And We're Off Again!

Back in the air!

We have to get another trip in before the weather gets too hot to explore southeast Asia.  This time we're off to Thailand!  We arrive in Bangkok late at night, but we're ready for our private tour the next morning.  We start off the day at the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and I know I've picked a good place to stay when I see the fresh coconuts on the buffet.  I'm having one every day!

My favorite!

He wasn't the only male dressed like this!

Our guide, Kiwi, and our driver pick us up and we go to our first stop, the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo (wat means Buddhist temple).  Similar to Bali, in order to access the temples we need our knees and shoulders covered. But we discover a cultural difference right away - only women wear sarongs here, not the men (both wore them in Bali). When Steve asks Kiwi about his sarong, she just laughs at him and says it's a skirt. We stop at a small store outside the Palace and for $3 Steve buys a pair of my favorite type of pants, and can now go exploring.

Because it's during the year of mourning for the king who died a few months ago, the Thai people are all wearing black or very dark clothing. Tourists don't have to follow the rule, but our clothes are dark because I like to be respectful.  You see bunting in black and white draped on many items and there are signs and billboards of the previous king everywhere.   Any flat vertical surface has one, and many billboards have been put up on the side of the road.  He had been the longest ruling monarch in the world, and was very loved by the people.  We were warned not to deface any Thai baht (paper currency) - the king's picture is on it, and the people consider it a sacrilege if you damage it.  If you drop a bill, don't step on it - they feel you are being disrespectful.  Apparently, people have been beaten up by mobs for doing those things.  We're very careful with the money while we're there!

One of the trolleys with bunting

An example of one of the small billboards to honor the prior king.

The Grand Palace is not one single building, but an area of residences, facilities, temples and parks.  There are a couple we're not allowed to go in, but we walk around and Kiwi gives us the history on them.  

Trying to get as many buildings in the picture as possible.

It's been bedazzled!

The buildings definitely have the most sparkle of all the temples we've visited in the different countries.  The mosaic design is made up of bits of glass (I think) - so it shines and glitters.  The roof overhangs create a little shadow, so you don't need sunglasses to gaze at it.

Twinkle, twinkle...

Wat Phra Kaeo (phra is a prefix used to indicate a revered person, place, etc) is also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  No, it's not carved from an emerald gemstone, and no, Steve did not buy one while we were in Thailand. (It's actually illegal to carry out of Thailand an image of Buddha if you are not Buddhist.  To make up for the disappointment Steve buys a carved jade elephant, instead.)  In Thai, emerald refers to a dark green color, not the gemstone, and this Buddha is etched in jade.  We're able to go inside to see the Emerald Buddha, but we can't take pictures from under the roof. Luckily Steve's camera has a good zoom, so Kiwi shows us where to stand to get a shot from outside. 

not actually emerald

What to wear???

He does get wardrobe changes!  His gold (real gold) robe is changed seasonably, and can only be done by the king or crown prince.  No one else can touch him.  As you can see, he has his winter costume on now.

Exterior picture of Wat Phra Kaeo - cool shot!

There are some interesting statues on the grounds...

This looks like it escaped from a
Pirate of the Caribbean movie.

Steve with our guide, Kiwi.

...and even a Naga!  It's just about the only one we see in Thailand (unlike in Cambodia, where they're everywhere).

Decorating idea - I wonder if I can change my stair handrails at home to Nagas!

Demon statue selfie!

At Chakri Maha Prasat, another of the buildings at the Grand Palace, we're lucky to catch the changing of the guard.  Not quite as interesting as at Buckingham Palace, but still cool to watch.

There's that Caribbean statue again in the right background.

The only item I can take a picture of - stamps of some of the brocade designs.

Our tickets include entrance into the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles (the wife of the king who died recently).  It's a beautiful display of the dresses owned by the queen - many from the 1960s.  There are details on how designs were chosen, including the brocade pattern in the fabric, the embroidery, beading, and the colors.  It reminds me of the process I go through for making a quilt!  They are simply gorgeous, but no pictures are allowed.  It's in a lovely, air conditioned building, too - with few other people inside.  It's a nice break after the hordes of people and heat outside. 

On the river in our boat with Bangkok in the background.

Next we leave the Grand Palace in order to travel on the canals in a long-tail boat. Once again, it's amazing to see the variety of houses on stilts (I think it doesn't normally flood, though they had one about 5 years ago). It's also a nice break for our feet. 

Some look like this...

...and some look like this.

It's not only fish in the water!  We see this guy peeking out as we enter one of the canals.  If you can't tell from the picture - he's huge.  He's an Asian water monitor, and they average 5-6 feet in length and weigh about 45 pounds.  Luckily, he doesn't come any closer to us.

He's a meat eater, too.  Scary!

Got a Coke and a smile?

Just like in other countries, they have "7-11" convenience store boats!

Here's Steve, the photographer, hard at work!

I use my favorite travel app, CityMaps2Go, and take a screen shot of our travels on the canal.  We're the blue dot with the arrow facing down and you can see Bangkok to the upper right of the screen.

Then we walk around Sampeng Market and Phahurat Market in Chinatown. I had read there are some quilting cotton stores here, and I stop in one and buy a little, but it isn't really a focus for this trip. The markets aren't impressive, with lots of cheap, inexpensively made items. Steve is happy to pick up a new charger for his phone for only a few dollars, since he left his on the plane (Update - after six weeks, it doesn't work anymore.  It got him through the trip, though).

Walking through the markets.

Kiwi and I check out the merchandise.

Kiwi asks what we'd like for lunch, a nice restaurant or local one - we say a local one!  As our first official meal here, I try out the pad si ew, Steve has panang curry and we both get Tom Yum soup.  I've finally found one that is better than the one made fresh at the Cup Noodles museum in Yokohama!  And it has noodles in it too. Other than at the museum, in Japan they don't have them. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm supposed to order noodles separately and then put them in myself.  I'll have to research that when we get back, now that I know they serve them with noodles in Thailand....

My new favorite bowl of soup!

Then we go visit a couple of Thai silk stores I had read about - Anita Thai Silk and Jim Thompson. I'm tempted to buy some yardage of silk, but it's pretty expensive, and more of a decorator fabric weight than quilting. I'm also tempted by some pillow covers, but I decide to pass.  I can't remember if I have 18" or 24" pillows on our banquette.  Steve gets a tie, so we don't walk out empty handed. 

Not bad, but not great.

We finally get to try durian!  We saw the fruit in Vietnam, but never got a chance to pick it up.  They say it "smells like hell, but tastes like heaven."  I don't think it smells too bad, but it could become overwhelming.  And the taste, well....it's creamy, which is unusual in a fruit. It's not bad, but neither Steve nor I can understand all the fuss about it.  At least it's no longer a mystery now.

We return to our hotel for dinner and to have a Thai massage.  We frequent one fairly regularly in Japan, because it's right beside our apartment. We're interested to see how it's different here, though we both end up choosing a fusion style massage. However, my masseuse uses a lot more pressure, which feels good, but occasionally painful. At the end though, everything feels great. I'll sleep well tonight!