Bangkok, Thailand

Visiting the palaces of the kings, one can see Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr dancing and twirling in elaborate costumes in the King and I.  The Bridge of the River Kwai is also here and on the next trip, this is a must see.  Since 1939, Siam is now called Thailand, signifying “Land of Free Men.”  Siam sounds so mysterious and foreign, but Thailand is anything but. 

After visiting Vietnam and Cambodia, I wasn’t sure what to expect in Thailand.  I love Thai food and I know about the pretty ladies dancing with such expressive hands and golden costumes.  What I didn’t know was that Thailand has a robust economy and a highly developed freeway system plus road construction everywhere.  They even have their version of strip malls and the largest billboards I have ever seen along the highways.  Bangkok is a modern city and is called the Venice of the East for the many canals and rivers that run through it.  Since Bangkok is one of the world’s least walkable cities due to distances and heat, they have a new air-conditioned overhead Skytrain which makes it easy to get around the city. 

A typical village street

We have been lucky as the seas have been dead calm.  We tied up portside at a clean, very large and modern dock, and got our window washed!   After 72 days of accumulated saltwater, it was a treat to see out the window without distortion.  We saw acres of new cars waiting to be exported.  Unfortunately, this harbor is located two hours away from central Bangkok, making for long drives on tours. 

Making car parts and assembling cars is a big part of the economy.  They also have an electronics industry and agricultural industry (rice, rubber, tapioca, fruit).  This was such a contrast to the last two countries which are poor in comparison.  Doctors and Engineers are the most esteemed and well paid professions in Thailand.

There are three seasons here:  November thru February is winter and is the high season.  March thru October is the rainy season and April is the most hot and humid month.  I am sooo glad we are not here in April since it is so hot and humid.  We are here in March so I am saved from it being so hot and humid (see the eye roll) – it is frigging hot and humid!

There are 65 million people in Thailand and 10 million of those live in Bangkok.  Ninety percent of the population is Buddhist, and they are very observant; there are over 30,000 temples in this country.  This is a democratic country and is headed by a King (like England).  The country is 700 years old. The people eat rice three times a day and they love spicy food.  They use lemon grass, garlic, curry and coconut milk in their cooking.  Traffic is extremely heavy, but there was no horn honking like in Vietnam and the drivers were pretty courteous.  There were relatively few motorbikes in or near the city, but we did see more of them out in the country and village areas.  They were not kamikaze drivers like in Vietnam.   

Rest stop off the freeway

There is so much to see and do here in Thailand, but we only were able to touch on a few places.  I see a return to Bangkok in our future.  We went to the old capital city of Thailand, which is located in Ayuthaya Province, to see the Bang Pa-In Palace (the Summer Palace).  Bang Pa-In is a small town around 50km north of Bangkok, and 20km south of the ancient capital of Ayutthaya and was Thailand’s capital from 1350 to 1767. The town was established in the early 1630's by King Prasat Thong of Ayutthaya as a second home for him and his family members during the summer months. After the sacking of Ayutthaya by the Burmese army in 1767, the royal palace was left abandoned and unused while the new capital of Bangkok was being established in 1782.  Not until the reign of King Mongkut (King Rama IV), was the Summer Palace re-occupied and renovated. This work was continued by his son, the Great King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V), and it is his version of the Royal Palace that you can see today.  The present day palace buildings standing today were constructed between 1872 – 1889.  Like most palaces (as if I knew about most of them already), there is an outer section that is for public and ceremonial uses, and the inner section that is reserved for the king and his immediate family (plus the girlfriends).  Most of the buildings are in the colonial, Chinese or French style.  There is only one truly Thai-style pavilion that sits in the middle of a lake that is truly magnificent.  Each building has a unique purpose. 

Golf carts were available for rent to get around the grounds, but we chose to walk.  Try to get 12 people to agree on anything….. fortunately, there were a lot of trees to provide some shade from the blazing hot sun.  I felt like a wilted lotus flower.  To enter the Chinese- style house, one had to remove their shoes.  But not me:  I was afraid if I took my shoes off, I would never get them back on as my feet and hands swell horribly in this weather.  I was very content to peek in the doorways and then sit in the shade fanning myself and look at pictures that Michael took.  The entire palace and grounds were truly beautiful and meticulously manicured.  Everywhere you looked there was a perfect picture to capture. 

Travelling out in the countryside we saw plenty of shacks and smaller temples.  There was no trash at these humble abodes.  Tuk tuk vehicles were prevalent in the villages and smaller cities.  Many of the streets were lined with trees sprouting yellow flowers, called silver trumpet.  Huh?  Either the guide was wrong or someone had a sense of humor to name a yellow flower silver.  The national flower of Thailand is the golden shower (no jokes, OK?).  We did not see any of these.  We did see plenty of lotus flowers.

Tuk Tuk

After the palace, we headed out for lunch.  It was a buffet with a strange combination of items.  There were some Thai dishes and there was spaghetti.  The food wasn’t all that great, but at least it was cool inside.

Have you ever seen a huge Buddha laying down on the job?  We did.  He even was covered with a blanket.  I have no idea why, but at Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol (the Great Temple of Auspicious Victory in Ayudhaya) we saw just that.  This is the site of an ancient temple dating back to 1350.  The government has spent quite a bit of money to restore this site and I must say it was quite impressive and very beautiful.  We only had a short stop here to view the ruins and Buddha, and it is worth the time to explore the inside of the large structure.  There were many steps up to the entrance and we didn’t have the time or the energy as it was just too hot and everyone was getting tired.  This heat and humidity saps ones energy.

We stopped at Ma Hat Wat (Wat means temple), a site of 20 ruined temples.  I gave up and glanced at them while Michael went around taking pictures.  I was ready for a tall cool one and good A/C. 

It was time to head back to the ship, and after a 2 ½ drive, we finally finished for the day as far as touring goes.  There is no rest for the weary on a ship (violins please).  It was time to shower and get ready for dinner.  We skipped the show as we were exhausted.

The next morning, I was up early to escort a half day excursion to the Sanctuary of Truth.  This is a wooden structure that a rich Chinese merchant started in 1981.  I was really skeptical of this adventure, but once I got there, I was bowled over.  This was really an awesome structure that tells stories in pictures with wood carvings. 

According to the official website, its purpose is to use art and culture as "a reflection of the Ancient Vision of Earth, Ancient Knowledge, and Eastern Philosophy”.  Man cannot be born and exist without seven creators. The Sanctuary of Truth presents seven creators through carved wood sculptures which adorn its interior.  The truth that was shown through the Sanctuary is the relationship between human beings and the universe.  They are: Heaven, Earth, Father, Mother, Moon, Sun and Stars. On top of the four spires of the sanctuary, the four elements that will lead to the ideal world according to eastern philosophy are presented 

To view the structure, we had to wear hardhats as the work is ongoing.  It is 100 meters high or equal to a modern 20-story building.  I could not fit the entire building into one photographic frame.  I think of this effort as Thailand’s version of Gaudi’s La Familia in Barcelona.  A great deal of the building used Teak; but teak cannot be harvested in Thailand anymore as it is a protect species, so they use other imported woods such as rosewood from Burma.  There is a whole team of young men and women carving new statues as the building continues, and there doesn’t seem to be any end to the project.

We headed back to the ship via Pattaya, a beach resort.  I made it back to the ship in time to say hi and bye to Michael as he headed off on his escort tour.

So now I (Michael) get to say a few words here.  Not too many really as this was not a particularly exciting excursion.  We drove first by the Bong Mun Market where all the shops sell the same delicious coconut covered confection.  Unfortunately, they didn’t stop here so we could not sample.  Next, we drove by the gorgeous Bang Saem Beach Resort.  This is miles long, and every square inch is covered with one of tens of thousands of blue and white striped umbrellas.  It was also covered with thousands of Thai bathers.  Interesting, Thai people are very shy and they do not wear bathing suits at the ocean.  Rather they wear shorts, T shirts and similar garments.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to stop here to see more.

We next went to the Ang Sila fishing village where they harvest oysters and muscles.  Unfortunately, we did get to stop here.  We also stopped at the Ang Sila granite market to see them carve the granite.  Unfortunately, they don’t carve the granite here anymore so it was another disappointing stop.  Next, it was off to the Bang Pra Golf Club to have a beer and rest break.  Exciting, huh?  Finally, we drove through the Khao Khiew open zoo where we did get to see a lot of animals, and I got to personally feed the rhino!  I have to say the highlight of the excursion was the bus itself.  It was a Ferrari bus with the most comfortable seats, each of which had a built in back massager.