Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2014
The National Museum
Well, part of it. There's quite a few buildings.I awoke early, filled with anticipation. It's my first day of staycation and I have a lot to do. There are three places on my list to see. Part of me wants to lay in bed and rest; part of me is anxious to get going.
I took the ferry to pier 13 and walked to stop number one: the National Art Gallery. I'd read online on a third party website (the museum doesn't have one that I could find) that the gallery is small and would only take about an hour to see everything. However I was not prepared for the ticket price: 200 Baht. This is definitely priced for tourists. I'm sure there are a great number of treasures, but for that price I opted to skip it. The workers who'd looked so excited when I walked in looked incredibly disappointed when I left.
I ran across a few lanes of traffic to the National Museum. Again I wasn't prepared for the 200 B ticket price. But I decided that the museum looked pretty big and I'd be able to spend a few hours there. Plus, I love history and have been wanting
to learn more about the history of Thailand.
The museum was originally built in 1874 and is made up of many buildings, most of which have several exhibition halls. The first building I went into was the Gallery of Thai History. It was incredibly detailed and had dates in both the Thai calendar and the Gregorian calendar. One of my favorite things was a timeline with Thai events on one side and world events on the other; it really helped to give context to everything as I was able to relate Thai history to other history I was more familiar with.
Other galleries has historical art, national treasures, and lots of relics that we pretty but didn't mean much to me. Most galleries were in both English and Thai, but a few were only in Thai—I guess they figured most tourists wouldn't be visiting those. Based on the dark corners and dim lighting, I suspect few people at all visit them; I felt like I was in someone's very organized attic exploring, rather than in a museum. For me, the high points were the history building, the Royal Funeral Chariots, and the temporary exhibit
on Khon, the traditional Thai theater. There was also a peaceful garden in the main building that I really enjoyed relaxing in; lots of birds singing, warm sunshine, a soft breeze, and no clues that I was really in the center of a thriving metropolis. It was like having a vacation on my staycation.
In all, I spent 3 hours (or perhaps more) at the museum. And I still didn't see all of it.
I walked down the road a bit more to Wat Mahathat. It's one of the oldest wats in Bangkok, and one of the most important. I went for two reasons: I like visiting wats; they have English mediation classes and I wanted more information.
The wat was peaceful, as you'd expect. It's larger than many I've visited, too, with lots of housing for monks and nuns onsite. The actual main temple hall was quiet and had no tourists, so I don't think it's as popular of a tourist site as I previously thought. I only ran into a few other Thais, as well, though many of them seemed to be preparing for something, rather than
being there to pray.
After my tour around the wat, I went in search of the meditation class information. I found the original center, but right now the monk who speaks English is on tour in the US. (What are the odds?) They only have classes in Thai right now. But they were kind enough to hold up an English sign directing me to a place in the monks' quarters where I could get more information. When I arrived, I discovered there is an English class and they were on a break. I talked with a guide and with the monk himself and was given more information. It turns out there's three classes a day, everyday. They asked if I wanted to attend that night. I said I couldn't that night, but that I'd be back. The class is free, but they do ask for a cash or food donation.
By this time, the sun was getting ready to set and I was hot and sticky. I took the ferry back home from pier 9, enjoying the cool breeze as we made our way south.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.066s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0432s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
taracloud
Tara Cloud
Giving up the 9 to 5!
How wise that you gave up the killing routine and went off on adventure! I love your photo of this room that seems to go on into infinity. And what a great visit to the larger history museum to have a better understanding of the country in which you're staying. I hope you find a sangha that fits you. Theraveda is fab, and as the I Ching says, Perseverance Furthers. Enjoy finding your right place--happy hunting.