Has anyone seen Fergus ?

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From Bangkok, Palaces, Big Buddha and a new home

So after free time in Goa, Sri Lanka & Thailand it was time to join another project this time in Thailand itself. The new group was to meet sometime of the Friday in the Hotel D’Moc not far from Khao San Road, which is a well known road in Bangkok especially for tourists. So as not to miss the group during the day l spent my time on the internet or by the hotels pool. By 4pm there was no sign of anyone so l took time to relax in the lounge in the hotel with a beer and notice a small Thai girl walking up to a couple on the sofa not far from me. She asked them if they were for Greenway, this is the organisation that runs projects in Thailand. They said they were so after a few hours of thinking l was either in the wrong hotel or l was to be on my own l felt a sense of relief. So not being the shy type l introduced myself, and within minutes people started to join our group and we spent a time introducing ourselves. The small Thai girl whose name is Yuri told us that a 7pm we would take a short walk to a Restaurant. So by 7pm the group had become 12. So the group at this meal was Me, Kate, Sharon, Sonya, Heidi, Wilma, Marny, Nina, Yvonne, Kim, Clair, Brian & Ingrid with 3 more due to join other the weekend.
Once the meal was finished we then were taken on the Hotel’s Trolley Bus to Khao San Road for some late night sightseeing and shopping. I love Khao San Road it is full of colour and loads of life, you are able to buy designer T-Shirts, shorts, shirts, trainers, bags etc. (Fake of course) from the hundreds of stalls, you can even buy fake Driving Licenses, Press Passes ect. Loads of bars line the street as well as mobile food stalls selling some of the best food around, the Pad Thai is fantastic. After a while we made our way back to the hotel and were told to meet after breakfast for the day of sightseeing.

When we were at the restaurant l was told we were also waiting for a Fergus to arrive so l expected to walk in to my room and find him there as it is normal to be sharing whilst on projects, even though l have been lucky so far and had a room to myself. But l arrived in my room alone; it will be just my luck that he would arrive at 4am after a late flight. So l had a couple of beers to wait until midnight then drifted off to sleep. I do remember waking at 4am a there was still no one on the next bed, l awoke at 8am and still no one, where is Fergus? Breakfast was served and by 10am we were ready for the day of sightseeing. By now Sharon had joined our group but no Fergus.

For just about 150 years, Bangkok's Grand Palace was not only the home of the King and his court, but also the entire administrative seat of government. Within the crenulated walls were the country's war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace full time around the turn of the twentieth century, but the complex remains the seat of power and spiritual heart of the Thai kingdom. We arrived at the main gate and we were all checked to make sure we had suitable clothing on, Sharon was taken to a changing room and given a sarong to wear to ensure her lags were covered. To say that the Palace was out of this world would be an understatement. Every corner we turned was with gasps of “Wow” or “Oh my God, look at that!”. The Outer Court, near where you enter the complex today, housed the government departments in which the king was directly involved, such as civil administration, including the army, and the treasury. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha takes up one corner of the complex next to the outer court.

In the middle is the Central Court, where the residence of the king and the halls for conducting state business were located. You are allowed to look at the fronts of the buildings in the central court, but only two of the throne halls are open to the public, and only on weekdays.

Behind the central court was the inner court. This was where the king's royal consorts and daughters lived. The inner court was like a small city entirely populated by women and boys under the age of puberty. Even though no royalty currently reside in the inner court, it is still completely closed off to the public.

This tour round the Palace took a couple of hours and by noon the group was ready for lunch, we were taken for a short walk and by the time we reached the restaurant through busy markets we had lost 2 of our group, Lunch again was a flavour sensation and after we made our way to see the Reclining Buddha.

This isn’t any other Reclining Buddha this is “The Reclining Buddha”

Wat Pho, or Wat Phra Chetuphon as it is generally known to the Thais, is mainly famous for the huge Reclining Buddha statue it houses. At 20 acres large, it is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand's capital. However, today the Wat today bears virtually no resemblance to that originally constructed, as it was almost entirely rebuilt by Rama I when the capital was moved to Bangkok. It holds the dual honours of having both Thailand's largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand.

The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.

The large grounds of Wat Pho contain more than 1000 Buddha images in total, most from the ruins of the former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. The grounds are split in two by Chetuphon road. The northern section is generally the only one most people go to, and it includes a large bot (temple hall), enclosed by 394 bronze Buddha images. Outside the bot, there are 152 marble slabs depicting the second half of the epic Ramakian story. Also near here are four chedis, constructed to honour the first three Chakri kings (two for King Rama III). There are also a massive 91 others Chedis of varying sizes around the grounds, along with chapels, rock gardens, an array of different types of statues, inscriptions, bell towers and resident fortune tellers. The library is nearby too, decorated impressively with figures and pagodas made of porcelain, in much the same way as Wat Arun across the river. The much less visited southern section has less of interest, but makes a good place to find a monk to chat to for a while. Most would welcome the chance to practice their English on visitors.

Anyone for a Massage

Wat Pho is also famous as Thailand's first university, and is centre for traditional Thai massage - the rich, famous and powerful have all been known to come here. Inscribed on stone in the walls of Wat Pho are all that was known about Thai massage dating from the reign of King Rama III (most previous texts were lost when the Burmese destroyed Ayuthaya)

We arrived back at the hotel and went back to the same restaurant for yet another tasty meal and after the group got to know each other better with some drinks at the hotels outside bar.

Everyone enjoys a Sunday Market so we went to see two
We left the hotel on Sunday Morning early and took a couple of hours to reach the floating market of Damnoen. This market is reached my motorized Boat, the group was spilt into 3 boats and we spent about 15 minutes being jetted around long stretches of canal and then sharp corners until we came to the market. The banks of the market were filled with souvenirs and fruit & Vegetables even some canoes passes us filled with loads of Thai goodies. We then climb ashore and spent awhile looking around market stalls and once all done we left to see the largest Market in the world.

Chatuchak Weekend Market is the Thai market where everything imaginable is for sale and l do mean everything, from T-Shirts to the largest garden ornaments and even dogs, cats and tropical fish. There are about 8,000 stalls here both outside and undercover. The Sunday before l met with Nicola that I spent time with in South Africa on Campfire and even caught up with her in Goa and Kerala. That day we covered about a quarter of the market and this time l managed a little more. The food stalls here are fantastic with all sorts of Thai delicacies on offer.

We arrived back to the hotel with about 30 minutes to wash and change before we left to eat at a river side restaurant. We were joined by another member of the group Jane and the Seafood Restaurant here was a real treat with even a live band playing and with the neon boats passing by was a great last night in Bangkok.

A Cold Shower is a great way to start the day!!!!

On Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and Julia the last of the group joined us for the 2 hour journey to Singburi but still no Fergus. Our home for the next week is called the “Lemon House” and was situated by a river with a quiet air to the whole area. We were all allocated our rooms within the complex and l was given a large twin room with en-suite bathroom but the shower was with only cold water. At this point l was asked again "has anyone seen Fergus?" as he is meant to be sharing the room with me. By now we all take that Fergus is not joining the group. So we all unpacked then spent the rest of the day relaxing. During this time we met with Andy & Ian (Baldy) from Leeds who were on a Thai Boxing fortnight, Andy had opted out of the Boxing to spent time helping with constructing work at the orphanage that Greenway was involved in and some of our group would either teach or help with the construction too.

Our first day was bike riding around the river side and was a great way to get to know the area and each other. The fun part was picking the bikes as they were very new and some of the tyres need pumping up or even the brakes fixing, after a while we were off with some of us with no brakes at all, mine included. The day was loads of fun as many of us said it had been years since we had been on a bike. Myself, Kate, Sonya and Nina spent most of the time in front and a couple of time even went too far and Yui or Ar had to race off to find us to tell us that they had either turn right or stopped for lunch. Over the next week we were taught Thai words, Thai cooking and even Thai Massage.

Thursday night was party night as it was Baldy’s 40th Birthday so Sharon, Jane & I went shopping to buy some bits for the party in the bar next to the Lemon House. It is great to have a bunch of stranger’s party together to celebrate a birthday as the night was full of laughter and chat and l think for some of us it became a very late night indeed.

Yes, l am a big softy and that includes Andy & Ian too

The next day l opted out of the trip to see Monkey’s to spend a day at the orphanage with Barbara & Peg from Ireland that had been teaching for 6 weeks and had collected money from friends and their employers to buy much needed equipment to help with the building of a new kitchen for the orphanage. They had brought washing machines, Cookers and even pots and pans for the kitchen. By now Ian had joined the group with Andy so all six of us travelled the hour long drive to the orphanage.

This orphanage is run by monks as it is in a temple area and is home to 184 children some are orphans and some where left here by their parents. As soon as we arrived many children run to the gates to meet the volunteers as they had befriended them over the past weeks. I spent time with Andy, Baldy and some other volunteers from the youth camp also run by Greenway mixing cement that was to be laid as a new floor for the eating area near the new kitchen. Once this floor has been finished a roof shelter will be built and then the children have a new eating area with new tables and chairs all been donated by past volunteers and their companies. During this time a shy young lad was smiling at me each time l looked up. It took about an hour for him to say hello and the rest of the day before lunch was spent chatting to him and he even showed me around the school area. His name is Sing Mai and once it was time to break for lunch he walk with me to the school gate along with Andy, Ian, Barbara, Peg & Phil who in turn were with the children they had befriended.
With lunch finished we returned to the school and Sing Mai was happy to see me return. Like Andy, Ian, Barbara, Peg & Phil who other the past weeks had brought much needed things for the kids it became my turn, so with Sing Mai sitting on my shoulders we both took the short walk to one of the nearby shops. During this walk l noticed a couple of other young lads playing marbles on pavement and where chatting to Sing Mai as we passed. Not wanting to leave these children out too l asked them to join us.

Once inside the shop l told them to get whatever they wanted, If you told this to a child in the Western world they would wipe you out with handful of things, but each of the three boys returned with only one item which cost not even 20 pence. So after l had scouted the shop, l got them fitted with new Flip-flops, colouring books, coloured pencils, marbles and loads of sweets all for about £5. Before we left the shop l then brought us all a ice lolly and we walked back to the school.

Today was the last day for Andy, Ian, Barbara & Peg so the goodbye was very emotional as they said goodbye to the children that they had become much attached too over the previous weeks. I also felt very sad to leave the orphanage but after spending time in India with children l knew it would not be a good idea to spend my project work in the orphanage as l would be very emotional once my time would come to an end.

No, the Happy Monk is not me!!

Wat Phikun Thong is amazing place and this temple in Tambon Wihan Khao, Amphoe Tha Chang, is 9 kms. from Wat Phra Non Chaksi. Visitors come here to pay homage to the statue of Luang Pho Phae, a famous former abbot of the temple. The temple also houses Thailand’s largest sitting Buddha image, 23 metres wide and 42 metres high, made of concrete and decorated with golden mosaic. I spent time looking at the large painted plaques around the base of the statue, about 20 pictures depicted varies scenes. The 10 pictures to the left were of the good that would happen if you led a good life on earth, the other 10 to the right were of the bad that would happen and these were the ones that the entire group spent their time looking at the most.

Not far from the large Buddha is a big statue of the happy monk that some say looks a lot like me! (And they say they are friends!) It is said that he was once a very handsome monk and prayed that Buddha would make him fat to stop the females wanting him.

On Monday morning it was time for Jane & myself to pack once again as we were to leave for the three hour drive to our new camp in Wang Thong about 325 km north of Singburi to spend 2 weeks with 9 elephants training to be Mahouts. The rest of the group would either be staying at the Lemon House to teach or construct at the orphanage or travel to various parts whilst trekking. We will all meet up again in two weeks for a week of sun and fun on Thailand’s island of Koh Samet.

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Photos

Kao San Road
You can shop for hours here

Fruit
Have no idea what it is !