*Start here: Our return to Bangkok

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We knew when we left Thailand in 2008 that we would come back. There was so much more to see and do, and we had never even been to the Grand Palace, which someone told us was one of the seven wonders of the world. There is no over-the-top word to describe it. To call it a "palace" is like calling the Louvre a "museum".

Anyway, We arrived at our hotel near the airport just after midnight on May 26, 2010. Morning arrived and as we stepped outside into the convection oven that is Bangkok, we wondered how we could have possibly forgotten how hot it is...we needed a day just to get ourselves acclimated, and over a couple of Thai ice teas, decided to go for a two hour Thai massage that was advertised as "Happy Hour".

We were led to a private room and given paper thin pajamas to put on. Our girls came in and were deceptively frail and friendly looking. I was lulled into a false sense of security as my feet were lovingly massaged for the first thirty minutes, but things turned nasty when she decided to pull off ALL my toes. When that didn't work, she went for the fingers and even tried to wrench my arms out of their sockets. In a last brutal move, she attempted to twist my upper torso from the lower. My scream must have made her feel guilty, as she spent the final thirty minutes massaging my face, nose and eyeballs!

Dane said he was bent into impossible shapes and subtly stabbed with a screwdriver in the large muscle masses. His girl also walked on his back, pressing her hands against the ceiling for added weight, which he said was pleasant by comparison.

The cost was only 598 Baht, less than $20USD, so we left a large tip, feeling at least a couple of inches taller!

Back to the Grand Palace...the feast for the eyes definitely takes your mind off the heat. Built to be a self sufficient city within a city, it is blocks and blocks of splendor and perfection in every wat, bot and prang, although I am not sure which is which. There are libraries, chapels, hundreds of gilded figures and murals, all exquisitely decorated, not to mention the wonderfully maintained landscape, gardens and lawns. There are books written on the palace, but just let me say, it's definitely a "10" on the opulent scale and well worth the time to see at least an overview of it.

I am embarrassed to say that we got sucked in by an overly friendly tuk tuk driver who offered to take us all around the city for a very low price. He told us it was a special Buddha Birthday weekend and the Grand Palace was closed. He took us to Wat Pho instead, probably because it was closer to some shops he wanted to take us to so we could buy stuff and he could get kickbacks. Wat Pho was very lively and lived in, teeming with monks. It all turned out well, as we got a fun ride all over the city at a very low price and didn't buy a thing.

There are more than 400 wats in Bangkok and so many fascinating attractions. It is almost impossible to narrow down a list of "must see" destinations.

But we did squeeze in the "Jim Thompson House", that was most intriguing...an American man who was an architect by profession. He came to Thailand in 1945 and fell in love with it, eventually revitallzing the entire silk industry and becoming quite a celebrity. His home is six connected Thai houses on stilts and an amazing collection of Thai artwork and sculpture, not to mention the surrounding landscape. He disappeared on Easter Sunday in 1967 without a trace; one of the world's great unsolved mysteries.

Go to the next blog entitled "Bridge on the River Kwai" to see our visits to Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi, the floating market.

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Photos

Ho Phra Monthien
An auxiliary library. Okay, I made that up.

Decorative doorway
That leads to I forgot wat

Ornate glass inlay
Each tile is beveled glass with color or gold underneath.

Royal Guard
Bet this guy is dying for a Thai iced tea!

Bejeweled mini palaces
Located on the upper terrace with views of Bangkok. The blue one is being restored.

iMonk
The Grand Palace is a "must photograph" destination for all monks.

Classy trash
Dane disposes of plastic bottle responsibly, in fancy urn.

Apsonsi
Half woman, half lion. Don't mess with her!

Wat Phra Kaeo
A sub complex withing the greater Grand Palace complex.

Beveled tile inlay
Phra Mondop, one of the libraries

Solid gold under glass tiles
Phra Si Rattana Chedi, contains a piece of the Buddha's breastbone

Big Drum Temple
And a huge gong, not pictured, but on the right

Red bridge
When in doubt, make it ornate and paint it red!

Dane ENLIGHTENED
A Bodhi tree from a cutting of the tree under which Buddha received his enlightenment.

Happy (two) Hours
Thai massage: Don't leave Thailand without one!

Tuk Tuk
We got "took took" for a ride, okay.

Unauthorized photo
Unfortunately, not allowed to take photos inside the Jim Thompson House.

Urn with Lotus
Just one of many in the huge garden

Relaxing on deck
We take a break at the Jim Thompson House. View from the garden.

Koi pond in garden
Next to the gift shop, where many of the silk products are available at exorbitant prices.

Urn of Orchids
You could fill a book with the decorative details.

Jim Thompson's Cat?
Our guide says not.

Comments

[T]

looks like a riot . . .
Well I guess not exactly a riot, seems like a good tour . . .is the city still hard to breathe?

[T]

massage
Oh, yeah the Thai massage in Thailand is not the fluffy spa thing we get in the U.S. More like and exercise in pain endurance. I am glad you escaped uninjured.