April 14, 2008
We met in the lobby of the elegant Oriental hotel at 10am. Arlene was a bit tardy because she was late coming back from the gym. Little did she know that to get to the hotel’s gym, guests were transported in one of the hotel’s elegant riverboats across the river to the other bank. So Dan and I relaxed and people watched in the lobby, enjoying a cup of tea.
Arlene arrived and we were off, Dan our fearless leader leading the way. We headed to the public boat taxi station and jumped aboard. I had no idea there was so much water in Bangkok! The Chao Phraya River is about 400 meters wide and winds all the way through downtown, with major public transport stops all along its edge. An endless maze of smaller canals extends out from the main river source, seemingly creating as many water ways as there are regular streets. Our boat is packed with people standing up, similar to a morning rush hour scene on a subway, with mobs of people exiting and entering at each stop. Eventually, we join the ranks of the ‘exiting mobs’ and jump off.
We are headed to The Grand Palace. Being the photo junkie that I am, I’m still shaking my head as to how it was possible that I arrived in Bangkok without my camera…and furthermore, that I did not think about buying a disposable camera. I guess that is testament to how awe struck I was by the sites…
The Grand Palace was built in 1782 under the direction of King Rama I. All 218,000 square meters are walled in by a cement fortress. Within the walled compound lies government administration halls, the residence quarters for the royal family, and most spectacularly, numerous temples, including the renown Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This site is one of the most revered sites in Thailand for paying respect to the Lord Buddha and His Teachings. And being that today was a national holiday, the temple was packed to the brim with Thais paying their respects. The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434. He sits high up on an ornately decorated throne and is just a little over 1 foot tall. Even though this one foot tall Emerald Buddha is way above the rank of us ordinary people, He’s apparently a bit fashion conscious... He is only found wearing one of three outfits: one for summer, one for the rainy season, and one for winter. Apparently, on the three days each year in which He changes His attire, there is quite an ornate ceremony. Luckily, today was not one of the days for the-changing-of-the-clothes. It was already packed enough!
We stopped for lunch and then headed on to the very revered sight of Wat Pho, also known as The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Dan has befriended one of the tour guides here. He is a wonderfully friendly Thai man who actually has grown up living at this very site, which he continues to call home today. He provided us with a wealth of knowledge, to say the least! ....This Wat, meaning ‘temple,’ is the largest temple in Bangkok and is also technically the oldest (its been remodeled), having been originally built about 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. With the previous image of Buddha at a whopping 1-foot tall still in my mind, I was that much more blown away when I laid my eyes on this 46 METER LONG, GOLD PLATED RECLINING BUDDHA! That’s the length of half a football field!! His reclining position is designed to illustrate the last few moments of His life as He passes into nirvana. The feet and eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the souls of the feet depict the 108 auspicious events in the life of Buddha. Along its edge are 108 bronze vases. For just a few Baht, we each purchased a bag of 108 coins...then as I dropped a coin in each of the vases, I said a prayer, focusing on every single person I love in my life as well as my own dreams. By the end of the line, I had tears in my eyes. With my love for the significance of numbers, I was even more moved when I reached the 108th vase and had exactly one coin left. (The norm is to be a bit over or a bit short on coins by the end of the line.) It was truly a moving experience.
However, in my ignorance of Buddhism, I truly felt embarrassed and ashamed to be there. The significance of this 46 meter long, gold plated Buddha is completely beyond my comprehension. The temple was packed with 100’s of Thai’s, likely from all over the country, bowing and paying their respects to one of their most revered relics in the history of Buddhism…and there I am, with my most profound thought being, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ By the end of our many hours together with our personal tour guide, learning about this site that he so reveres and having shared tears together along the way, I couldn't believe how close I felt to this man whom I will likely never see again. We all gave him a big hugs of gratitude, and then waved farewell as we walked away.
As we headed back toward the riverboat taxi station, in the middle of this loud and busy city, we came across a little narrow walk way that headed out to the river. Looking down its length, there seemed to be perhaps a market at the end. We decided to go check it out. It was so narrow, we had to walk single file. But we soon realized, it wasn’t a path. We were walking through people’s homes. To our right was a cement wall that had little makeshift tables and cupboards built into it. To our left was a line of little square shacks with living quarters set up inside. Amazingly, many of them were sporting flat screen tv’s and major sound system’s set up inside. The people were all smiling, happy, of all ages…young kids, to grandmas. Dan, our local tour guide, is luckily fluent in Thai so after realizing we weren’t on a public pathway, he kindly made friends with these people whom we had invited ourselves into their homes. I have no idea what they were saying, but I felt relieved when everyone started laughing. We soon continued on.
Back to the river we went. This time we jumped on one of the private canal tour boats, similar to the gondolas of Venice in shape but powered by a very unromantically loud, roaring engine. We spent the next two hours winding our way through the endless grid of these tiny waterways of Bangkok. Along the banks were mostly homes and the main source of transportation for these homeowners were their wooden boats. We passed through neighborhood after neighborhood, each with its own unique feel. Most of the homes any westerner would deem dilapidated, but this was likely not the opinion of the owners themselves. Third world countries know how to make do with much less than most of us could ever imagine, and they do so without the ridiculous pressure, so universal in western culture, to work more hours or get a better job just so we can go shopping and acquire more 'stuff'.
There were a few odd homes, built up tall with new construction and an elegantly designed fence around the perimeter, but they were certainly the exception to the rule. As for the water, the water quality was as you would expect for a river in the middle of a huge polluted city: black. Yet, the human body is incredibly adaptable, as was apparent by all the smiling and laughing children we passed playing in the water. (Mouth open wide in disbelief.) At one point, a toothless grinned older woman paddled her way over to our boat in attempts to sell us her goods…Her boat was packed with snacks, drinks, and a whole array of artsy nick-naks. After purchasing something out of courtesy, we moved on.
Next, we were stopped by a group of monks waving us down from the riverbank. We pulled up to buy a loaf of the bread that they were selling, by direction of our boat driver, and threw chunks of it into the river. Suddenly the entire surface of the water was transformed into a dense blanket of these big, fat, gray fish. Besides being awed by the mere number of them that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, my mouth was still wide open in disbelief from before, thinking to myself this time, ‘How does such disgustingly polluted water actually support life?’ It made me second guess ordering any fish for the rest of the trip, that’s for sure!
Our boat ride came to an end. Our driver dropped us off at our own private stop, at the bank of the Oriental Hotel. We took a table outside on the patio and quenched our thirst as we watched the ever-bustling river continue to serve as the main thoroughfare for a countless number of boats. Arlene and I felt deep gratitude towards Dan for our spectacular day of touring Bangkok. Being that Dan is a professional tour guide here, it would be hard to take him out to dinner to a place that he has never been to…but Arlene succeeded. One of the most famously elegant restaurants in Bangkok is a French restaurant on the top floor of The Oriental Hotel, called The Normandy. We each headed back to our respective rooms to change and met at 7pm, at The Normandy.
Elegance. That pretty much sums it up. Quaint elegance. Dan and Arlene picked the pre-set 7 course meal. Margot (who was busy working during the day but rejoined us for dinner) and I ordered Sea Bass. I had to start with the frog legs, just because I’ve never tried them before. (They taste like little chicken legs for anyone wondering.) We were all getting along fabulously, this quite random mix of us. Thanks to Arlene. Dan is her friend who lives in Bangkok. Margot was a fellow guest with Arlene at the resort last week. And I was the lucky Naturopath who was assigned to work with Arlene during her stay at the resort. We finish with the most decadent array of desserts I’ve ever seen…pistachio pie, chocolate tort, mocha madness cake, coconut delight…good thing my insulin bottle was full!
Speechless with gratitude, I said good-bye to Dan and Arlene. It was an amazing day, and I still can’t believe I got so lucky as to be invited to come along. I jumped in a taxi to head back to my hotel for a long night’s rest after my big day of Adventuring in Bangkok.
Day 3
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The next morning, I had a gloriously lazy time. I slept late. Headed down to the 7th floor for my all-inclusive breakfast buffet…smoked salmon, fresh fruit, omelet bar…I felt like a queen. I then headed to the gym for a good sweat for an hour or so. Took a shower and then out to the balcony to take a snooze on the lawn chairs. Ahhh….such a nice change from my regular day off in my home town that I fondly refer to as the armpit of Thailand. I didn’t really want to leave….but once 3pm arrived, I figured it was time to go. I jumped on the skytrain to cruise through town and headed back to the minivan station where I jumped on for the 3hour trip back to Hua Hin.
And that is the end to my story, Jody’s Big Adventure in Bangkok.
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