Prologue–This trip was one that offered many excellent photographic opportunities, so if you have a slow connection, these pages may take a little while to load. For that, I apologize. All told, we selected 117 of the 450 we made to share with you. I’ve also included more commentary than normal. This is for a couple reasons, one, it helps explain the pictures (I hope) and two, allows me to share more of the cultural insight I’ve gained that can’t be conveyed through pictures. So, to help ease your reading and downloading, I’ve broken this story down into 6 parts (I wrote these sections at various points in the trips, which is why there’s a bit of shifting perspective).
I hope you enjoy the pictures and commentary. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.
We began our journey on Saturday (yesterday). It was a mere 7 hour flight here, with a couple hour layover in Manila. 🙂
So, relatively speaking, we’re right next door to Guam.
When we arrived, the FIRST thing we did after checking into our hotel, was indulge in a traditional Thai massage. This was particularly helpful because just the day before I had an exceptionally long and difficult day. So, we treated ourselves to this beloved form of therapy. For those unfamiliar with “Thai” massage, let me give you a brief synopsis. It’s said that Thais here visit the massage parlor more often than the gym. It’s a mixed approach using a combination, hands, fingers, arms, elbows and legs to effectively kneed you into jelly. It’s very “deep” tissue, but instead of going after muscles, they focus on pressure points to “harmonize energy flows.” Whether or not you believe in these, the bending, twisting, pulling and kneading feels more like a passive form of yoga and left me at least feeling much more relaxed. 🙂
After that indulgence, we zipped over the very large and modern mall just around the corner from our hotel.
It’s funny, but some of the best restaurants around are in the malls. The particular one is called MBK Mall and the little Italian place we ate was spectacular! We loved it.
Since it was a Saturday night, we intended to go out after dinner, but once we got back to the room, we hit the proverbial wall and went to bed instead. We woke up this morning feeling quite refreshed as a consequence.
So, our first stop for the day was the Grand Palace. This was the former residence of the King of Thailand and the palace was begun in 1782, the first year that Bangkok was the national capital of Thailand. The grounds encompass more than 100 buildings.
Here’s a view of some of the beautiful spires:
Many statues guard the entranceways.
A fantastic gilded dome:
This picture just doesn’t do Anna justice. For the record, it was INCREDIBLY hot out and the umbrella she’s holding isn’t for rain, it’s for the sun. Yes, it was that hot that a little shade provided a lot of relief.
More statues:
More Thai architecture:
More guards:
Architecture:
Here’s a close up on some of the small glass tiles that give the buildings their luminescent quality.
More images:
Here’s a cluster of young, novice monks as they toured the wat (Buddhist temple). In fact, this particular wat, Wat Phra Kaew, is home to the sacred Emerald Buddha, perched high above the floor on a series of very ornate pedestals.
Picture taking inside was not allowed, so I don’t have any pictures, but the feeling inside was very reverent. The crowd was a mixture of pious Thais paying their respects (any image of Buddha is sacred, but this one holds special significance) and tourists (European, American, and Asian). If you ever happen to visit a Buddhist wat, there’s certain expectation of proper dress and behavior. Here’s a quick list:
1. Always wear modest clothes (long pants, and shirt with
sleeves). While in many places the Thais are too polite
to turn visitors away who are wearing inappropriate
clothes, places like Wat Phra Kaew will not let you in
without them (but also have sarongs/baggy pants for
rent).
2. Do not wear your shoes in the main sanctuary. In fact,
at most homes the same holds true.
3. When sitting in front of a Buddha, it is highly offensive
to point your toes at it. So, when sitting, one must
tuck their feet back behind or underneath them.
Unfortunately, we saw all too many people not following
this in the temple. As an aside, it’s also very rude in
Thai culture to point with your feet, or touch people
with your feet. Anna is quite fond of this custom (she
says it’s a hold over from her childhood when she was
tormented with her sister’s feet. 🙂 )
With those three rules in mind it made our visit that much more enjoyable.
Looks like people with megaphones get the same reaction, regardless of the culture they’re from. 🙂
Yes, this boy is doing what it looks like he’s doing and the white guy on the right is probably as hot as he looks.
Here’s an example of the beautiful Thai script.
A monk in prayer. Most Thai men are expected to shave their heads and become monks at least twice in their lives. Once early in life as a novice monk (with the 7 precepts), and once after school is finished and before marriage (with the 227 precepts). There are female nuns, but are outnumbered 6 to 1 by males. Also Buddhist Thais believe in rebirth, and the good deeds they do today count toward better karma and fewer rebirths leading to eventual passage into Nirvana (enlightenment, or paradise, and the eventual goal of Buddhists to reach).
Monks are seen throughout the streets in Thailand.
An offering:
More holy edifices:
I really liked the blue hue here:
Here’s the main edifice of the Grand Palace. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed inside, but it’s a behemoth of a building and quite impressive.
The King, His Majesty, King Rama IX. His visage is a very common icon throughout the country.
Ok, so he’s not quite the guard at Buckingham Palace, but he’s doing a fine job, nonetheless.
These girls were seeking refuge from the sun under this tree.
After the Grand Palace we headed down the street to see one of the most famous Wats in Thailand, Wat Pho. To get there though, we took a tuk tuk. This venerable form of transportation is an experience in itself. As you can imagine, there are no meters, so you must determine a reasonable fare, before the driver starts out. Of course, the price is always negotiable. Bargaining is a quality that the Thais appreciate (and with a little practice, we did too). That said, we found that several times the drivers would try to tell us that a particular location was closed for a few hours, with the hope that we would then enlist his services to take us on a tour of the city and help himself to a larger share of our money. The solution was to just be persistent and ask that he take us there anyway. Here’s the view from the inside of this “vehicle.” It’s really only slightly larger than a go-kart, so weaving in and around traffic was exciting at times.
Here’s a view from the inside of our first ride in a tuk tuk:
Another tuk tuk in traffic. Compared to the bus and taxis, you can get a better perspective on traffic in Bangkok.
Mopeds are another very popular form of transportation (and in Northern Thailand, they outnumber other vehicles on the roadways). Here’s a young family out for a ride on a pleasant Sunday afternoon:
After our exciting (albeit short) trip to Wat Pho, we arrived to the sacred temple. Here the main focus is an enormous reclining Buddha image. The significance of the pose is that he is about to transition into Nirvana (heaven). Thai Buddhists believe that we all go through multiple lives (reincarnation) and each time the idea is to progress toward eventual enlightenment. Buddha said that he went through 550 iterations until he gained enlightenment.
Here is Buddha reposing:
Also, behind the Buddha is a row of pots to collect alms in. People would take a handful of Baht and deposit one in each jar as they made their way down the line.
I will end this entry here, as it is already way too large.
–Jim
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