90 to 19 (degrees)

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We are about to return to the United States to briefly see our daughter, and then start the next part of our journey--Greece and Turkey. The east coast of the US is gripped by a wintry mix of snow sleet and freezing rain, with temperatures to match. Here in Bangkok it is 90 degrees. And to quote a Bangkok friend we are visiting, this is NOT hot. We flew from Yangon Burma this AM, and after a 1 1/2 hour taxi ride (Bangkok traffic has not improved) we arrived at the Bangkok riverfront and the world famous temple of the Reclining Buddha. I have fond memories of this temple, first visiting years ago. Wall paintings in the pavilion housing the giant Buddha have been cleaned and restored. I didn't even notice them before. The nuns are still selling roof tiles to raise funds for restoration, and the clinking of coins in the 108 bronze pots still follows the line of the Buddha's back. One drops a coin into each and every one, and it brings good luck. The river docks appear less chaotic, though still smell overpoweringly of drided fish, and we crossed to the temple Arun. Then we boarded a rush hour river boat to the much heralded Sky Train, Bangkok's answer to the New York subways, to our friend's house in Sukomviet. Bangkok, and indeed much of Thailand, now qualifies as developed, no longer "developing," by that mysterious world wide standard of technological and economic prosperity. Burma, by contrast, seems firmly rooted in many ways in the colonial era.

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Photos

restored wall painting
imagine a large hall full of these wall panels! and a giant Buddha inside!

Buddha's feet
each of the 108 mother of pearl inaied pictures and designs on the recling buddha's feet has a specific meaning

sacred banyan tree
like many banyan trees in Buddhist temples throughout SE Asia, this one is wrapped in colored scarves

churning of the sea of milk
a more than life size sculpture of the Ramayana story features Vishnu, surprise: in the new Bangkok airport!