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Published: February 2nd 2009
Stupas
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa]Stupas[/url] are basically graves that wealthy families can place their dead relatives ashes inside of. Better than a cemetery if you ask me!After sleeping off some of our jet lag for 10 hours, we got up early and headed over to
Wat Pho for a look at one of Thailand's most famous temples. Getting there early was a real treat as we were able to avoid the crowds. We paid about $8 for a 45 minute guided tour of the complex. Our guide had been working at the temple for 25 years, so he was extremely knowledgeable of the complex and gave us a lot of great information. Wat Pho is Bangkok's largest temple and houses the most Buddha statues of any other Bangkok temple. It is also home to Thailand's largest Buddha statue, a reclining Buddha that measures 46 meters long and 15 meters high. Our guide told us that the image of the reclining Buddha is always lying on the right side, because the left side is closer to the heart, and therefore not good for the heart. This statue is covered in gold leaf and there were beautiful intricate decorations on the feet representing 108 different scenes. There were also 108 small bronze pots lining the length of the Buddha. Our guide invited us to purchase a cup of coins for
20 baht, which Jason did. He then walked down the line of bronze pots placing one coin into each of the pots, thus paying respect to the Buddha. Since it was early, we were the only ones in this temple and the sound of each of the coins made a resounding and satisfying "clink" as Jason worked his way down the line, the giant Buddha gazing down at us from 50 feet above. 108 is an important number in eastern traditions, but I have had trouble finding good information exactly why or what this number represents, esp. in Buddhist practice.
We were also the first people to visit the main temple that morning and it was so calm and peaceful to enter the temple with its large golden Buddha sitting in the "enlightened" pose, legs crossed with both hands resting in the lap. When you enter a temple, you are supposed to wai respectfully three times to the Buddha, the first wai pays respect to the Buddha, the second wai pays respect to his teachings, the third wai pays respect to his disciples, the monks. We finished the tour with our guide and then came back to this temple
Tribute to the Buddha
Jason is paying respect to the Buddha by dropping a coin in each of the 108 buckets you see in the picture. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number)]108[/url] is a very sacred number for Buddhism. at 9am because this is when the monks do their morning chants. We sat in the back, careful not to point our feet towards the Buddha (everyone sits sideways, like girls in skirts are taught to do). It was quite an experience to sit and become lost in the ancient chants of these monks, sitting in this peaceful and quiet place, knowing that the chaotic hustle and bustle of the city was just beyond the outer walls.
After leaving the temple, we wandered over to a river dock to catch a view of the city on the water. Bangkok is full of rivers, and using the river ferries is actually one of the better modes of transportation around. At the dock, a man reading the newspaper struck up a conversation with us. He had just dropped his daughter off at school and was relaxing before he started his work day as a
tuk tuk driver. After the usuall meet and greet he proposed that he give us a ride on his tuk tuk to our next destination. We had yet to ride in a tuk tuk because of the reputation they have for scams. However, this guy seemed nice enough,
Fake Jewelry Factory Scam
This shot is from inside the "Chin" factory which is an elaborate set up to [url=http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Scams/Sapphire.shtml]SCAM[/url] tourist with fake jewelry. We did not get scammed of course. Well except for the $23 dollar "sterling silver" ring Heather bought. What can I say, she couldn't resist! after all, he just dropped his daughter off at school, right?
We still had an hour to kill until our next destination opened (Siam Mall), so the driver explained to us that he receives gas vouchers for delivering would be customers to various local businesses. He was up front about this process, and asked if we would help him out by going around to these shops and "just looking". In exchange for helping him he agreed to deliver us to our destination for free at the end. Since we had some extra time, we decided to try it out, and at the very least experience the would be scam that the guide books warn you about. We went to a travel agency, a tailor, and a chinese jewelry factory/show room.
We went through the motions at each place for about 5 to 10 minutes as the sales person quickly realized that we were not serious about being there. After completing our end of the bargain, we were ready to be on our way, but the driver began insisting that we just go to one more stop, so that he could receive a fourth gas voucher. We kindly said no,
The White House @ Sunshine Court
Mr. Son Chai (Sunshine), owns the Sunshine Court where our friend Ryan lives. In the back of the complex, Mr. Sunshine built him self a replica of the White House that he lives in. Mr. Sunshie is like 80 years old and still plays tennis everyday. Go Sunshie! but he kept insisting, until I lost my cool by flexing my rights as a tourist. I yelled NO at him, and he immediately covered his face in shame and began apologizing to us. Saving face is the absolute most important thing in Thai culture, and this driver forced us into an uncomfortable position. After that the thrill was gone for him he dropped us off. Regardless, it was worth living the experience of the
"tuk tuk scam" without actually getting scammed. Well, sort of except he didn't even take us to our final destination. We were dropped of on a random street corner!
At this point we didn't even want to go to the Siam Mall, and it was getting close to the hour of our dentist appointments. Health care in Thailand is ridiculously cheaper than in the United States, and in most cases just as good. Dental care is specifically good in Thailand, the "land of smiles". We had been planning to get some dental work done before we left and got a recommendation of a good place that spoke English from a friend of Ryan's, called
Bangkok with a Smile. We called to make our appointments on our first day in
Heather in Ayuthaya
Great Pic of Miss Heather at the Ayuthaya Ruins Bangkok, and got two appointments at the same time scheduled the very next day. The experience was different than in the states, but all around pleasant and satisfactory. We both had our teeth cleaned and cavities filled. Heather had
four cavities (embarrassed to admit), but at $12 a filling, happy to take care of them all at once. The dentist was extremely gentle and the entire process was pretty much the exact same as in the States except for this cloth that they put over your face with a hole in it. It essentially covers your eyes so you aren't blinded by the glaring light and also makes it so you can't see them. It was kind of strange at first, but we both agreed it was nice because in the end it helped us relax. All in all for two teeth cleanings and 5 cavity fillings we paid a grand total of 7000 baht or $200.
Evening time brought us over to our friend Ryan's living complex, "Sunshine Court" in the eastern part of the city. We met several ex-pats living in Bangkok and it was great to talk to people about the city, travel, and life. We
Lights on the river
Amazing view from Joel's apartment at night feel very lucky to have been introduced to this community and have continued to spend time with many people that we met that night. The information we've learned from them has been priceless in jump starting our abilities to exist in this country.
Well, after a long night of drinking over at Ryan's, we woke up the next morning and chartered a mini bus up to Ayutthaya, the ruins of the 2nd Thai capitol. The trip was something Ryan had been wanting to do for quite some time, and now we can see why. Going to the ruins was fun, though everyone in our group except for Heather had been there before. However, the trip to Ayutthaya was actually just an excuse to take a river boat back to Bangkok! The boat ride took about 3 hours as it traveled down the Chao Phraya river. Lunch & drinks were served on the boat, and we took it upon ourselves to drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels with ginger ale between the four of us. This proved to be an amazingly fun time as we floated our way back into the city. As we entered back into Bangkok, we
Soup @ Scott's Restaurant
Great presentation, That's a giant Shrimp! passed by our friend Joel's apartment building which sits directly on the banks of the Chao Phraya. We gave him a call and exchanged waves & photo shots with him as he sat on his balcony watching us pass by.
Once the boat ride was over, we decided to go over to Joel's place, and continued the fun all the way over to another friend Scott's restaurant,
Lo-Shu. Whew, it was a long day, but a really great one!
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Tri
non-member comment
You and everyone else!
I think everyone gets had by a tuk tuk scam at least once when you're in Thailand. Our scam involved the driver leaving us at our destination! We walked out of the temple and he was gone. Oh well - we got a free ride there! Hahaha.