Bangkok

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<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saturday 31^st March 2012:

We moored very early this morning in Laem Chabang which is the port for Bangkok but about 2¼ hours drive away from it. The good news about the drive is that, for most of the time, everyone drives in the same direction on the same side of the highway. The less good news is that everyone drives exceedingly fast and undertakes and overtakes according to their fancy. As in Vietnam, there are lots of mopeds and our guide told us that about 12,000 to 13,000 people each year are killed driving mopeds in Thailand. They have a law that forbids drinking and driving but apparently lots of people ignore it.

But on to happier things and the happiest of all was the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok. It takes opulence to a brand new level and I have never seen so much gold in one place in all my life. This place is not a photograph on every corner; it’s a photograph with every step you take. There are so many palaces and shrines and temples and guest houses and prince and princess palaces and they are all covered (on both the inside and outside) in the most beautiful mosaics with vibrant colours. And gold. One shrine is home to the Emerald Budda which is apparently Thailand’s most important Buddha. And very beautiful it is too. Today’s visit was unusual in that one of the royal princesses – the king’s sister – died last November and her burial will take place on April 9^th. Today was a major rehearsal for her funeral so the grounds of the palace were filled with troops practising their 21 gun salute and their band playing and their marching. Unfortunately this meant the buses were not allowed to drive anywhere near the palace so we had a long walk to and from it in searing heat and energy sapping humidity. I think it drained all my sugar supplies because by the time I got back to the coach I had a diabetic fit. Thankfully Richard had emergency honey supplies so I was soon back in the land of the conscious.

Lunch was at the Ramada hotel and the guide said “try the soup”. So Richard did. And only tried one mouthful. Clearly the guide’s definition of “not much chilli” is somewhat different from ours!

After lunch we visited a Buddhist temple and this one was amazing. It has a solid gold Buddha that weighs in at 5.5 tons and is just over 12ft tall. The last time it was valued, it got a price tag of £28.5 million but that was a few years ago so is undoubtedly worth even more now. It was made 700 years ago but covered in plaster to prevent invading armies from realising it was worth stealing. Then people forgot it was gold underneath and when it was being moved in 1955, a bit of the plaster broke off and they found the gold statue inside. Imagine thinking you had a stone statue and then finding it’s actually solid 18ct gold.

And talking of gold, we finished our day with a visit to a government run jewellery workshop. It was interesting to see the workers polishing and grinding the gems, especially the local rubies. It won’t surprise you to know I tried on lots of lovely rings but in the end I bought half a dozen post cards. So much cheaper than bling!

The journey back to the ship was somewhat interesting! Vietnam’s monsoon season has arrived early this year which means it has also arrived early in this part of Thailand. There was so much lightning and thunder and flash floods on the roads. Our driver was brilliant but if it had been up to me I’d have gone with the local family and parked up under a bridge until it calmed down. I don’t know where the moped drivers all went but it was somewhere off the motorways. Not one to be seen which in itself is a most unusual sight in Thailand.

We have a day at sea tomorrow so time to sleep in and take day nurse all day. Singapore looms on Monday and we’re doing 2 tours there including one to Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling.

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