%, the papers say, a result of the world economy, in part, but mostly a result of the airport occupations/closures two weeks ago. We both had room, a whole row each, to stretch out and sleep some on the 9 hour flight. Disappointingly, there was no ceremony about crossing the equator. It was a red-eye flight, of course, and I am sure the pilot was the only person awake (I hope) when we crossed over. We arrived in Sydney in the afternoon, got to our hotel, the Y at Hyde Park (as in YWCA), and promptly crashed. It has poured rain, in torrents, all day and night here. I will look for the Southern Cross tomorrow night if it clears.