And now, the end is near Â

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Geo: 35.67, 139.77

DAY TWENTY-THREE (1/25/13) —Bangkok to Tokyo on Japan Air (JAL)

And now, the end is near …

Yesterday was our last full travel day and our last night in a hotel in SE Asia.

This morning is one of preparation for departure. We pack, shifting weight from suitcase to suitcase, piling dirty clothes in black plastic bags. We meet Cheryl and Dave for breakfast and Cheryl and I head off to the Peninsula salon to get our nails done. The boys head to the ATM to get Baht (Cheryl refers to them as Baht-Man and Robin) to tip the guide, the driver and the concierge.

Among the things we hope to do today is to hit the Bangkok flea market, at my friend Lois Dister's suggestion. We need Baht for that as well.

A warning about Bangkok. Several trustworthy people, including Larry Abbott, our Tauck Tour Guide who lives in Bangkok, and Banyat, our guide for our three-day stay, have warned us about scams here in Bangkok. Perhaps because we have a guide with us at all times, we have not even been approached by any of the con artists. But it is worth noting that anyone who approaches you speaking English, offering to take you on a tour, should be avoided. They usually put you in a car, tell you that where you are headed (Grand Palace or whatever) is closed today (renovation, etc.) and they will take you elsewhere. Major ripoff. And besides, the Palace and other tourist sights are always open. So beware.

Banyat picks us up at 12:30 and he has a surprise for us: Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Dusit Palace, where the Sirikit Institute is hosting the "Arts of the Kingdom VI" exhibition … by far the best museum we have visited in our three-week stay, and one of the most impressive and fascinating collections I have ever viewed.

The collection is mostly decorative arts … ornate items, most in gold and jewels, some in delicately carved teak. Just unbelievable.

It's sort of an Asian version of the work Faberge did for the Romanoff's in Russia. Gold, jewels and other gorgeous materials are transformed into howdahs, encrusted with diamonds, to ride atop elephants. Huge peacocks with sapphires and inlaid with beetle wings. We are mesmerized.

The Thai Queen commissioned the work which was done by farmers, students and others. Some pieces took 2+ years to complete and well over 100 artists.

Men are required to wear pants, and women skirts below the knee, or you must buy a sarong for $2.50 – all four of us, including Dave and Patrick, looked swell in our new skirts.

Truly, this place is unbelievable. Don't miss it. (Our guide tells us the pieces in the collection come and go but that it's always this overwhelmingly gorgeous.)

Major drawback: Cameras must be locked up. This was really bummin' me because this stuff is so exquisite. And nothing in the gift shop even resembles what we saw.

Other: The Throne Hall itself was built by Rama V in the European style he loved so well. The architecture is impressive and so are the ornate paintings and columns that decorate the interior. But they all pale in comparison to the exhibit.

We lunch at Ban Khun Mae, a Thai restaurant near the Siam Center in the middle of Bangkok. Banyat orders for us and we sample about 10 different Thai dishes. They are very, very good.

We then tour the Jim Thompson House, once owned by American architect Jim Thompson who settled in Bangkok after World War II, where he worked for American Intelligence and became fascinated by Thai culture and artifacts. He dedicated himself to reviving Thailand's silk industry, bringing in new dyes to create the bright pinks, yellows, and turquoises famous today. His silks were used for the movie musical The King & I. Thompson mysteriously disappeared in 1967 while vacationing in Malaysia; his disappearance has never been resolved.

We take a guided tour of the house, with its collection of Khmer sculpture, Chinese porcelain and Burmese carvings. We also check out the shop featuring silk garments, bags, and scarves. The goods are beautiful but there is nothing in Patrick or my size. There are many stores around town, including one in the lobby of The Peninsula.

Last and least, we head to what we thought was going to be a flea market. I can't find anything identified by that name so we ask our guide. One place I mention is said is on the far side of town, which at least an hour away in Bangkok traffic. He suggests MBK, a famous shopping area in downtown. I've read about it but can't remember what was said. It is god awful.

MBK completely geared to the teenagers who shop there. Many plastic watches, plastic flip-flops, electronic goods and more. It's like a six-story Edison Brothers mall … there must be 50 shoe stores here, all hawking plastic shoes with 5" heels. Cheryl and I complete six stories in a record 15 minutes. We call Banyat, who retrieves us. No flea market for us.

We head to the airport and we are glad we do. It takes us almost two hours to get there. We drop the Morleys at the Novotel Hotel at the airport (their flight isn't until tomorrow morning) and we begin the process of getting out of Dodge.

We check in, go through security and plant ourselves in JAL's Sakura Lounge to await our 11 pm flight. We plan our sleep pattern. We decide to sleep 2-3 hours on this first segment, which turns out to be a perfect match for the JAL flight attendants. We doze off and they awaken us for breakfast about two hours before landing in Tokyo. We have lost another two hours on our trek back to St. Louis because we have flown farther west.

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Photos

Skirts are so sarong
We had to buy sarongs to meet dress code at Throne Hall

"Arts of the Kingdom VI" exhibition
Diamond-encrusted gold longboat for king

"Arts of the Kingdom VI" exhibition
Teak screen

"Arts of the Kingdom VI" exhibition
Tabletop setting for state dinner at Throne Hall

Comments

[Carole]

So you were in heaven at the shoe store, right??? Looks like you closet with all of the color!!