Sunday we began our day early with a delicious buffet breakfast on the hotel restaurant patio next to the river. There was a huge variety of food to choose from as you can see from our different plates:
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| Uma and Julie enjoying the view on the hotel restaurant patio. |
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| An omelet, some western style and some Asian food |
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| Mine: sauted Asian veggies, vegetarian sushi, and tropical fruit |
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| A bit of Israeli style and another plate totally Israeli |
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| The free Ramada hotel shuttle viewed from our patio breakfast site |
Modern Bangkok was founded by Rama I over 235 years ago, becoming the capital in 1782. We drove down the first main road in Bangkok, built 155 years ago by Rama V, then through Chinatown, one of the largest Chinatowns in the world and a great place to eat seafood. Historically, hundreds of years ago, many Chinese immigrated to this area when there was famine in the south of China.
We stopped at the gate to the area of Chinatown and then at "My God of Mercy Buddhist Temple."
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| Inside this Chinese Buddhist Temple |
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| Mural on the Temple wall |
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| From left to right: Haia, Julie, Ofra, Uma, Nava, and Havazelet. |
This statue had just flown in from China, and it had its own seat on the airplane. It was at most three feet tall, and people were praying to it.
Thailand imports a lot of products from China, including dried food, sharks fin, mushrooms, 22 carat gold, and much more, so there is a lot of interchange between the two countries. In 2010, China was Thailand's largest importer of its goods.
We walked down the road to the huge Pak Khlong flower market, a 24-hour wholesale and retail market selling flowers and produce. On the way, we passed street food vendors. In 2016 and 2017, CNN named Bangkok the best place for street food in the world, tasty and clean.
We mostly saw women making designs with the flowers.
Flowers are big business. Many of the flowers are used for hotels, restaurants, offerings in homes and temples, Valentines' Day,etc. Tip said that Thai are happy people and love to celebrate everything.
The Golden Triangle is the mountainous area bordering Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. Until the 21st century, it was the biggest opium producer in the world. King Rama IX about 30 years ago g pushed to reduce or eradicate the opium fields and replace them with flowers or other crops that grew well in cooler, mountainous areas such as asparagus, carrots, lettuce, etc. It was a big success, and must of the opium production moved to Afghanistan.
Lotus flowers are native to SE Asia and are regarded as a symbol of purity, faithfulness and spiritual awakening. According to legend, when Buddha first walked, lotus flowers appeared everywhere he walked. Colors include, white, pink, blue, red and purple.
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| The white and pink are especially symbols of purity. The green flower above is white inside. |
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| Ofra, Vaidhehi, Uma, Julie |
Off we went next to Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple complex in Bangkok. It was rebuilt and expanded by Rama I on an earlier temple site, and some of his ashes are buried here. It covers 80,000 square meters or about 20 acres with over 1,000 Buddha images, the largest one being the Reclining Buddha. It has the largest collection of Buddhas in one place in the country.
When President Obama visited 8 years ago, he requested to be brought to this site. Our guide Tip talked a lot about his visit to this site.
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| Our entrance ticket, $6.60 US, paid for by Gate 1 |
Thailand traded a lot with China in those days too, and often brought back statues from China as ballast in the returning Thai ships.
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| Such as this "guard" for the pagoda |
Examples of the Buddhas above sitting in a yoga position and below a huge standing one
Notice that they are draped in clothes, often changing for the season.
Monks chanting below the Buddha statues just before noon. They give blessings after receiving lunch offerings. Some monks are permanently there, including the very skinny one on the right. The second or third from the right immediately checked his cell phone when the chanting was finished.
This magnificent, 8-meter tall, standing Buddha, the Buddha Lokanatha, was originally from Ayutthaya . It is gold plated with stucco beneath. We saw so many things that I may have gotten a few confused. Fellow travelers, please let me know if I've made some errors.
Monks chanting below the Buddha statues just before noon. They give blessings after receiving lunch offerings. Some monks are permanently there, including the very skinny one on the right. The second or third from the right immediately checked his cell phone when the chanting was finished.
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| Holding the Gate 1 sign for Tip when she went to run an errand for us. |
Wat Pho was the first institute of higher education in Thailand and also the first school of Thai Massage. Since it was intended to serve as a place of education for the general public, a pictorial encyclopedia was engraved on granite slabs covering eight subject areas: history, medicine, health, custom, literature, proverbs, lexicography, and the Buddhist religion. Some of these plaques, inscribed with texts and illustrations on medicine, Thai traditional massage, and other subjects, are placed around the temple. Thai massage is still taught at Wat Pho with 3,000 to 5,000 studying here each year, and it is popular internationally. Visitors can book massages in advance, for this unique type of massage.
The Chapel of the Reclining Buddha was built by Rama III in 1832. But the Buddha was built in the 16th century and reconstructed by Rama I. Like most large Buddha statues, it is made by brick, plaster, and covered in gold leaf.The statue represents the entry of Buddha into Nirvana. It is huge, 15 meters high (50') and 46 (150') meters long, and is one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand. The path around was fairly narrow but moved at a steady pace. It was not as crowded as when I had been there in 2014, but it was impossible for me get a photo of the full length. However, Sam did and sent me pictures after I published! Thank you, Sam!
The soles of the feet of the Buddha are spectacular, 3 meters (10') high and 4.5 meters (15') long, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Thanks to Sam againa for the photo below.
Around the perimeter of the reclining Buddha, in front of several statues, people could deposit 20 baht coins (bought in advance) as a donation....I think to help pay for the upkeep. Thanks again to Sam for the photo.
In the afternoon, several of us walked through a small market near the hotel to the river to see a smaller reclining Buddha. It was fascinating to watch a woman touch up the gold on the face.
Below you can see one of 80 contorting hermit statues in yoga positions at Wat Pho. They dated from over 183 years ago when King Rama III ordered the construction of 80 zinc-tin hermit statues to show healthy Thai massage techniques. Many had been stolen or damaged but since 2016, most have been rebuilt. You can see more photos of the yoga statues by clicking and then scrolling down here.
I think we all were getting a bit confused by the different King Ramas, so the following pages that Tip showed us helped to clarify things. Rama I had been a military leader and took over and quelled a rebellion that had deposed the former king.
The next morning we took the optional (but very worthwhile) tour to the Grand Palace, a huge, 61-acre complex. Until King Rama IX, it was the residence of the king, but King Rama IX chose to live in a more middle class home with a nice garden. BTW, Rama IX was born in Massachusetts where his father was studying to be a doctor. Since his coronation, The Grand Palace has only been used for royal ceremonies. Visiting dignitaries often stay in guest houses in the complex. The new king only sleeps on the grounds during his coronation ceremonies, which took place recently for Rama X.
The entrance fee was $16.
Our first stop was the Emerald Buddha temple. The word "emerald" refers to the color and not the material from which it is made. This special Buddha is only 26" (66 cm) tall and 19" wide at the lap, and is made of a block of soft jade or jaspar form Myanmar. It is a figurine of a meditating Buddha sitting in a yoga position and sits very high up on a pedestal. It is considered the most important Buddha image in Thailand. This Buddha changes clothing three times a year, for the season. A few days before our visit, he "put on" his winter outfit. All three outfits are made of gold. The king attends the ceremony when the clothing is changed.
This special statue was discovered in the north in 1434. It was covered with stucco, but a crack on the nose (maybe from a lightning strike) showed green underneath. It was in Chang Mai until 1552 when it was moved to Luang Prabang, then the capital of Laos, by King Chaichettha who was the king of both Thailand and Laos. It was returned to Thailand in 1778 by the man who became the future Rama I.
We could not take pictures inside the room of the Emerald Buddha, but Tip has some photos she showed us on the bus that I photographed.
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| The different seasonal, gold clothing of the Emerald Buddha |
And Jimmy, with his new phone and special camera, managed to get a picture from outside the roomthrough the window. The statue itself is situated quite high off the ground.
One unusual thing about this temple is that monks do not live here but do come to pray.
We saw a barge still used nowadays for ceremonial purposes along our walk, and also took a group picture.
We passed by the stone hermit, known as Cheewok Komarahat, a patron of Thai medicine. He was a doctor of the Lord Buddha and is regarded as the father of Thai herbal medicine.
Below is a close up of part of an ornate small pagoda.
There are six pairs of Demon Guardians standing at the gates of the gallery of the Rammakian story. Most face the chapel of the Emerald Buddha and are guarding it from all evil spirits. Each represents a character that has a major role in the Rammakian story.
Below, an example of the ornate work on the buildings
A model of Angkor Wat, Cambodia at this site
And another picture below that Sam also took.
Vaidhehi and Dina in front of a more modern building, combining European and Thai architecture
Some flowers along the way
Below, a guest house and ceremonial building showing European influence:
We visited the Queen Sirikit Textile Museum. (Click here to learn more about the queen herself. She is still alive, popular but frail and 87.) Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside but the visit was definitely worthwhile. There are rotating exhibits. During one, we learned about the life of the queen, and all that she and her husband Rama IX did to help the people. They traveled around the country to see the needs of the people. She modernized and popularized Thai clothing and Thai crafts and textiles, helping the economy of the north of the country.
I was there on a a previous trip in 2014 and wrote the following in my blog:
I cannot find the background information online, but we heard/read that the government outlawed traditional clothing in 1945. We were not sure why, possibly to modernize the country? In any event, in 1959--1960, the king and queen were traveling to the US for a month and Europe for 5 months. The queen not only wanted to represent Thailand but also Thai women. She wanted to wear clothing that represented Thailand, so she had a number of experts gather photos from the past and help create clothing that would befit her. Eight different styles were created and the clothing she wore on the trip (as well as her husband)are (were in 2014) on display here as is the history on the creation of the clothing.
The queen reinvented a new modern form of Thai traditional clothing that is considered "traditional" clothing today.
Below are photos from an article in the Bangkok post
That afternoon, our intrepid group with Jimmy's guidance took Ramada shuttle to the metro stop, then the metro (after taken the free hotel shuttle to the central stop) to a new shopping area with two malls. It was mostly for locals, and one was quite upscale.
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| On the Ramada boat shuttle |
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| Part of metro map |
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| On the metro |
The picture below was taken in the mall, looking up at the mirror above us.
All the time we rode around Bangkok, we saw a lot of photos and statues of Rama X (most were taken years ago) and his wife, a former stewardess. (I didn't take any pictures of them.) We were surprised to see one photo of the revered king Rama IX in his youth, who had died three years ago.
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We also saw statues of Buddhas along the modern highways.
Rama X picture is now on all the money. A very few bills still have Rama IX photo. He is much more revered/respected than his son who is working with the military and limiting
rights.
Below are 100 baht bills, worth about $3.35 US. (There are about 30 baht to the dollar.) The top picture is of Rama X and the bottom is of Rama IX. The bills of Rama IX are less and less in circulation now. Rama X is now 67 so the picture is of a more youthful man.
The backside of the same bills, I believe, with Rama IX, the student. This bill has a number of interesting smaller pictures including Rama IX and his young wife Sirikit.
Uma and I love custard apples (chrimoya in Spanish, seethaphalamu in Telugu, and anona in Hebrew). We bought some twice and introduced this fruit to Nava.
Several of us had dinner at a very good local Thai restaurant near our hotel called Chef Jack that our guide Tip had recommended.
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| The Ramada Plaza |
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| Yummy, Fresh Sea Bass Dish |
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| Tom Yum Chicken Soup |
A number of others in our group of 29 went on an optional boat ride with a buffet dinner and dancing that night. Here is a picture Sam took of some of that group.
Next morning and next blog--on to Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Next morning and next blog--on to Angkor Wat, Cambodia
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