It is actually 3 holidays all rolled into one-1) The Bangkok experience 2) the outlying areas and other cities including the rice paddies and the jungles 3) the beach. There is WAY too much to write about in just one blog entry so I will divide it up into those 3 categories.
I think it is fair at this point to explain a bit about my expectations of the trip. My reasons for going were a nagging curiosity about Buddhism and South East Asia in general, neither of which I had ever been exposed to. I, personally, have never really been able to understand any organized religions- too much hypocrisy, paradox and irony for me, but I thought that perhaps Buddhism might be different. Maybe I would "get" this one. Not that I have studied Buddhism- but my general understanding of it is that it is a religion in which every little thing mattered. Each entity on the planet, whether animal, plant or inanimate object are connected and are one. Reincarnation is the order of the day-so you need to behave in a gentle manner so that you will elevate your status the next go around. Be kind. Peace. Harmony. LOVE. All of these things ring true deep in my own soul.
So with that being said- lets go first to BANGKOK.
There is going to be a resounding theme through this article and it is "PARADOX". So let me first tell you that after taking a Delta Airlines flight from Memphis to Los Angeles then boarding onto a Korean Air flight my first thought was this: "The USA a the third world country! Are you kidding me?" Our Delta Flight is on a dumpy old airplane with no leg room, nine thousand pieces of unchecked luggage crammed into the overhead bins, an opportunity to buy some Pringles potato chips from a troll posing as a flight attendant- now contrast that to the brand new two story Korean Air aircraft with perky, smiling, beautiful, freshly starched flight attendants, a duty free store in the back, tons of leg room, our own individual televisions, slippers, toothbrushes, tasty meals, drinks....you get the idea- and the irony was not lost on us.
We land around midnight at the Bangkok Airport which bolsters our thoughts. It is like a scene out of Star Trek. The gates and concourses are tubular and made from metal and glass. The marble floors gleam and there is a sleek shopping mall that has every store and restaurant you can think of. It looks brand new and is state of the art. We are met by our guide, Chai, and whisked away in a luxurious motor coach to our gorgeous 4 star hotel that caters to westerners called The Century Park.
After a good nights sleep and a sumptuous breakfast we are met once again by our guide, Chai. Chai is awesome. He is exactly what I thought a Buddhist person would be. He is kind, patient, funny, he loves his Country and is enthusiastic about sharing it with us.We exit the sanctuary of the hotel and Bangkok hits us in the face- Throngs of people are everywhere, cars and motor scooters clog the roads and sidewalks, every crack and crevice is littered with plastic bags and bottles, each breath you take is like smoking an entire pack of non filtered Camel cigarettes. The air is so bad your eyes sting and what ever vistas there may be are obscured in a smokey haze. Vendors are setting up to sell their wares all over the place but the only "real" shops are Seven Elevens, of which there appears to be hundreds of thousands! Whoa! Where is the peace, love and harmony? Where indeed- maybe we will find them at the Wats.
Wats are Temple and the Temples lie inside a walled perimeter that shuts out the rest of the crazy world. They are frilly, dreamlike structures covered with intricate designs made from mirrors and tiles of all colors. They are guarded by huge statues of demons and inhabited by orange robed Buddhist Monks. Front and center inside each Temple, is a statue of Buddha- which sits among offerings of burning incense and wilted flowers placed there by his devotees. The word "ornate" doesn't even come close to describing the scene.
There must be thousands of Wats in Bangkok. Chai took us to see some of the most famous. The first one was Wat Trimitir where the golden Buddha resides. The Golden Buddha has an amazing history. This particular one is thought to have originally been housed in the original Capital of Siam, the city of Ayutthaya. ( Side note: Siam is now called Thailand meaning "land of the free" a reference of having avoided being colonized- a fact of which Thais are extremely proud). Created during the 13th century the Buddha remained at the old capital until the mid 19th century when the city was sacked by the Burmese. Some fast thinking Monks must have covered it with plaster to fool the intruders. The damage inflicted by the Burmese to the City of Ayutthaya was so severe that the King decided to move the entire capital south along the banks of the Chao Phraya River to what is now Bangkok. The plaster statue was moved along with them to a small temple and forgotten about. In 1930 the old abandoned temple was slated for demolition but destroying the Buddha statue, even though it was not a particularly attractive one, was not an option. So it was moved down the road to another Wat, where, being too large to be housed in the temple, it sat under a tin roof for the next 20 some odd years. Eventually, in 1955, the Monks built a new temple to house it and, as it was being moved by a crane to its new abode, a cable broke and the Buddha was plunged into the mud. Thinking this to be a bad omen, the workers fled. Rain set in and flooded the city. After the water subsided the Abbott came to assess the damage and found the plaster had cracked open and exposed the golden Buddha inside! It weighs over 5 tons and is made from solid gold!
The second temple was Wat Po which features the enormous "reclining Buddha" that is 150 feet long. The temple is adjacent to the Royal Palace and is also the birthplace of Thai massage. The place is impressive, the huge Buddha even more so...but Bangkok's sweltering heat and humidity took it's toll on me. I had to sit down for a bit. It wasn't until we left that I realized that I had rested right beside the actual Bodhi tree that the Buddha had been sitting under when he had his epiphany (they had brought a cutting of the original tree from India and planted it in the courtyard.)
On the way back to the hotel, Chai tells us of a few "must do's" while we are in Bangkok. Number one, get a Thai massage- these guys are the masters of the art and there are massage parlors everywhere- for the equivalent of $27 US plus tip we could have a 2 hour Thai massage in a reputable place ( I don't suppose I need to tell you what they are doing at the un-reputable place- right?) If you have never had a Thai massage it is something akin to being tied up like a pretzel- but the effects are in the hidden energy fields of your body and you leave refreshed in body, mind and spirit. For the entire rest of the trip we had a massage a day!
Number two, check out a tailor. For a ridiculously small amount of money you can get ANY item of clothing handmade made just for you. We popped into "Tonys Tailors" where we were seated, given a beer and invited to go through huge catalogs of every coat, suit, pants or shirts that exist on planet earth. I chose an Armani designed coat and the knowledgeable seamstress quickly returned with two bolts of amazing silk and cashmere blended fabric- I could take my pick- either one was perfect. She quickly and deftly measured me and did a bit of bargaining ( she did the bargaining- I am terrible at it!). For $500 US I got the full length coat, a pair of slacks and two skirts. Tim got a Hugo Boss inspired suit for $350 US. They had all of these things ready within 24 hours and delivered to our hotel.
Bangkok is full of markets. Night markets, Sunday markets, weekend markets, day markets, food markets- you name it- there are markets everywhere. We wandered around them all but a couple of them really stood out. The most memorable in Bangkok Proper is the Night Market at Patpong in the seedy, world famous red light district. (To be honest all of Bangkok seems like a seedy red light district to some degree. It tells a sad tale of exploitation, human trafficking and debauched locals and tourists.) Here you will find every "name brand" item that you can imagine and nothing is real. Surrounding the rows and rows of vendor stalls are streets lined with "Go-Go Bars" and brothels. While we were asked if we wanted to go inside a and sample the wares we were not hounded and were allowed to just walk around with our wide eyed expressions without any hassle.
The other market that you MUST see is called the "Floating Market" and it lies about 2 hours ( depending on traffic) outside of Bangkok. The canals of Bangkok and the surrounding areas were built beginning in 1866 at the behest of the King and at one time it was known as the"Venice of the East". But now most of the canals have been filled in, tar-macked over and converted to streets. However, north of the city the labyrinth of narrow canals still exist and you can take an exhilarating long tail boat ride down them and see the famous Floating market of Ratchaburi with a ducks eye view! The boats are long and narrow and made from a teak log, a motor that looks like a hand mixer gone mad extends out about 10 feet from therear and the driver can pivot it up and down so that they can negotiate some very crowded shallow waters.
Along the water way are teak homes stilts and coconut farms. Merchants laden with wares go from house to house hoping for a sale, then they all meet at one spot known as Damnoen Saduak in a crazy crowded display of color, noise, sound and smell at the Thai icon known as "The Floating Market". You really have to see it to believe it. Food, clothing,monks, snakes, elephants, trinkets and treasures all are right there in this frantic display of capitalism!
There are other things that you have to do in Bangkok, like tour the Grand Palace grounds and take a ride down the Chao Phraya River (at night is probably best when its dark and the Temples are spotlit). You won't be bored for very long in their insane city of 10 million!
Amazing Thailand (pt 2) :Rice Paddies and Jungles
Over the next few days we traversed the "spine' of Thailand in our luxurious motor coach- going from Bangkok, which is located in the south, all the way north to where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) meet. [Image]We boarded our motor coach early in the morning and began plying our way through the choked Bangkok traffic heading north and following the course of the Chao Phraya River. Eventually the urban sprawl ended and we found our selves at the ruins of Ayutthaya,"The Invincible City" that was once the Capital of Siam which flourished from 1350 to 1767. At one time this city was the envy of the Eastern world and was likened by many to Paris. The city was friendly to traders and merchants. Outside of its fortified walls grew villages of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch and French peoples. The city flourished and went through a golden age of learning, art and literature. But in 1765 an army of 40,000 Burmese attacked and after 14 months of siege the city lay in complete ruins. In fact, it was so ruined that the King decided not to rebuild it and the capital was moved south to what is now Bangkok.There is a haunting beauty about the place. Huge Buddhas still stand sentinel over the peaceful, ruined complex and the landscape is dotted with ancient pagodas. Pottery shards from the 1400's still litter the grounds around its old kilns and you can feel the ghosts of the people who once inhabited the place. [Image][Image]From there we boarded the bus and continued north to the city of Loburi and the Phra Prang Sam Yot, also known as the "Monkey Temple". I LOVED this place. The city was founded in the 10th century and its' beautiful and ancient Hindu Shrine in the city center is inhabited by loads of Macaque monkeys. They are revered and fed by the local people so they were quite unafraid and extremely mischievous. There are bars on the windows of the shrine, not to keep the monkeys in but in an attempt to keep them out. Three of the naughty guys jumped on my back, stole my sunglasses and climbed to the top of the temple to dismantle them. Maybe some people would not consider that the perfect day- but I did- thats the kind of stuff I came for-what an experience! Upon leaving the town, the countryside opens up to the rich alluvial plains of the Chao Phraya River and Thailand's rice paddies reach out to the horizon. The further north you go, the prettier is gets. Occasional trees dot the flat padded fields and farmers, who still do it all by hand, can be seen working the land with their water buffalo. Further north still, mountains rise up in the smokey distance. Eventually we come to what is known as the "Golden Triangle". This is the border of Thailand, Laos and Burma. This area is famous for its opium production , drug trade and general lawlessness. It's not pretty. It's weird. The muddy Mekong River divides the three countries, and when standing high on its banks on the Thai side you can see the differences in all three. I suppose, since the big pharmaceutical companies dispense drugs like candy these days, there really is no need for the old opium growers anymore so they have turned to, guess what? Casinos! Who would have ever guessed that the drug cartel/ mafia would now build casinos and make their billions legally? (Yes, I am being sarcastic). Standing on the bluffs right next to an enormous golden statue of Buddha you can look across the river and see Laos. The river banks have been stripped of all vegetation and rip-rap grey rocks have been poured down to the river from top to bottom. A huge, band new casino stands menacingly in the center of a sea of concrete. Lovely! Looking west to what is now called Mynamar (old Burma) you see another enormous casino complex under construction. This one is surrounded by green delta land and in contrast to the one in Laos looks almost inviting. We took a boat ride over to Laos where we hung out on an old, dumpy market area filled with starving dogs and cheap trinkets. Don't do that. Just skip it. [Image]More interesting, but certainly not more beautiful , are the hill tribe people that are still found in the region. These are people who have fled from Burma because of genocide about 300 years ago. They found Thailand's mountains and jungles an easy place to lead their nomadic lifestyle. To make a living they grew poppies and cultivated opium. Since the mountain's soil is thin they practice slash and burn techniques leaving a landscape of waste and destruction in their wake. Only 18 percent of Thailand's forested jungles remain. The rest have been destroyed by these tribes (and no doubt illegal loggers and other commercial interests). The government finally took some notice a few years back and have been trying to infuse the area with some financial aid to help get the tribes get off the opium trade and change their practices- but at the moment the prospects for the jungle still look pretty grim. The "jungle" in this area, which was once home to elephants, tigers and the clouded leopard, now looks like a strip mining operation from West Virginia. [Image]My favorite activities in this area of Thailand was visiting the elephants at the Measa Elephant camp outside of Chaing Mai. Here we spent some time feeding the elephants bananas and sugar cane, watching them paint pictures ( yes, we did!) and taking an hour trek though the forest on a 41 year old elephant named Kamine. I had finally found the lush landscape that I had been imagining! The following day we went on a zip line adventure through the canopy of the forest and saw Gibbons monkeys! Don't miss these things- they are magical and you will remember them for a lifetime.....you might even become interested in the plight of the south east asian wildlife and choose to help via the Wildlife Conservation Society who is trying to protect their habitat- no doubt they need you! Go to www.wcs.org [Image]These are the highlights of our trip to through the Thai countryside, it took us 7 days to explore and I am sure you will need at least that much time if you decide to go and take a look. From here we flew from the Chaing Mai airport to the island of Phuket for 3 days on the famous beach.....that will be the final installment of my amazing adventure through Thailand.
Smartours offers this Amazing Thailand trip three ways: you can see all of what I have written about in my previous blogs over a two week period or you can extend your travels by going to Cambodia to see Angor Wat or to Phuket Island for a three day stay on their fabled beaches. Almost everyone on the tour went to Cambodia (and they loved it) but we opted for the beach and so it was with heavy hearts that we said good bye to our fellow travelers- we had made some super new friends that miss dearly.
Our plane left out of Chiang Mai and we flew directly to Phuket Island which is located in the very southern reaches of Thailand and surrounded by the Andeman Sea just north of Malaysia. This is the part of the journey that prompted us to actually come on this fascinating journey to begin with. Being originally from England, I have many friends and relatives that have been to these beaches mostly in the 1980's and early 90's) and they tell tales of exciting adventure and wondrous scenery.
Our hotel, the Novotel Resort, lies on the northern part of Patong Beach- a very popular beach with westerners. It is situated on a hillside and encompasses 8 terraced acres. When the tsunami hit in 2004 Patong Beach was inundated and almost completely wiped out. Many people died and many are still missing. Our hotel was at such an elevation that it was not hit- so it is one of the few places that still remain on Patong Beach from that awful day.
The resort itself is wonderful. It looks down on Pataong Beach, a three mile sandy crescent nestled between high hills and flanked with tall palm trees. A three tiered swimming pool, several restaurants with bars and an opulent open air lobby greeted us upon our arrival. Our incredibly comfortable room was made of teak wood had sea views. It was immaculent. The sun was setting so we threw on on swimming suits and headed for the beach. Being that late in the day, the vendors and tourists were all packed up and had left. The water was crystal clear, smooth and felt like a warm bath. That was the only time we would see the beach like this, if I had known that then, I would have savored the moment a little longer, instead we strolled down the beach to a tiny open air bar frequented by Australians, had a beer and returned to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
The next morning we headed back to the beach. It had changed....now there were rows and rows of deck chairs, six or seven deep for as far as the eye could see. Each chair was filled with every kind of overweight, pudgy, pale human form you can imagine. Hundreads of heads bobbed up and down in the surf. Jet skis roared. Apparently this place is VERY popular with all manner of western tourists. In fact, there are flags on the beach that tell you where each nationalities favorite meeting spots are...there is "Swedish Beach"," German Beach", "French Beach" but far and away most people came from Australia. The strange thing was that they did not send their most attractive people to that particular stretch of Thai beach. We didn't stay long.
The next day we decided to get away from Pantong and take a tour of the outlaying Phi Phi Islands pronounced Pee Pee). Good idea! Because once you get away from Phuket the scenery turns into a dreamscape. Between Phuket and mainland lie these wondrous small and mostly uninhabited islands. Have you ever seen the movie "The Beach"? Thats Ko Phi Phi Leh where sheer green cliffs plunge abruptly into the crystal clear, calm sea. Once again, there are WAYYY too many people trying to enjoy it and boats clutter the beaches, but you still get a sense of the beauty and we got in a couple of good swims and snorkel trips in. Our boat took us by the "viking" cave where there is a thriving industry for birds nest soup. It is too sad to talk about.
We had lunch on Ko Phi Phi Don, which is one of the only islands with a permanent human population. There you can find beach huts that can be rented out for a week at a time if you really want to get away from it all.
The beach is great, nice and sandy and dotted with colorful Thai longboats. I can certainly see why people come here!
Once again, these islands and their reefs were devastated by the tsumani but you can hardly tell (above the waterline anyway- the reefs will take a few millennium to recover). After the 2004 tsunami massive amount of workers converged on the area and rebuilt it within a year. With the exception of the ubiquitous "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs- you really would not know that that tragic event had ever happened! The Thais' resilient spirit is amazing.
The evening brought us another dose of Patong- this time the downtown area where you find cheap shopping, gaudy trinkets, hookers, transvestites, human trafficking, garbage lined streets and debauch westerners looking for a good time....frankly, we could live with out it. It's not our cup of tea. We have seen better. We made our way back to the hotel and stopped for a beer at the open air bar again - the same Australians were there. That was our last look at Patong.
All in all, Thailand was a true adventure and I loved every minute of it-especially the things that made me scratch my head- and there were a lot of those, because that is what a life well lived is all about. Remember
this my friends - travel is the spice of life and no journey leaves you the same as you were when you embarked upon it. So get out there!
Life is like a book- and those who don't travel read only one page.- St. Augustine
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