Our Internet connectivity was a little limited in Bangkok, so I find myself a little behind on blogging our activities so far.  I also wanted to start getting some of the photos online so I focused there first, so now I can connect some of this narrative to actual photos.  It seems so ironic to me that the smaller hotels with the lower rates and often equal amenities are the ones with the free or included Internet access, and the big resorts continue to chisel an extra few $$ out of their guests to get online.

Anyway, on with the show…..

Our original plan included a couple of days in Bangkok at the start of the trip (and also a couple at the end).  I am no fan of the big cities and had no real desire to spend any time there, but Laurie and the kids had not been there and we figured a few days would be enough to see and experience it without inflicting too much pain.  Although I am glad we went, I feel like my initial impressions were confirmed, and there is just far too many people there for my tastes.  If you are ‘city people’ it would certainly be a great spot as I think that if you cannot see it or buy it in Bangkok, it is purely because it does not exist.

We planned to cram a bunch of activities into our initial days, partly to cross them off our list, but partly to be able see some of the culture (vs just the beach) while Russill was with us.  We had planned to see the Grand Palace and perhaps a river tour, so we decided to spend our first day doing just that.

The Grand Palace

The Grand Place was built by King Rama I and was started when the King moved the capital of Thailand to Bangkok in 1782.  The grounds consist of a series of buildings including the Palace itself, the Kings Temple – where the Emerald Buddha is kept, and various ‘official’ buildings used for ceremonies and hosting foreign dignitaries.  Only parts of the complex are open to the public, and like most Thai museums and historic sites there is a small admission charge for foreigners which I assume goes to cover the cost to maintain these sites.  When you see first-hand the sheer size of these places coupled with the level of craftsmanship that was used during their construction, it is staggering to think about the amount of work involved in keeping them in the immaculate condition they are in.

The current King does not actually live in the Grand Palace, but rather lives in another palace complex in Bangkok, and the Grand Palace is used only for public and government ceremonies. I guess it truly is ‘good to be the king’!

We took the sound advice of travelers that were here before us and decided to hire an English speaking guide to tour us through the grounds.  The price seemed a little steep, but after listening to him explain details of the complex and the many artifacts located inside it was apparent that the money was well spent, and we would have gotten far less out of the site if we had tried to just wander through on our own.

One of the highlights of the grounds is the Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  The temple was built to provide a home to a rare Buddha image made completely of Jade – the deep green emerald color of the stone giving the statue it’s name.  Legend has it that the Emerald Buddha is over 2000 years old and has made it’s home in several SE Asia countries until settling in Thailand in the 1400s.  As with all the other buildings on the palace grounds the Temple is an amazing construction of minute detail – and even more amazing when you consider that it was all done 300+ years ago with crude hand tools and manual labor.

Chao Phraya River

We made our way back from the Palace grounds towards our hotel and then hired a long-tail boat to take us for a tour of the Chao Phraya River that runs through Bangkok and the many canals (klongs) that branch off the main river.  For 100s of years the river and the klongs were the primary means of moving goods and people around, and even with all the modern infrastructure that is part of the city today, the river still is a central part of their transportation network.

The klongs are like side-streets to the river and traveling up them reveals a part of the Bangkok ‘underbelly’ that while visible from the streets, is much more in your face.  We saw the whole spectrum of the people here – nice new canal-side homes and apartments built right next to what can only be called squatter’s shacks, and burned out old factories.  It is amazing to see the stark contrast between the haves and the have-nots so closely together.  What is even more amazing however is that regardless of how rich or poor the people we saw were, they all seemed so happy, and as our boat passed by they would all wave and smile like they had not a care in the world.

If the only lasting impression we get from here is that life can be as simple as you allow it to be, then it will have been time well spent.

As an aside, did I mention that it was damn hot – while we were at the palace it must have been in the high 90s and between the humidity and the sweat, we were all drenched by the time the tour was over.  The odd shop or indoor exhibit that was air-conditioned probably received much more attention than it normally would have 🙂  Hopefully as we acclimatize a bit we will notice it less, but for the moment we are drinking a lot of cold drinks.

I have uploaded a bunch of the photos we have taken and will continue to do so throughout the trip (when Internet connectivity allows) and the can bee seen on the CasaRoberts Gallery