I had a really great first day in Bangkok. I'm really loving Thailand. I was expecting it to be a big, chaotic, overwhelming city like Delhi or Cairo but was surprised to find it nothing like that and actually quite pleasant. Thai people are so incredibly friendly and helpful. Cars generally obey traffic signals and stay in their lanes...I could cross the street without risking death or dismemberment. Not once was I harassed...I could browse any of the shops/stalls without the owners stalking me and pressuring me to buy something, even the tuk tuk's and taxi's are unobtrusive. It was pretty easy to get around by water taxi and walking. The one time I got mildly lost...well, I knew where I was but not what direction I was going, this nice Thai man got up from were he was eating dinner and helped me get in the right direction...no ulterior motive.
I started my day by jumping on a water taxi to head down to see the Grand Palace, Wat pho, Wat Arun and the Emerald Buddha. At the pier there are these huge fish in the water that you can buy bags of bread for and feed....the feeding frenzy that happens is hilarious! These two monks were feeding the fish while I waited for my boat to my great amusement. On the ride down the river I met Aaron, who's traveling from London, when he asked to see my map and we decided to travel together to Wat Pho since we were both heading in the same direction.
MONKS FEEDING BREAD TO THE RIVER FISH AND SUBSEQUENT FEEDING FRENZY.
The temples,or wats, are not just tourist attractions but also play an important part in Buddhist traditions. Monks live in the temple complexes, wake up around 04:00, attend to prayers and duties and then collect food and necessities from ordinary people on the streets. This daily alms ritual (called 'tam boon') takes place all over Thailand and is part of the Buddhist philosophy of giving and making merit to attain a better life beyond this one. Perhaps one day I will try to wake up that early and catch a glimpse of this....maybe.
WAT PHO: THE RECLINING BUDDHA
ME AND AARON
Wat Pho is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha from16th century temple. It's the oldest, largest and has the most pagodas of any monastery in the city. Wat Pho is known for its giant reclining Buddha which is HUGE...it is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. Very difficult to photograph it all! He's completely plated in gold and has mother of pearl inlay in his eyes and humongous feet.
After Wat Pho, when me and Aaron were trying to find the entrance for the Grand Palace, we met two girls from Calgary, ironically enough, and travelled onward together with them. When faced with a 300baht entrance fee Aaron parted ways with us and me and Kiera, after her friend went to see a nearby museum, went to the Grand Palace together and had a fantastic time taking all sorts of dorky photos of each other. The highlight was having to time a shot of each of us grabbing a topiary phallus when the guards weren't watching(as to avoid being physically removed from the Grand Palace for corrupting an innocent topiary).
ME AND KIERA POST TOPIARY ASSAULT
I went off on my own after that and made my way across the river to see Wat Arun: The Temple of the dawn. Wat Arun is one of Bangkok's best know landmarks. It stands on the west bank of the Chao Phraya river in Thonburi. There is a beautiful monastery complex surrounding the temple. The wat is climbable...via extremely steep tall steps. It was actually quite frightening but very high up giving me an excellent view over Bangkok...but it took a little nerve to climb back down again...it was kind of like stepping off a cliff.
VIEW FROM THE TOP OF WAT ARUN
When I finished there I headed down to Khao San road to check it out..that's the backpacker mecca in Bangkok. It took all my will power not to shop!!!
I did, however, have a 1/2 foot massage for about 3 dollars and it was literally the best massage of my life...this man had magic fingers. Next time I'm doing an hour...it was amazing and will now be part of my daily itinerary. I did so much walking my poor feet were so happy after that! I followed that up with dinner, that cost about 80cents, and walked back to my hotel for a much needed shower. It's very hot and humid here, I LOVE it!
0 comments:
Post a Comment