Bangkok

[Revelation number one: I don't know what I've always thought my image to others was but I guess it was more in the Barbara Bel Geddes category - not beautiful nor suave looking, but clever and adequate looking. Vigorous, not young but not old yet.  

On the plane to Tokyo, en route to Bangkok, I was talking to the American expat with several the gorgeous children. I mentioned that I was going on a dig. Oh, he said, on hearing about the kinds of things Earthwatch sponsors, I studied anthropology in college. Once I saw Margaret Mead, in the late seventies. I knew you reminded me of someone - it's Margaret Mead!  Sigh.A new self-image for me, in an instant!]

THAI Hotel? Yes, Thai Hotel. Thai Hotel? Yes, Thai Hotel

Judging by the taxi drivers and shop keepers and tour guides I've encountered today, the Thais are big on love of their king (who is a very popular figurehead and whose wife is equally in favor) and their Buddha. Every monument to Buddha is pointed out lovingly by every taxi driver. Every picture of the King - and there are many - is equally beloved. He is their hometown hero. They know where he is in the country - in Chiang Mai at the moment, but he will be back here on Tuesday. His wife gave a nursing scholarship which my seatmate on the flight here won.  The shop outside the grand palace is full of handicrafts made by women sponsored by the queen. Etc. Giant pictures of the King hang outside all the Buddhist temples, or wats.

After about six hours of sleep, I woke up feeling fine, picked up a little breakfast from the lobby of my floor of the hotel, then went to the airport, stowed my bags in a left-luggage, (for the record, 40 bhat per bag for 24 hours, so about $1.50 each. As recommended by one of my web-guide pages, I took the limousine in from the airport. The web page said this cost 300 bhat but it was 500 which makes it not terribly  cheap, but the driver was knowledgeable and pointed out places as we came in, and could speak English - AND knew where the Thai Hotel was, which is more than I can say for the others during today.

The hotel seems fine. In a relatively quiet spot - RELATIVELY  is the operative word here, opposite a minor temple. The lobby's ok, I may check out the restaurant this evening, but the hall isn't carpeted; it has linoleum. Otherwise, it is ok - oh, dear, they just turned on the loudspeaker at the wat.  One forgets that buddhism isn't any more restrained than the rest of Thai culture.

Which is definitely not restrained. There are many shops with beautiful Thai silk. Until I saw pillows of thai silk in the Jim Thompson house this afternoon, I really didn't think it COULD be used tastefully, its colors are so bright - but then they made the dark walls of the teak lined JT House look quite beautiful.

Well, anyhow. After I checked in I got a taxi to the Imperial Palace and the temple complex attached to it. In this it's rather like the Kremlin - a palace directly connected to a central repository of the most elaborate and beloved churches or wats or whatever,  The temples in the Wat Phra Kao are truly spectacular, everything you think of when you think of Thailand. The grounds were extremely crowded today; it seems to be a popular visiting place for both farangs and natives, and it was Saturday so the natives were out in force.

The heat was strong and the sun very hot - I got a straw hat immediately, but passed the inspection by the guards who make sure that no one goes in in shorts, or flip-flops. Long pants were ok, even for me, and so were my sandals, though I don't know how the teva sandals popular among the young fared. There's plenty of shade, and people sat in it; there were juices and water available. 

The Palace itself is closed on the weekends though I think there's not much of it anyhow. I originally attached to a government sponsored tour but lost them now and then and eventually gave up - he didn't allow much time for picture taking. One has to remove all shoes and proceed quietly into the presence of the Emerald Buddha, being careful not to point toes toward the Buddha as one kneels down. Yeah. Basically all surfaces of the buildings are covered with something: cut glass, gold leaf, or porcelain. Know, there are probably twenty or thirty buildings in the temple complex, and all of them are big, and they are all completely covered. There are also, improbably, bonsai around, carefully tended little trees or plants. There's a bush with a dozen kinds of azaleas all grafted onto something.

I went into the little palace museum which didn't have much but was out of the sun at midday but eventually left the temple/palace complex. Found a bookstore with a lot of American books across the street, then followed people walking toward  something. Turned out to be a warren of tiny shops and vendors cooking food, selling amulets and all kinds of stuff. Layout much like the old farmer's market in LA, but with a hint of Chinatown. At the far end of the market was the dock with various boats coming and going. I found one cafe which had closed doors and air conditioning, ordered water and chicken with basil (seems to be a pet dish). They went out to the street stall to get it - but it was very good. And at least it was inside air conditioning!

From there I took a boat along the Chao Phraya river down quite a way, to the Oriental Hotel area, though I didn't see the hotel. I was on an inside seat of this quite large and crowded boat, so I really couldn't take pictures off the side - this will have to wait but must be done - quite a variety of residents live along the edge of the river. 

I  walked a bit on a main street and saw some shops with interesting things along with far too many THAI silk shops, etc. By today's tastes the silk is really bright, beautiful, but no longer my style. I saw a beautiful plaid of blues and greens and pinks and remembered having something made of that in the fifties. Sigh!

Caught a taxi and asked to go to the Jim Thompson house, which I'd heard was good. Very willing driver set off saying Jim Thompson House, Jim Thompson house. Sikomvit Road. Sikomvit road. Barrelled along in this terrible traffic. I showed him a map, but it became obvious he couldn't read it. Nor could he understand what I was saying. Very obliging, but no idea of where to go. When I realized this, I said, ok, let me off here. It took a few streets to GET off. By then I was several unappetizing blocks away from a hotel I had seen that I knew would have a map or SOMEone there who could point me in the right direction. So I hailed another taxi. Taxis there are, more so than NYC. Very obliging people. I think most of them moved here last week, but they do know how to blow horns. And to keep from slamming into one another; in spite of all the traffic, I haven't seen any accidents! (not the case in NYC, it's routine to see a fender-bender)

Second driver was marginally more clued in than the first. He knew where Siam Square was, and got me there and even a couple of blocks beyond, almost to the Jim Thompson house. So that was okay, though I've found that you have to be able to read the map yourself and guide them to where you want to go.

The Thompson house, as I said earlier, is charming. It was also invaded by security people because the Prime Minister of Canada is visiting and they were giving him the royal tour/ treatment, etc. Probably Canada is at least as big a trading partner as the US, so there was a lot of fuss made.

Back out to the main road, I went across the street to the giant complex around Siam Square of indoor malls.  Gold for sale in red, mirrored stalls, next to every food franchise from the US, from Dunkin Donuts to Pizza Hut to KFC to Wendy's and McD's. These are much admired by locals, apparently. I saw no farangs within any of them!

Another taxi. Thai hotel? Yes, sure. This one, even more than the others, seemed to operate on the Think Method as pioneered by Professor Hill of the Music Man. You THINK Thai Hotel, you will be there. Wishing makes it so.  After a hundred bhat spent going around in quite literal circles - and I'm convinced he wasn't trying to up the fare, he genuinely didn't know, though he was happy to point out the World Trade center and the mall I'd just come out of as sights - we went to Bang Lampoo, which is in the vicinity of where I wanted to be. Got out there, and was at the Khaosan Road area, which is street stalls and storefronts and thronged with farangs, mostly very young college kids. My feet were hurting and there were some sandals there cheap, so I bought some and wonder of wonders, the shopkeeper (who also mailed stuff for farangs, and had phone booths for them) gave me the clue to getting where I wanted to be: one writes the name in THAI! With that in hand, I caught a tuk-tuk (little golf-cart like machine) back to the hotel.

I came up and rested briefly, and started this page, then washed and went down, fully intending to just eat in the coffee shop. But there was no one in it, so I went out onto the street and started walking. Walked as far as the national monument, and wished I'd planned to go out more - the heat had lifted at sunset, and I could see that monuments were well lit at night. But instead I walked "around the block" getting lost in the process of course, but finding lane after lane of people cooking outside for themselves or to sell. Kids playing happily in the streets, dogs wandering aimlessly or lying content in front of their homes. Shoes are left outside. People live on the streets, basically, going inside to sleep. Cats, all very tiny Siamese build, but not I think kittens mostly, run around much as squirrels do around the Brown campus, ignored, always there, staying mostly out of people's way. One does not want to adopt them. They are not needy. They simply ARE.

I turned the wrong way down a lane and a lady in her home sensed I was needy - I said Thai Hotel and she pointed the way, dispatching two girls of perhaps 10-12 to go with me. Or maybe they came on their own. We all trooped along, the girls chanting Thai Hotel, Thai Hotel, softly, and they saw me a couple of blocks through a path along a canal (there are small canals everywhere) until I found the main road. Some of the food for  sale at the tiny stalls looked quite good, but I had no small change and wouldn't try to pay for a dollar meal with a fifty dollar bill, in essence.  So back I went to the hotel coffee shop and had chicken curry with rice, quite good, plenty of it, not too spicy but with some peppers.  One eats mostly with a big spoon, not with chopsticks here.

And up to bed at 7:30 - I'm writing this at 5 a.m. on Sunday.

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long tail boat, why not!

Wat Po, the fantastic. Longtail boat to the royal barges and down the river or side canal. taxi to Vinkaremen palace, then thai dancing. back to hotel, airport, japanese restaurant, flight delayed for hours, first impressions of earthwatchers, moving in, bed at midnight

Having learned my lesson from the day before, I got the deskpeople at the hotel to write down everywhere I wanted to go, in Thai, so I could show it to the taxi drivers. Before I left I had a good American breakfast which apparently was included in the room price, though then the room price turned out to be  about $5 more than I thought so I guess it came out about right - but it was a good breakfast, with two "fried" eggs which were more like baked eggs, crisp bacon, good coffee, juice. Enough to last awhile.  

The taxi driver took me to Wat Po which is the other "must see" temple complex, not far from Wat Pra Kao that I'd seen the day before. I was there by eight and the temple containing the reclining Buddha, which is what everyone comes to see, didn't open until 8:30.  So I had a lovely time wandering around the temple grounds by myself, taking pictures and enjoying the quiet. Well, relative quiet. There was a group of monks, in their orange robes, chanting over in a corner shed. Again, the quality of the work and the intricacy of the decoration is really astonishing 

At 8:30 we got to go in to the temple, removing shoes beforehand being sure not to point our toes in the direction of the Lord Bhudda. The thing is incredibly big, all gold leaf. It's like seeing a very large, very golden whale, enclosed in this elaborate temple. Maybe I got some pictures of it that make sense, but I'm not sure.   By 9 o'clock the complex was filling up with people - again, mostly Thais or other Asians on a day holiday, not farangs.

I walked a couple of blocks through a fish market to the river taxi. It had just left and I got talked into taking a "long tail boat" by myself. This is not recommended, apparently; some people have been known to be robbed by the operators, but except for the cost I had no problem. Well, no problem other than getting INTO the damned thing. It is like a VERY long canoe, maybe 30 feet from stem to stern, but with only about the width of two Thai (i.e., narrow) people.  There's an impressive outboard motor mounted on the stern, with a very long rudder/propeller sticking into the water. You ride very low  in the water, sitting on the bottom like a canoe, and the guy steers. Now the guidebooks had said it was not a good idea to take one of these by yourself, but I showed them that I had no money, or rather only a $20 bill and 100 b (ca. $4.) I refused to give them the 100 b but did give the sailor and his tout a $20, with the understanding that he would take me to the Royal Barges and then eventually deliver me back over to the pier near the Palace where I knew there was a bank. So off we set. The river is good and wide, perhaps half a mile wide, but the boats don't seem to entirely keep to one side because they're going one way. Most of the stops are on the east side of the river but some are on the other side so you kinda have to plan where you want to go. The royal barges are in a quonset hut type shed down a side canal,  going west from the Thornburi rail station that is right at the junction. The young man delivered me to the barges. For 100 b I could have taken all the photos I wanted but, being broke, I didn't spend the money, and it wasn't really worth spending the money on. I could get reasonably good photos from the edge of the shed (I think, but am not sure, that it's a "respect the royalty" thing; the barges themselves are more than a bit dusty along their lengths. But they are marvelously gold and red and must be impressive indeed on the river with all the rowers.

Leaving the barge shed, I managed to get back into the longtail boat (this is not easy. There is quite a wave motion from all the river traffic!) and the guide took me on down the river further. And down and down. Past small temples and people living right on the edge of the water in tiny houses (not huts) with flowers all over the little decks, etc. Women in sampans selling hats, just like in the movies. People carrying food, or flowers, to market. It was absolutely enchanting. The silent boatman would have happily gone on further, but I had other plans, and I was starving to boot, so I persuaded him to drop me back at the Ta Maharat dock, just down from the Wat Pra Kao complex, and I made a stop for money at the Bangkok Bank there! Whew!

I picked up a sticky rice tamale from a street vendor - there are many of them in this tiny covered market.

I got out onto the street and found a taxi, showing the driver the Thai spelling of the place I wanted to go to: the Vimarnmek Palace. This one gave me a price and turned off the meter, which was a great relief: he knew where the place WAS!

It's the so called "teak palace" an enormous palace built entirely of Teak by Chulalonkorn, Rama V, who lived there for only a few years before moving to larger quarters, but it is a charming house, much more a "house" than a "palace" I think he must have been in his Westernizing phase. In any event, we were taken around a great many rooms by a guide, for more than an hour. One of those hippopotamus stories. Afterwards, I got a little snack (coke and small pastie) and went to the Dusit hall which houses incredibly beautiful handicrafts made by various villagers who either improve on native handicrafts and arts or invent them; I'm not sure which, probably a bit of both, but the silver and mielloware and silks and so on are quite beautiful and quite sophisticated - a number of hard-sided evening purses that would sell for several thousand in NYC (and are not cheap here)

I had plenty of time to stay for the monkey show (boring) at 1:30 and the Thai dancing at 2 (slightly less boring, pretty). And then caught a taxi back to the hotel. There are tuk-tuks but dammit, they are not air conditioned, and we are talking 95 degrees here!

Back at the hotel I had about an hour to relax and cool off and arrange to go back there on my way home. I also walked around again in the area where I was the night before, seeing it in the daylight it looks a bit more squalid but only in relation to America. Not in relation to Thailand!

The rest of the day was taken up with getting to the airport (not too bad, actually) grabbing dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the airport and racing all over the place to get to the RIGHT Thai airways terminal, then waiting for two hours because the flight was delayed, getting this terribly short flight and then riding forever from the airport to Phi Mai and the hotel and a late dinner (at least there was one, and by that time I was hungry again!)