Thailand, My Land

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April 2nd 2010

Published: April 4th 2010

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Sushijas

First Temple

Our first stop on our first full day in Thailand

Alright, alright, we’ll do a Thailand blog. Better late than never, right? There’s a lot to write about so I’ll just jump right in.

The adventure began when we landed at BKK. Of course, it is one of the largest airports in the world, and due to the local time there (12 hours ahead of EST), most of the flights land at night. So, at 9:30pm on a Tuesday night, it was extremely busy. This behemoth of an airport is brand new, very nice, and ultra modern. I was most impressed with the sloping travelator, an escalator with no steps so that you could take your luggage up or down without waiting for the elevator. It was hard to keep our bags from flying off but we managed.

It was interesting to see the retro modern (like the Jetsons)/tacky architecture and lights of Bangkok as we made our way to the city - and once we got there, I adjusted my concept of “busy” because the airport was nothing like this. As we made our way toward our hotel, the numbers of people increased dramatically. Turns out we were situated right near the night markets and red light district,

Buddha

The main Buddha in that particular temple

so this was actually the busiest time of day. It was 11pm by now and all the restaurants were open, all the massage parlors were open, and this area was hopping. New York City has nothing on this town.

The next morning we had a private tour. First stop, Chinatown. Bangkok’s Chinatown is the largest in the world outside of China. It is a huge, intricate system of little alleyways, food carts, motorbikes, and people stepping around blind corners. It is like the heartbeat of humanity. We spent a bit of time walking through the shopping goods area, but were more interested in the food. We got to try some interesting things, such as chrysanthemum juice and green mango with dipping sauce - which usually consists of a sweet and spicy mix of vinegar, chili powder, and sugar. We also got to see some interesting things: fish being gutted, with their stomachs put aside for use in soup, all kinds of hanging poultry, other dried animal parts… it was fascinating and in some instances, kind of gross. Our guide, Kai, told us that many people like to buy their chickens live and then kill and prepare them entirely at

A Chinese Temple

All the Chinese temples were very busy as Chinese New Year was only a few days away.

home. After seeing some of what we saw in Chinatown, I think I’d want to kill my own chickens too.

We also visited a few important temples. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was impressive, with its jade Buddha on a platform surrounded by lots of gold. We also enjoyed visiting Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This temple features lots of ceramic pergolas, gorgeous arrangements of mythical animal statues, and the single largest collection of Buddhas in the country. Of course, the main thing is the reclining Buddha. This is one of the largest Buddhas in the world, clocking in at 46 metres long by 15 metres high. Unlike most temples, where the structure is built and then Buddha put inside, this temple was built around Buddha so they could be sure he would fit.
(Facts about Reclining Buddha: he always lays on his right side, and the reclining position symbolizes his passage into Nirvana, or death.)

Of course, no tour of Bangkok is complete without a trip to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace used to serve as the residence for Thailand’s kings, but now is used simply for ancillary activities. We learned about

Chinatown

This photo can't convey how busy it was - but it tries.

the various pergolas, which kings built which, and what they symbolize. Some of them were so ornate, it was difficult to picture the labor it entailed to build them. We also visited some of the administrative buildings there, such as the one where a king lies in state when he dies. (As an aside, we were surprised at the extent to which the king is part of Thai society - he is on all the currency, there are photos and statues of him all over the country, and most people have a photo of him in their workplace. We were trying to decide if the public loves the monarchy, or if it is shoved down their throats, or a combination of both.)

We had dinner Wednesday night on the rooftop of a hotel, 60 floors up. It was a fantastic view, if a bit hazy from the smog, and the food was good - but overall, it wasn’t worth it. We had better meals later for far less.

Thursday was our free day in the city, so we made our way to a busy area with numerous shopping malls and museums. We went to a mall called Siam

Gutting Fish in Chinatown

I'm really glad this isn't my job.

Paragon, which was this big, trippy, luxury mall. The floors are laid out so that similar shops are near each other - so there’s the electronics floor, the car dealerships floor (Lamborghini, Maserati, et al), the luxury accessories floor (Hermes, Jimmy Choo), along with a gym, bowling alley, movie theatre, and gourmet grocer - along with many other things I can’t even remember.

We also went to Jim Thompson’s house. Jim Thompson was an American who was stationed in Thailand while in the armed services. After he was discharged, he relocated there permanently and, eventually became a silk magnate. After Thompson disappeared in the mid-1960s while on holiday elsewhere in Asia, his home (compound, really) was opened to the public. There are various artifacts and paintings on display there; shops all over Thailand carry Jim Thompson silk goods.

After relaxing at our beautiful hotel infinity pool, we made our way to the Muay Thai boxing match that evening. Muay Thai, or traditional Thai boxing, is huge here - tourists can even go to boxing camps. We settled for ringside seats at the match. It was very cinematic, with the crowds going wild, each fighter having their fans yelling

The Grand Palace I

for them, and assistants watering/retaping/massaging them between rounds. The match lasted for hours, but we left early as A) we wanted massages before the end of the night and B) we were getting up early to fly to Phuket.

Phuket is insane. Tsunami? What tsunami? Five years later there is no sign of it. The island is really built back up, and Patong Beach is jammed with thousands of people every day. This area is Las Vegas crowded with a New Orleans party feel. Every night they close off some of the streets and people just wander around wandering from bar to bar. There are people in your face every 10 seconds, tugging at you to take a photo with their iguana, or check out their t-shirts, or ask where are you from? Would you like massage? Tuk tuk (Thai taxi)? Tailor? The downtown scene gets pretty exhausting. We stayed in Phuket for probably twice as long as we would have been happy with - but oh well, you learn as you go.

Of course, there were plenty of good things too. Our resort, the Amari Coral, was gorgeous. A room overlooking the beach, ginormous breakfasts, two beautiful

The Grand Palace II

infinity pools, a jetty with world class snorkeling - it was lovely. We had massages at the spa one day; it was an open air spa up in the trees. We could hear the birds sing and see the ocean while getting our rubdowns.

We went on a couple of shore excursions during our time in Phuket as well. One of them, a sea canoeing excursion, was very cool. We were on a large-ish boat that traveled around bays of small, uninhabited islands. The boat would anchor and then guides would lead us out on sea canoes which looked like a cross between kayaks and rafts. We alternately sat up and laid down as the guides paddled us into shallow tunnels (lots of bats!), around lagoons, and near the mangrove groves. At the end of the day, we made offerings from banana tree stalks, leaves, flowers, and candles. After night fell, we took the offerings out in the canoes, lit the candles, and let the offerings float until the candles went out. We also went into the dark shadows under rock walls and splashed the water so we could see the bioluminescent plankton.

Unfortunately our second shore excursion

The Grand Palace III

Hopefully these give you some idea of the number of buildings, statues, and pagodas in many different materials - porcelain, mirror, metal, tile, etc.

wasn’t as good. This was a trip around the Phi Phi islands and the beaches of some other nearby islands. They were all very crowded, especially Maya Beach, which was featured in the Leo DiCaprio film “The Beach.” The water was beautiful, but we would have been happier just finding our own beaches near the resort to go to. Again, we learned by experience.

After six days of beach resort, we were excited to go to a city again. Chiang Mai didn’t disappoint - as the second largest city, there’s a lot to do, but it doesn’t have the overcrowded feel of Bangkok. For both of us, it was our favorite place on our itinerary.

We arrived Thursday evening and had drinks at our hotel before a leisurely dinner. The hotel, the U Chiang Mai, was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It’s a small boutique hotel, contemporary in style but set in an old teakwood mansion. The courtyard, the colors, the library, the infinity pool - divine.

The next day we went to Doi Suthep, a well-known and important temple. Doi Suthep is actually the name of the mountain the temple is on, but

The Emerald Buddha

Diminutive compared to other Buddhas, but one of (if not the) most important. Yes, it really is all emerald.

the temple has become known by the same name. It’s a beautiful, ornate temple with lots of buildings and Buddhas, and sweeping views of the city. After our visit there - and some fresh, sweet corn as a snack afterward - we went to a silk factory where we saw the worms being harvested, the women at the looms, and the beautiful finished products for sale.

The following morning saw us doing the Flight of the Gibbon - a very cool, New Zealand-designed, forest canopy adventure. It included 12 zip lines, 3 rappels, and 2 bridges over the forest canopy. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and it was so much fun - like flying. The one snafu was when I did the canyon-style swing. At the end, I was supposed to climb a rope net to the platform. I failed to grab it, swung back out to the middle of the cable, and dangled for a few moments before one of the guides came back to get me and help me across. Oh well, it was just another part of the adventure. After climbing around like gibbons (no, we didn’t see any - there are only two

An Officer and a Damsel

The guards at Buckingham Palace have nothing on these guys.

in that particular part of the jungle), we took an hourlong hike up a waterfall with the rest of the group.

Later that afternoon we borrowed bikes from the hotel and explored some of the temples around our neighborhood. We were in the old part of the city, so there were plenty around. My favorite was the ancient, mystical Wat Chedi Luang, which was built in the 1400s. It looks almost as though it’s created from the land; only upon closer inspection could we tell that it was brick.

We went to cooking school the next day. It started with a trip to the market to learn about and purchase various ingredients we’d be using in our dishes. We were put into various groups, almost like home rooms. For each dish, we had our choice of three items; for example, for stir fry you could either make phad thai, curried shrimp, or cashew chicken. We went to different kitchens based on which dishes we were making. The ingredients were all laid out by the woks, and the instructors would tell us what to do, then we would return to our home rooms to eat together. It was easy,

Wat Pho

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Look at the people in the lower right corner to get an idea of scale.

fun, and delicious. We kept our recipe books.

Continuing our theme of varied activities, we went to elephant camp the following day. This was an interesting excursion, and I’m glad we did it, but I don’t know that I’d do it again. If I only had one word to describe the experience, it would be “filth.” It was hellish two-hour tuk tuk ride to the camp. When we got there, we changed into mahout (elephant trainer) clothing and learned to mount, dismount, and give basic instructions to the elephants. After lunch, we bathed the elephants in a lake. Did you know that bamboo stalks make a great natural soap? Unfortunately, the cleanliness doesn’t last long because at the end of the bath, the elephants use the "tub" as a toilet. After their baths, we took the elephants for a leisurely stroll before ending up in the mud pit. We covered the elephants with mud, and got a bit on ourselves in the process, so that they A) stay cool and B) are protected from insect bites.

Post mud treatment, it was time for the humans to have their baths. Unfortunately, the water was turned off at the elephant

Wat Pho II

This Buddha is mega huge.

camp so we had to bathe in the stream (no, not the same area as where the elephants did). Needless to say that by the end of the day my swimsuit was trashed. Luckily it was from Target.

We switched hotels when we got back, because we had seen another hotel online that looked just as cool as the U. Rather than choose one, we split time at both. The second one, the D2, was a larger, city-style hotel. Very cool but ultimately I preferred the U.

We gave ourselves a day “off” on Tuesday by not scheduling any excursions. We did have a nice half day at the spa. Over the course of 3.5 hours we had foot massages, herbal steams, body scrubs, full body massages, and facials - all for around $60 US each.

On our last full day in Thailand we went to see some of the hilltop villages. This trip included stops to see the Akha, an ancient Chinese tribe that has been in Thailand for quite some time. They dress in a colorful tribal costume and sell their wares on the streets every night - and, as we experienced, quite aggressively to

Wat Pho III

This temple is also home to the single largest collection of Buddhas in the country...

visitors of their village. After that we went to Chiang Dao cave, where many people come to pray. It’s a very cool cave with lots of stalactites, and seemingly nearly as many Burmese style Buddhas. These Buddhas look different than Thai Buddhas.

We also saw the Karen Longneck tribe, which has been in Thailand for only 26 years. You may have seen some of the longneck women in photos or on television; they wear heavy coils of brass around their necks which become a bit longer over time. Some of them also wear coils under their knees and/or around their ankles; some of them have “long ears” or giant plugs which create and stretch very large holes in the lobes. It was fascinating and yet sad. This tribe finds this type of adornment beautiful, but the are also very isolated - the women can’t go out in public or they would be stared at and ridiculed. After this, our last trip was to a butterfly and orchid farm. It was a more uplifting end to the day.

We spent our last night in a lovely suite at the D2 due to the fact that our air conditioning in

Wat Pho IV

... and a few more temples.

our other room conked out our second night. We wandered around the night markets near the hotel (the best way I can describe Thailand is to say that it is really one giant market) and called it a night before flying back to Auckland the next day. And the rest is history - we came back to the US two days after that.

Thank you for reading our blog over the past several months. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed writing it. It will be awhile, but we’ll do another post next time we go on an adventure.

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