Bangkok Day 1

I started the day by visiting the National Museum in Bangkok.  The museum grounds are on the grounds of a former palace of the Deputy King (equivalent to the crown prince in Western royalties).  The architecture is a combination of beautiful Thai buildings and not-so-nice 60s architecture.  The museum is quite large and a bit intimidating, but I was lucky enough to go there on a Wednesday when free English tour are offered to the public.  My guide, Alan, is a retiree from the USA that loves Thailand and its history.  He told us the history of Thailand monarch from Rama I, to the (very beloved) current king, Rama IX. If Thais can agree on something is on their love and admiration for the king.  He has stayed above all the political struggles, military coups, counter coups, and revolutions that have affected the country during his reign.  A symbol of stability for the Thai people, he is portrayed at the entrance of every town and in every house.  Nobody was expecting the current king to ascend to the throne.  A younger brother of Rama VIII, he was an unlikely candidate.  He was born in Massachusetts, while his father was studying at Harvard (yes, he could be a US citizen).   When Rama VIII was found shot dead under "mysterious circumstances,"  Rama IX was a science student in Lucerne, Switzerland.  He quickly changed major to political science and returned to the country after finishing his studies to become king.  He has reigned since 1946, making one of the longest reigns in history (just two years away from Queen Victoria's record).

The museum collection includes a historical house (the red house), a large number of sculptures, most of them of religious nature (Buddha, Hindu gods, demons, and mythological beings).   It also includes funerary carriages used by former royalty (no pictures allowed on those), but I was allowed to photograph the ones used for "minor" royalty.

During the tour, a journalist from the Bangkok Post, came and interview us about our experience in Bangkok.  I was told that the article will be published in the Sunday paper (go online and check it out, if you do, send me a copy of the article as I'll be trekking Sunday and I won't have access to Internet).

I had lunch in the Museum cafeteria (Pad Thai) with a nice couple from Singapore and from there headed to the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace and the grounds of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) is built to impress. Gold is the predominant color with details in red, green, and blue.  Everything here is larger than life.  The giant guards are 15 meter tall and every temple is capped by a dome in the shape of the Thai crown.  The highlight of the complex is the Emerald Buddha, a sculpture of Buddha carved, not on an emerald, but on a single block of jasper.  The Emerald Buddha is in a special temple where the faithful burn incense and give offerings of fruits and money in return for holy water. The story of the Buddha is interesting.  It has been sized by enemy troops many times and eventually was hidden inside a stucco statue and forgotten, until one day the stucco broke up, revealing its valuable content.

Beyond the temple area, there are the royal palaces and the king official residence.  Today these buildings are only used for ceremonial purposes.  The throne room is open to the public.  To my surprise, the room is quite spartan, except for two magnificent thrones each capped by 9 umbrellas, a number of umbrellas reserved only for the king.  In that area, there is also a small weapons museum and the museum of the Emerald Buddha that houses the offerings made by devotees as well as the gold "clothing" for the Buddha (the clothing is changed by the king three times at year according to the seasons: winter, summer, and monsoon).

Close by the Grand Palace is Wat Pho, the temple of the famous reclining Buddha.  The reclining buddha is 46m long and 15m high.  The Buddha is build with a core of brick, covered by plaster and gold leaf.  The sole of the feet is made of mother of pearl and displays the 108 auspicious laksana (characteristics of Buddha).

To my surprise, Wat Pho is more than the reclining Buddha.  The complex houses an incredible number of Buddha statues in all shapes and sizes.  Just for the fun of it, I was keeping tally of how many statues of Buddha I've seen there.  When I got 187, I got tired of the game... It also has beautiful temple, a pre-school, and a school of massage (which is supposed to be very good, although I didn't have the time to try it).   The place is fun to walk around.

I headed back to the hotel with a brief stop at a local fruit market and views of the Rama VIII bridge and the river.  The park by the river was a fun people watching spot with kids playing around, teenagers doing break dancing, and loudspeakers playing pop disco.  The park is extremely clean and well patrolled (somebody was scolded for having their feet on a bench).

At the hotel, I met my Thailand group.  For this trip, we have a full house, 12 participants.  four Australians, three British, two Americans, myself, and two other that are meeting us at Chiang Mai.  After the typical Intrepid formalities, we headed all together for dinner at a small restaurant a block from the famous Khao Sand Road,  a magnet for backpackers all over the world because of its cheap eateries and shops.