Tame visit to the sex tourism capital of the world

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Day 24

We had an early morning flight to Bangkok so we’ll have almost a full day there. I love these flights when you are ready to go out and explore in a new city by 10 AM. When we landed we negotiated a deal with the guide who picked us up to take us to Wat Pho the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Bangkok and the Royal Palace. These are #1 and #2 of the must-sees and they are sites where it really makes a huge difference if you have someone to explain what you are looking at. Wat Pho has a 151 foot long reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf except for the bottoms of his feet that are covered with mother-of-pearl in a pattern that shows 108 images of the true Buddha. The temple was built to protect the Buddha after it was built. The Thai temples are ornate and colorful as compared to temples in other countries. Much of the surface of the temples, towers and chedis or stupas . There are over 100 with 4 large ones to recognize Rama I – Rama IV . All are covered in porcelain mosaics. The pieces of porcelain came from items that were shipped from China to Thailand, but which broke along the way. The small chedi are used to store the ashes of most anyone who want their ashes housed at the temple and is willing to make a donation. As you are leaving the temple with the giant Buddha, you can buy a tin of coins of very low denomination the you put into a series of alms bowls to bring you good luck. Jack didn’t pay enough attention to the directions and used up all his coins before the end. I gave him mine and then filmed him making the distribution.

The Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo was even larger and equally spectacular. It was built and augmented by a series of Kings. The Phra Si Rattana chedi is covered in gold leaf and is in the Sri Lankan style. The Bot or ordination hall contains a 26 inch high Emerald Buddha , who is actually made of jade. The Phra Mondop is essentially a library covered in deep green times. Along ½ mile of cloister walls is a spectacular mural that has a simple moral lesson the good triumphs over evil. The myth is Hindu and reflects the degree to which Buddhist incorporated Hindu beliefs and stories into Buddhism. Very cool statues all over, including statues of guards from China.
Suzie rode with us to the Jim Thompson house. She left us to participate in a tour run by the museum. Mr. Thompson was an OSS officer who almost single handedly created the Thai silk industry. He loved Thailand , moved here and built a beautiful home comprised of 6 small Thai houses that he combined with a lovely garden. He mysteriously disappeared without a trace in 1967. That’s what spy stuff is made of.

Since we didn’t want to do the same old thing, we booked tickets to Calypso Cabaret which is a transvestite show. It was a mini Las Vegas type show except the “stars” were all transvestites who lip synch to songs from the US, Thailand, Japan and Korea. I haven’t seen so many feathers since I can’t remember when. It is one of those seize the moment once in a lifetime experiences so we had a great time. Some of the men were absolutely gorgeous. Most of the audience was couples who were obviously tourists just like us. As in many places we joked about the fact that we raised the average age of the audience.

We hadn’t left much time for dinner and got lost trying to find the restaurant near the Siam Center. I had never experienced a shopping center like this before. The scale was overwhelming and it includes innumerable stores gearing up for Christmas in a country that is 95% Buddhist, a Sea World, Discovery Center Museum, Madame Tussaud’s and Krispy Kreme (along with every other possible flavor of US fast food). I guess retailers all over the world generate Christmas dollars, oops I meant to say spirit. As time was running short, Jack for the first time suggested we get street food for dinner and it was excellent. Thailand is much cleaner than Cambodia or Vietnam so carefully buying street food doesn’t feel like the same kind of risk. Neither of us got sick so it was a good call.

Most of the tourists are Asian, no surprise since we are in Asia, and the Caucasians are generally from Europe. I’ve been very surprised to see so few Americans. The Asians tend to travel in large groups and the Europeans also are in groups except for Laung Prabang where there were mostly very young back-packers.

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Photos

Guarding the Temple
Statue from China

Sri Lankan style chedi
gold leaf tiles all individually set

178 panels over .5 miles long
Tells a Hindu story of good over evil

Mix of European and Thai architecture
Thailand was never controlled by the French, the the Kings studied in Eupore and liked European things