Long Live the King

To pick up where Jeremy left off...

Day 3
To add to Jeremy's post, we also did a foot massage. Among other things, Thailand is the land of massages, so we had to get one done. Unfortunately, I'm hesitant about letting just anyone touch my back, as it can be an easy thing to mess up if pressed in the wrong way or spot. So we stuck to feet. There is actually a massage school at Wat Pho, so we both did a 45 minute reflexology massage, which was very nice. The rest of our bodies felt neglected.

Day 4
Because we got a late start to the third day, we were unable to see everything from a sightseeing perspective. We started our day heading across the river to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). It's amazing to us how large the Wat complexes are and how beautiful all the constructions are - even the smaller Thai Wats so far are much more impressive than the major Temples we've seen in other Southeast Asian countries.

Unfortunately the Mass Rapid Transit system in Bangkok (maybe another complaint of ours) doesn't extend to the west part of the city, where all of the major sites are (Palace, etc), so we tried taking the ferry system they have, but again, we could not decipher where the express boat stops because signs are not at all clear (even the ones that were in English didn't make sense), so we were left to taking a cab or tuk-tuk places.

We headed to the Jim Thompson House. Thompson was an American who had been an architect and part of the CIA during his lifetime. Falling in love with Thailand, Thompson made a home there and introduced the fashion industry (ie Vogue) to the use of silks from Thailand. He disappeared mysteriously in 1967. His house is now a museum, showing off works of Thai and Asian art he collected during his lifetime. It was a nice change from all of the Wats we had been seeing, and we're both big fans of seeing artwork in its "natural" surroundings like a house instead of a sterile museum. However, I wonder how well preserved some of the artwork is, as many/most of the rooms are not climate controlled.

Then it was to lunch, where I restrained myself from getting McDonald's (craving a little bit of western food - had pizza instead) and Jeremy battled with the pad thai (he ordered it, but it came with seafood even though he specifically asked for no seafood - had to send it back twice, and there was much confusion on the food court's side, but everything worked out, except he ended up getting pasta, which was sad).

We then braved the rain (we have been very very lucky with weather, so a day or two of rain is no big deal), and headed to the massive weekend market via the MRT system. Unfortunately, we could not find a map of the market (there are over 3,000 stalls), but amazingly enough we made our way around without too much of a problem - even though there was odd placement of stalls, such as pets next to souvenirs. We were also amazed that both of us did not get more frustrated with the aimless wandering as we tried looking for stuff. Both of us had our shopping lists, but I did much better than Jeremy. With a lot of handmade and original clothing/accessories/etc, I bought a couple purses (for the first 4 months of dating Jeremy, he noted I always used the same purse - not sure where the current purse purchasing has come from - he thinks it combines by desire for practicality and buying local goods), a shirt and skirt, and a couple souvenir-y items. If we lived in Bangkok we would probably do most of ou shopping at the market instead of at malls, simply for the unique items you can obtain. The bargaining has also become more enjoyable for us, since it's easy to deal with than in India.

Once the market closed up around 6pm, we took a taxi back to the Banglamphoo area to do some more shopping, where Jeremy picked up a couple t-shirts, but no luck with his other shopping list items (he really wanted a pair of white plastic sunglasses, but the only ones available were cheap-looking knock-offs). We then had a very satisfying dinner before heading back to our hotel.

Day 5
Unfortunately we didn't quite realize how early our flight out of Bangkok was - had to wake up at 4am. Ouch.

Also of note, it has been the King's 60th anniversary of accession to the throne, so there are numerous shrines around town (sometimes in the most odd places) that have a large picture of the King (still wearing 1970's glasses) and flowers surrounding it. People are also decked out in bright yellow polo shirts with the imperial emblem on the front And finally, my favorite, people are wearing Lance Armstrong-like yellow wrist bands that say "Long Live the King."

While Bangkok is definitely a big city, it is surprisingly laid back. People walk at a slower pace than in New York, and you're not as bothered by things like tuk-tuks as in Vietnam. Not to mention, you can actually walk on the sidewalks which is nice. With just 5 days in Bangkok, we can easily understand why people love Thailand.

Now we're sitting in an internet cafe in Sukhothai, the first capital of Thailand, where we'll spend the next couple nights. Unfortunately it's absolutely pouring outside....