Just a quick blog update – we have to finish packing and get our bags ready for pickup! We leave the ship at 0430 tomorrow…ugh.
What a glorious, warm day in Bangkok! My dad and my brother visited here many times during the Vietnam War era, but I’d never been here other than to pass through the airport in 1983.
In case you didn’t know, Bangkok’s official name is “Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.” That translates as, “The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”
The highlight of the tour today was a trip to the Royal Palace. Construction began in 1782 and took 3-1/2 years. It was built with volunteer labor, as Buddhist believe that helping to build a temple will get you into Heaven.
One of the first things we learned was that what appears to be gold on the stupa domes is in fact gold mirrors! The stupas and temples are constructed of intricate mosaics of reflective surfaces and colorful shards of Chinese pottery. So the structures look a little strange up close, not very beautiful when you’re next to them.
But step back 20 or 30 feet and the play of colors is incredible.
We stopped in to see the Emerald Buddha. No photos allowed inside the temple, but it was an amazing sight. We took a ferry boat across the river to have lunch at an amazing traditional Thai restaurant. Although I think they toned down the heat a little for Westerners, there was extra chili on the table to add to the dishes. Good stuff! And a welcome opportunity to sit down in air conditioning after walking around the palace grounds.
Next we took a river boat tour of the city. We paused to feed bread to the huge catfish at a sacred site (Wat Khilek) – good karma.
The river was very busy with ferries, private boat tours, and barges. It was hard to get a good photo of Wat Pho (below) without river traffic in the way!
We docked again and went to Wat Phra, site of the largest reclining Buddha. According to tradition, this is the final pose of Buddha before he achieved Nirvana.
The grounds of the temple were impressive…
The gold mirrors were starting to catch some pretty late afternoon sunlight.
I’ll need a lot of time to make more sense out of my impressions of the day. It was simply overwhelming.
Okay! Time to call it a night and finish packing. More tomorrow, from Cambodia!