Today we will be working in Baht instead of dong or dollars. I am never sure how much “walking around” money to change. You lose money changing it and even more changing it back, if you don’t spend it. My philosophy has been to just take a little; you can always blow that at the street market. The expensive places tend to take plastic. We set out to see Bangkok at about 7:30 am to make the most of the day. Bangkok brings to mind the land of opulent temples and exotic Buddhas. Like several other Asian cities we visited, there is a modern section complete with congested streets. There are street vendors and tuk-tuks (Pedi-cabs) everywhere. On the streets of Bangkok, they have all these candy-colored cabs. I liked the hot pink ones. The country is 95% Buddhist but more interesting to me was how many businesses, from auto repair shops to major corporations, had shires on the property. In some ways parts of Thailand are like a living museum. People seem to work around this grandeur daily probably immune to the beauty and history around them. I remember living in Rome, the first year I slowed down to gawk at the coliseum about every time I drove past. A year later, I zipped by it without a backward glance, like the rest of the Romans. Thailand is arguably the most stable and best administered state in Southeast Asia. As for Bangkok, it was founded in 1782 by King Rama and is called home by eight million people. Again, it has been a long time since I was in Thailand so we decided, when in Thailand, take in the palace and temples. Of course, we threw in a harbor cruise because, god forbid, we are off water for a whole day. The temperature and the humidity both felt like about 99. Several years ago, Bangkok was named the hottest city in the world by the World Meteorological Organization. I believe it, after each stop on the tour they gave you ice water and an icy cool wash rag. Both were welcomed and appreciated. I suppose this is but a prelude to the India trip. We started at the Grand Palace- the word opulent comes to mind. Home to former kings, you could almost picture the King of Siam holding forth on his golden throne. Probably one of the most distinctive things about it is the gild and multi-colored mosaics that top many of the buildings. Many of the walls were encrusted with semi precious jewels that sparkled in the sunlight. I took about 47 pictures but none of them really caught the beauty and magnificence of the buildings. Wat Timitr is the most famous temple in Bangkok as it is the one that houses the Golden Buddha. It is the world’s largest statue of the Buddha, craved from solid gold and weighs 5,500 Kilograms! (If I remember correctly what a kilo weighs I think that makes it almost 14,000 pounds of solid gold). And just think what one little Krugerand is worth now days! Wat Pa keo is known as the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s most celebrated monastery. This is the home of the “jade” Buddha that you often see pictured in brochures, sitting in the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha. However, the stone is neither Jade nor emerald. The Buddha is carved from a single piece of emerald green jasper. It is really not very large – but exquisitely carved and sitting on an elaborate pedestal. I understood having to take off your shoes to enter the shires, but there was a sign to remove your shoes before entering the toilet area. Really? Yuk. That seemed weird to me, I have heard of people, after a rough night, worshipping at the ole porcelain thrown but requiring shoe removal to do it? It isn’t quite as gross as it sounds because there were rubber thongs available for you to use. I decided to take a pass on wearing a pair of thongs that 182 other people ahead of me had slopped through the potty area wearing. One guy on our tour had his shoes stolen. He finished the rest of the tour in his socks. Wouldn’t you think that might be bad karma or bad Juju or something to steal from a temple? I was safe enough, large size, cheap shoes. Then, on to the canal cruise. From the luxuriant and grandiose to the to the impoverished and unfortunate. Statistics show that 70% of the Thais are poor, 28% middle class with 2% wealthy. We certainly saw the poor sections both driving into the city and with the dilapidated housing along the canals. There is a whole section of ramshackle housing lining the shores of the canal with people existing more than living. You might think viewing the abject poverty, would put us off our feed a bit, but next we sat down to a gluttonous buffet– heavy on the curry and rice. Quite a thunder storm blew in, but we had finished everything but the requisite stop at a market. The potty report – you had the squat toilets, but a new wrinkle. Beside the potty was about a 15 gallon refillable brick tank of water with a bowl attached – your flushing equipment. Back to the ship and on to Singapore.
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