Rachael ORourke

Everyone, I met a lovely guy called Lee on the plane, a solicitor specialising in environmental law who lives in Sydney. We had a good chat, through the start of the flight in particular. Poor guy had just broken up with his Finnish girlfriend, so I felt sorry for him and it reminded me to feel sorry for myself. But he was a nice guy and the photos below are for him, but I figured some of you would enjoy them anyway. Lee, Here they are. Chat to you again after by email. Rach. ... read more

What is a Wat? And more... like Buddha image info. “Mikki, you'll find the Buddha stuff interesting.” I've been talking about them all the time, since I went to the first one connected to the Grand Palace, but particularly in the huge posting of some of the great photos I had from all different wats. A wat, then, is a temple monastery. They are open to the public to come in and pray, in general, and at certain hours. The parts of a wat include: * The wihaan - where the large buddha figure will be, where people come and offer money. I read that there are 3 elements to it, meaning Buddha (the teacher), Dharma (the teaching) and Brotherhood (the followers). * A or some chedi/ stupa - which is the large bell-looking structure ... read more

Mae Nam Chao Phraya Chao Phraya River This river separates Bangkok areas like where Khao San is - Banglamphu, Chinatown, Sukhumvit Rd etc - from Thonburi. Thonburi is one of the older 3 capitals of Thailand before Bangkok and there are some fabulous things to see there. Have a look at the posts on Wats for more information on temples that are in the area at least. Bangkok was the “Venice of the East” before, so you can imagine that the main river was the great, main Highway into the little lanes that people actually lived and worked on. Have a look at a few photos of what you can see on the river now - business, people commuting... These photos are taken from the Thonburi - Western - side of the river. The opposite ... read more

Chinatown is interesting in any place, but Bangkok's Chinatown is pretty great. It has what they say is the largest golden buddha in Thailand, at Wat Traimit, which you can read about shortly in another post about all the Wats. There is a thieves market here too. The night market is really something - it has all the treasures and all the trash like everywhere else, but it also has: * all the displays and presentations of fabulous fake stones, * a temple on either side, * clashes with police, * the fun of catching a tuk-tuk there and back, * and a stage with near naked dancing girls. The clashes with police are on quite a scale. What I saw were the drunk guys watching the dancing girls and giving the surrounding police a little ... read more

Bridge over the River Kwai Death Railway Museum Chungkai Cemetery I can't write down everything I'd want to talk about with you on these areas. War is an important part of history that we need to know as much as we can about, and as people in all countries believe, with knowledge maybe we won't make the same mistakes twice. For information on WW2, there is a wealth of information in many places. The internet isn't bad. Just one example of a pretty good site, that isn't only about guided tours, is http://www.hellfirepass.com/index.htm It has a lot about Hellfire Pass, the death railway, the bridge, numbers of the dead, and lots more. If you are one of the Australians reading this, you'll (hopefully) know Weary Dunlop (the guy with the donkey if that prompts anyone). ... read more