The Grand Palace
The traffic in Bangkok! Seems to take the same amount of time to walk as to drive. Watching the Grab (Uber equivalent) driver’s approach on the app shows them painfully stuck. From the Grand Palace to a modern mall to street food, this is a city of contrasts. But if the traffic and humidity are enough to do you in, then the Thai people are the balance to bring you back. Happy, kind, warm and genuine.
The Grand Palace was our starting point today and grand it was! A massive site built in 1782, King Rama must have anticipated the future traffic as he decided to co-locate his residence with the admin offices. Very special in the Palace is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The size (66cm tall) belies the stature of this most important Buddha (from the 15th century) in Thailand. He has three seasonal golden costumes and only the King is allowed to change his attire. Right now he’s wearing his full cloak. It’s winter after all.
The mosaic and gilt tiles decorating almost everything are stunning!
One of the Guardians of the Demons. There are six pair of them, most of which are facing the Emerald Buddha to protect him from evil spirits. The real guardian in this picture is the one with the fancy shoes.
Gold certainly brightens up the place!
Nobody will try to get past these fearsome creatures.
Evan and Alex had to get a new pair of elephant pants for entry into the Grand Palace. While a sarong was good enough for Robyn to cover up, apparently not so for the boys...
Dedicated tile fixer or rogue man with a hammer wreaking havoc?
Us and Cheewok Komaraphat, considered the father of Thai herbal medicine. He certainly looks like a pretty chill dude...what’s in those herbs?
Creative shade at the Siam Centre.
There’s a little bit of everything in the traffic here...seemingly going every which way.
Wat Pho
A precious metals day today. We visited Wat Pho, the so called Golden Temple and went to a silver-making workshop. During its construction in 1788, the king moved many Buddhas from abandoned temples and now Golden Buddhas abound here! It is also said to be the first university of Thailand and the birthplace of traditional Thai massage (yes, we did indulge!). While some of these Buddhas are world renowned, the 1,000 other Buddha images are certainly not to be overlooked!
The Phra Buddha Saiyas (the reclining Buddha). At 46m long and 15m high, this one takes up an entire building. It is not possible to see the reclining Buddha in its full glory.
I feel like I’m being watched...
Paint me gold...would I pass as a mini version?
Here’s the reclining Buddha if you could see the whole thing at once.
The reclining Buddha’s feet are five metres long, inlaid with mother of pearl. They are said to have 108 auspicious symbols in the design.
Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn (the seated Buddha). I made a grave error here. I stretched out one leg and was immediately accosted by a guard. One is never to present one’s feet to the Buddha.
Lots of Chinese influence with the ceramic decoration on the Chedi (holding the remains of Buddhas, kings and other important royals. Some of the more modern Chedi have a photo of their occupant incorporated into the tiles.
The playful(?) looking guardians sprinkled around the site to guard the pagodas. Originally used as ballasts on the ships exporting rice to China, these ultimately became appreciated as art.
Buddha repairs or another rogue person with a putty knife?
I’ll let you in on a little secret...all that glitters is not necessarily gold.
A Buddha line up. Some of the 400 Buddhas in the cloisters.
Resident monks praying.
Silver jewellery making at Shannta in the Bangkok arts and cultural centre. Robyn’s on the left, mine on the right.
Kazan ramen. The stone bowl is 300F filled with noodles, vegetables and meat. Pour on the soup and cover with what suspiciously looks like a Moroccan tajine lid. Wait a minute and enjoy. Comes with a free facial!
Fresh fish? I think I’ll go vegan today.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
It’s Saturday in Bangkok. That means a trip to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, reputed to be the world’s largest weekend market. It was surprisingly quiet…until after lunch. As with most places, it’s best to go early. It’s quite a business with an average of 200,000 visitors per weekend poking around 15,000 stalls selling everything you can imagine including misspelled knock offs and, sadly, illegal wildlife. Capped the day off with a foot massage before dinner.
Alex was interviewed by some students for a school project.
Perusing the shirts.
The ubiquitous elephant pants.
Lunch! Best paella ever!
A work of art in a pan!
Not sure what this instrument is. It’s like a bunch of flutes ties together with a single hole in each. He blows into the dark horizontal piece near the bottom and moves his fingers across the holes just above.
A bit of R&R at the rooftop pool. Impressed?
Didn’t see any birds on a wire here. No room with all the wires upon wires upon wires.
Never seen this before: personal mini keg at your table.
Now I’m curious about the durian.
It was freeze dried. How bad could it smell? Pretty bad. Well, some cheeses smell bad and are delicious. How bad could this taste? Pretty bad. I had to spit it out and brush my teeth. Don’t bother putting this experience on your bucket list.
Wat Arun
On our last full day in Bangkok we visited Wat Arun, one of the iconic images of Bangkok. On the edge of the Chao Phraya River, this ceramic covered temple is also known as the Temple of Dawn, shining as the sun rises.
A little trip on one of the many Chao Phraya River ferries. It can get quite busy on the water!
Wat Arun, with its 80m tall Prang dominating the river skyline. The shapes and colours are stunningly beautiful.
Birth of the Buddha.
The structures at Wat Arun are covered in bits of ceramic and sea shells which had been used as ballast in the ships heading from China to Bangkok.
Three-headed elephants are in the niches surrounding the Prang. The three heads represent three major Gods in Hindu mythology. Brahman’ (the creator), Vishnu (the keeper) and Mahesh (the destroyer).
On the terrace of the prang. The steep stairway leading up to this level is definitely not built to Canadian building codes. I wonder how many people tumble down trying to get the perfect selfie. A shrill whistle rang out while we were up there. Someone said it was because a woman’s skirt blew up in the wind. it turns out it was because she was illegally sitting on a wall for a photo.
These guys are everywhere holding up all the structures.
Now this is what I call fancy pants! I guess it’s one of the perks of guarding the temples against evil. I’d love to know where these Yakshas shop.
Here’s a novel way to fund the restoration of the many, many statues. People pray and purchase a square of gold leaf which they then place on the statue.
Walking through a local neighbourhood on our way to dinner. Images of the King are everywhere!
Our dinner restaurant had a side laundry business going. It must be good income as they took up a coveted table to store the folded laundry.