After exiting Wat Pho through the back we made our way up the east fence (pictured above) to get into Wat Phra Kaew (which includes the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace). There was no entrance on the east side either. Finally, when we got to the north side we found the only way in.

The admission to this place is the only thing I found expensive in Bangkok. It was 350 baht (about $11) each. That’s about the same fee as the expensive temples in Kyoto, Japan (the ones in Tokyo are free and the ones in Kamakura are either free or close to it), but this is Thailand where most people make less than 250 baht per day. For example, the meal we had just eaten, for four with drinks, was less than admission for one of us. But the guidebooks said this was the place not to miss so we paid, and we were not disappointed.

One, quick, funny story about Ellie’s shirt in the above photo… She had on a dress with tights underneath. Even though the tights weren’t tight and went below her knees and her dress almost went down to her knees the guards would not let her in, saying she was too immodest. So Linda took her to the bathroom where her dress was pulled down below her knees and put a souvenir, Bangkok t-shirt on to cover up where her dress was. We made it through with this far sillier, and no more modest, outfit with no questions asked.

The frescoes along the inner walls of the temple are fantastic. You could spend a day just examining them. A guide who could of told us the stories painted on the walls would have been nice.

Several Thai artists were freshening up the murals.

Posted on January 4th, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: bangkok, buddhist, people. Comments: 3

There was more to Wat Pho than the Reclining Buddha. We didn’t have time to see it all since we still wanted to see the Emerald Buddha and Grand Palace before everything closed in a few hours. But there were many Thai-style buildings, Buddhas, and interesting grounds to explore at Wat Pho.

The air was surprisingly clear for (I’m guessing normally smoggy) Bangkok. I like the way the gold edge on this building caught the sun with the blue sky background. (You can click on it for a much larger view.)

The above Buddha statue is different than any I have seen before in that he has disciple statues facing him.

Not only were the skies blue, but they had some of my favorite kind of clouds added to the mix as well. I couldn’t have asked for more picture-perfect scenes.

Posted on January 3rd, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: bangkok, buddhist, clouds, people, skywatch. Comments Off on More from Wat Po

After our meal, mentioned last time, we headed toward the complex that houses the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) and Grand Palace. Unfortunately, there are no signs telling you where the entrance is and we approached from the west and turned south. The entrance, we eventually found out, is on the north side, but the walls around it go on forever.

Numerous scammers tried to convince us that the place was closed for one reason or another in order to get us into a Tuk Tuk that an accomplice was operating. Eventually we made it to the south of the Grand Palace walls. While there we decided to check out Wat Po.

The highlight of Wat Po is the giant, gold Buddha inside one of the many buildings. Photos don’t do this Buddha justice. I tried numerous angles to try and capture its essence, but I just don’t get the same impression from the photos as I did in its presence. The statue is over 150 feet in length (imagine half a football field if that helps).

You could fit a dozen people in the Buddha’s gold feet alone.

The bottom of the Buddha’s feet and the eyes are the only parts not covered in gold.

The building around the gold Buddha adds to the atmosphere. In addition to the pillars, which make a full view impossible (except from the end), the walls and ceiling are covered in frieze and paintings, and the sound inside is of metallic rain.

Once you round the Buddha, you will see where the sound is coming from. People drop coins into 108 bronze bowls along the wall on the Buddha’s back side. Offerings at such places always seem tacky to me, but the sound created by the coins hitting the bronze bowls actually added to the atmosphere.

Posted on January 2nd, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: bangkok, buddhist, temples. Comments Off on Wat Po (or Pho) – The Reclining Buddha

Before leaving Lumpini Park, we encountered some more curiosities (beyond the water monitors). The first was when a song began to play over the loudspeaker system and everyone in the park froze. It was like a giant game of freeze tag. Hundreds of people who had been jogging just a second before were suddenly held perfectly still as if by some supernatural force. As soon as the song ended they resumed their activities.

The Thai people pretty much worship their king. Apparently the song was the king’s song. We heard it again when we saw a movie (Avatar) in Phuket. It played before the movie and everyone jumped out of their seats to stand at attention while it played. Seeing this is very bizarre as a foreigner. The king’s image is all over the country, plastered on street corners and virtually every business.

Anyway, the other unusual thing in this park were the aerobics sessions that were happening. They didn’t seem to be official classes–just people who happened to show up. The leaders/aerobics instructors also appeared to be random people. The “aerobics class” pictured above was actually after dark. The only reason it looks so light is I did a 5 second exposure.

After the park we headed down Silom Road towards our hotel. Like most streets in Bangkok, things are a bit “different.” The sidewalks are in need of serious repair. Every few steps you’ll find your foot in a pothole. There is also an elevated, pedestrian walkway down the middle of the street–something I have never seen before.

We made a right turn on Thaniya Road looking for a restaurant. This is actually a red-light district so we got an eyeful of non-food sights. We didn’t see any Japanese people in the area, but, as you can see in the above photo, many signs were in Japanese. Maybe the Japanese come out later?

After dinner we went down Patpong Road, another “red-light” street. This one has stalls selling goods to tourists between the bars, strip clubs, and brothels.

We ended up with several silk, pillow covers from this place.

Posted on January 1st, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: bangkok, night photography, signs. Comments: 3

From Bangkok we went to Phuket for five nights. Our taxi driver from the airport was another scammer. His meter was already running when we got in and he wouldn’t reset it. Then he pretended to not know where Patong Beach (the largest tourist destination on the island) was and took us to his office to find out. While we were stuck in his hot cab with the meter continuing to run he went in for more than five minutes. A fellow employee, who could speak English, came out and tried to sell us tours. Finally he returned and took us to our hotel. He wanted us to pay him the full meter amount, including the amount that was on the meter when we got in the cab and the amount that accrued while he feigned getting directions so that we could be given a sales pitch. The bellhop at our hotel was no help. He sided with the taxi driver. I think we ended up giving him 450 baht, the amount we were quoted by the lady at the taxi stand at the airport. He drove off mad, unlike our driver earlier in the day.

The location of our hotel in Phuket was a major let down. I’ll touch on that more in a future post. Anyway, after crossing a street without sidewalks, traffic lights, or cross walks in which probably five times out of a hundred you will be killed (luckily we only had to cross it 94 times during our time in Phuket) we made it to our first meal on the island.

This food looked fantastic, but it was our second most disappointing meal in Phuket. It wasn’t horrible, but we had some absolutely excellent food in Phuket. More on those great meals later…

Here is Ellie doing the wai on the Andakira Hotel steps. I’m not sure if the poinsettias were for Christmas or not. It was Christmas Eve when I took the above picture. Christmas music was playing constantly while we were in Thailand. We heard it on the airplanes, in our hotel, and all over town. The music didn’t stop after Christmas either. We heard it on our flight back to Tokyo on the 29th. There is something a little strange about hearing “White Christmas” while you are eating breakfast in an outdoor restaurant in Thailand in 85 degree weather.

Getting to the beach from the Andakira Hotel is no easy task. Although the website says the hotel “is located at the heart of Patong Beach,” it is at the heart of the beach the same way the Eiffel Tower is at the heart of Notre Dame Cathedral (i.e., across town). Their website also mentions a free shuttle, but the shuttle only runs four times a day and can’t be relied on (as we found out when we waited an hour for it at one of its four scheduled times only to have it never arrive). The other options are to take an extremely over-priced tuk tuk for 200 baht or cross the aforementioned street of death and walk a while.

(Note that some internet sites say tuk tuks can be had in Patong for as little as 20 baht, but that is no longer the case. They all charge 200 baht, even to just take you across the street. This is very different than Bangkok where you can find drivers to take you short distances for under 50 baht. We paid just 20 baht for our tuk tuk in Bangkok.)

Despite the hassles caused by the location of the hotel and the needs of some of the natives to rip off the tourists, we were determined to have a good time. The beach is very nice, especially if you get there before the crowds as we did (and you can see in the above photo). The ocean water is practically warm this close to the equator and the sand is of the fine, soft variety.

Posted on January 1st, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: andakira, beach, ellie, food, phuket, ryan. Comments Off on Phuket