Around The World 2011 Day 12: Bangkok

Today is our last day in Bangkok, and we are going to make the most of it.  Today is also Day One of the Fam Trip, where we will be joining a group of travel agents touring the highlights of areas as well as making site inspections of hotels.

Unfortunately for me, this means sightseeing at the pace of a tour company that wants us to see as much as possible.  Fortunately for you, that means no way am I going to be able to keep the Waste under fifty pictures per day.

Breakfast.  Say no more.

We met up with the group in our lobby, ready for the day.  Michael from San Diego has the kind of camera that you wish I had.  I would have a camera like that if only I was willing to carry it around for two months at a time, but as you should already know I am too pleased with the convenience of the iPhone and I stand behind the iPhone's photography, even though I in no way pretend that my pictures would not be amazing if I had a lens like that.

Fortunately for all of us. Michael is a great guy and I suspect when this is all over I will be able to get him to share the brilliant photographs he is getting.

Our ride for the day.

Something about Educational Trip made me think of the Borat subtitle Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

I am not the only one who took pictures immediately after boarding the bus.  That is Dori, the travel agent who brought along Michael of The Supreme Lens.  We may have gotten extra lucky.  Everyone on this fam trip seems delightful.  This means I might be the jerk on this bus.

This photograph represents a cool moment.  This woman, who strikes me as a student in some sort of art class, was lining up a shot of some architecture as our bus passed.  So she relaxed her aim of the camera to wait for the bus to get out of her way.  She looked up at me lining up my shot of her lining up her shot, and smiled broadly in a sort of a between us photographers way.

In other words, that is a real smile.

They brought us to Chinatown where we will be visiting Wat Traimit, the temple of the golden Buddha.

This sign rests above a little shop directly behind the temple.  Perfect Engrish.

Wat Traimit, today referred to as the Temple of the Golden Buddha.  Yes, that sounds like a James Bond movie title.  This temple has an interesting history.  And it almost sounds like a James Bond subplot.

In the early 1930s, an old abandoned temple in Bankok's Chinatown housed a gold-painted plaster statue of Buddha. This temple was going to be demolished for a public works project, but they obviously could not destroy a Buddha statue no matter how ugly it was.  And reports are that it was ugly.  They moved it to nearby Wat Traimit, one of hundreds of other Buddhist temples in Bangkok.  This temple was not large enough for the statue that stoof more than ten feet tall, so it was kept for 20 years under a simple tin roof.

In 1955 a new building was built and they were moving in the huge Buddha statue with a crane, but a cable broke and the statue fell in the mud.  The workers ran away, because that is some seriously bad luck there.  The next day the temple's monks observed that the wet plaster was cracked and under it was a statue made of solid gold.  It turns out that this statue likely came from Ayutthaya and was disguised under plaster to hide it from the Burmese, who burned the temples of Autthaya to the ground.  (Remember those ruins we saw two days ago?)  As you can imagine, foreign invasions are not times of calm, and somehow they lost track of the ten foot Buddha statue.  For 200 years.  And then they found it when a crane broke.

Voila!

It amazes me that this ten foot tall Buddha statue made of gold could be dates back as far as the 13th century and most likely sat in one of temple ruins we saw in Ayutthaya.

Buddha Bhutt.

I want to point something out.  You may noticed that people, when creating representations of the devine, tend to be a bit egotistical.  They model the divine after themselves.  This is why most images of Jesus Christ in Europe make him look European, and not at all like the people of the Middle East where he was born, lived, and died.  But the people who created this representation of Siddartha Gautama did not change his image to look more like themselves.  The man known as the Supreme Buddha was born in a town that today sits in Nepal along the border with India.  This representation of him has features of a person from that area, and not of the people who created this piece.

Score one for the people of Ayutthaya/Siam/Thailand.  I shall extend similar praise to Europeans when I see their Lord depicted as a guy you could picture living in rural Judea during Roman occupation.  And lets just say his eyes would not be blue and his skin would not be fair.

Michael laid on the ground to get the shot that he wanted.  A soul mate.

A shot of this sign would have been great.  A shot of this sign with a young Thai child reading it?  Perfection.

After seeing the golden Buddha, it was time to walk around Chinatown.

Say you were going to visit Bangkok.  I am not sure you need to visit Chinatown.  I mean, yes, there are vendors hawking stuff in a third world manner.  But do you come to Thailand to see a Chinatown?

Ironic t-shirt for the win.

I cannot read Thai, but I suspect this is an ad for men's clothing.  I adore that it is the Thai version of 1950's illustration.

Shark fins in Chinatown.  Bring out the cultural judgment police.  There is no way to defend this one.

After Chinatown, we headed over to The Grand Palace.  This would happen to be the King's house, with some important temples included.

Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang, which means The Lord's Supreme, Great, Royal Palace.  I am still enjoying the over-the-top naming schemes of the Kings of Siam.  And I am aware that it is pure bias.  If Buckingham Palace was called The House of the Supreme Man-God-King of England and The World, well, I would be mocking that hardcore. 

As you might recall, when the Burmese razed the capital of Ayutthaya, the Thai people rallied under a new general who ended the Burmese occupation and he renamed himself King Rama I.  He moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok and they started work on this palace, which has had so many additions over time that the grounds are basically crowded with buildings. The current King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, does not live here.  My hunch would be that he wants this site to be the people's palace.  I get that vibe that he is about his people.  But this is only a hunch.

Behind us you can see the roofs of several buildings, Temple of the Emerald Buddha to the far right.  That temple is the main draw of this site, because it features an... Emerald Buddha.

There is nothing better than catching a sign like this.  Okay, a lot of things are actually better.  But this is still pretty good.

Part of the Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is these three pagodas.  To the left is the Phra Siratana Chedi.  This style of pagoda is Sri Lankan.  In the center is the Phra Mondop, which is actually a library built by Rama I.  This library is filled with Buddhist sacred scriptures.  To the far right is the Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn, the Royal Pantheon that holds statues of past kings of the Charkri dynasty, which began in 1782 with Rama I.

These guys are guarding stuff, but the map handed to me when we entered the compound does not tell me which means that I cannot tell you.

I told you that I took a lot of pictures of this gleaming, golden pagoda.

Barbie perfectly matches the Siamese warrior to her right.  I use that term on purpose as the Kings of Siam built all of this long before they changed their country's name to Thailand.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  Or, as my map calls it, The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha.

Yes, I thought it was brilliantly funny that this sign for the complaints center can be made to look like it is pointing at one of the most venerated sites in Thailand where people convene to pay respect to the Lord Buddha and His Teachings.  Italicized because it is a direct quote from the official Guide to the Grand Palace map that I am using for educational learning.

The Emerald Buddha inside is made of Jade.  It is called emerald to describe its color, not its consistency.  This Buddha statue has a long, long history.  It is alleged to date back to the year 43 B.C., when legend states it was carved in India.

To pay their respect, people press gold leaf to these Buddhas.

To pay his respect, this little boy walks around in double-rimmed sunglasses while wearing a matching Floating Market shirt and shorts combination.

To enter the temple, you have to, of course, remove your shoes. The tanline of my sandals is fierce, but the truth is that it does not even go away in the Winter.  It is permanent.  Note that Barbie comes prepared with socks.  Walking barefoot where thousands of others walk barefoot is not her thing.

Just outside the temple, photography is still allowed.

The statue's golden clothing is changed based on the season.

From outside the temple, I got this shot with a zoom effect.  The Emerald Buddha is impressively small, but surrounded by an impressive display of gold items.

Besides the legend that this Emerald Buddha was first created in India 2,060 years ago, historical records place it Cambodia in the 15th century, Laos in the 16th & 17th centuries, and finally to Thailand in the 18th century.  Within the area of today's Thailand, this Buddha moved from city to city based on the will of the Kings fighting over this territory.

They said to dip this flower in the holy water and tap it your head three times.  I did not remember to make a wish.  I just did this for the picture.  I saw people emptying their water bottles into the holy water as it was running dry.  But you cannot say that I cynically refused to go along with custom.  Not this time, buddy.

After the Emerald Buddha, we walked over to The Grand Palace.

Palace guards.  These guys could share storis with their counterparts in England.

I wanted to put my arm around him for this Colbert Point, but he had a rifle.  You do not mess with guys holding rifles.

The Grand Palace.   More accurately The Lord's Supreme, Great, Royal Palace.  Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang.

I think that I was told this staue is Rama I.

Yet another Banglok looks like most cities in North America shot.

Our hotel is THERE.

We arrived at the Sheraton on the Chao Phraya River, where we were given wrist flowers.  I was holding mine up for a wrist self-portrait unaware that Michael was in fact lining up a better shot.

We were treated to a Sunday brunch.

Dessert looked pretty dang good.

Travel agents on a site inspection, gathered around a hotel representative.

On the elevator, everyone quickly learns about the iPhone's forward facing camera.

From the Sheraton, the King Rama VII Bridge is THERE.  Our view of the bridge is obscured, by the Sheraton.

The Bangkok skyline.

Soon enough, we finished with the Sheraton and returned to our hotel, where we had to quickly get ready for our special dinner.  But before the special dinner... a Mandarin Oriental site inspection.

I took many pictures, but will only show you the best.  And here is what made the following photographs the best.  The Mandarin Oriental started out as The Oriental Hotel 135 years ago.  It was always one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, but when it began... well, the oldest parts of the hotel are simply amazing.  They call it the Author's Wing with each room named after a famous author.  And seriously, you can imagine world renowned authors staying here in the late 1800's, taking in what was surely a fascinating and different culture.

This room features a loft.

Inside the author's wing, this was once the main lobby.

Little touches like this add class.  There is no way around that fact.

And how is this room for old world charm?

After that, it is time for our special dinner.  You see, I have not bothered telling you that one reason the Mandarin Oriental has many boats moving back and forth across the river is that there is a second facility across the river that houses, the gym, spa, and Sala Rim Naam.

Sala Rim Naam is a restaurant which features traditional Thai entertainment.

This half of the restaurant gets to sit Thai style.

Our half sits in the Occidental style.

I have video for you, and will share it someday, but at the moment our internet is slow to the point that I had to let all of these pictures upload overnight.  The video will have to wait.

Simply imagine beautiful Thai women dancing in a slow and intricate style to live Thai music.  Captivating.

Michael purchased this traditional Thai silk jacket today, and the saffron colored orchids on the table match him perfectly.  Well played.

And now... the meal.

Assorted herbs and crispy perch with tangy sauced wrapped in betel leaves; Deep-fried prawn with exotic herbs; Steamed Thai dumpling filled with herbed mint chicken and peanut; grilled marinated pork skewer.

Yes, they gave us a menu with every item described for this set meal.

Captivating.

Herbed wing bean salad with shrimp and boiled egg.

By the way, Barbie's meal was slightly different as the restaurant accommodated her no dairy wishes.  Amusingly, they left out her egg.  Eggs are not dairy, people.  You should know where milk comes from throughout the animal kingdom, and there are absolutely no teats on a chicken.  (I bet you never thought you would find yourself reading about chicken teats, or the lack thereof.)

Sea crab cooked in coconut milk; Dip of chili, young tamarind, minced chicken and shrimp; Fresh vegetables; Grilled red beef curry and chilli; SPicy blue river prawn soup with lemongrass and straw mushrooms; Stir-fried vegetables with oyster sauce; Fried fish with chilli sauce and papper corn; Steamed Hom Mali rice. 

I told you.  Captivating.

Brown rice and coconut ice cream with mung bean marzipans; Assorted fresh fruits; Coconut sticky rice with mango.

 And I would say the meal ended with dessert, but it did not.  This is because it was Dori's birthday!  The musicians began playing Happy Birthday To You with their traditional Thai instruments, but it was not until the cake arrived that she caught the moment.

She made a wish and blew.  (You should probably imagine Lauren Bacall saying that line.)

Alas... our day finally ended.

I have been trying to get a good picture of the elevator button pushers since we arrived.  But they move so fast that they are always a blur.  The above picture represents a new strategy; take a picture before he sees you headed to elevator and kicks into button pushing mode.

How was that for a cultural, historical, and gourmet day?

Until tomorrow...