Art, Chinatown, History, and Ham Sandwiches

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Welcome to Sunday’s journal!

After three days in Bangkok, we can say that we really like this cosmopolitan city. So many interesting things, so many friendly people... but we wouldn't want to live here. It's just so crowded and hectic! But, what a great place to visit.

We slept so well last night, except for the hard rainstorm at about 1:00am. We were surprised that it had not rained at all since we arrived in Thailand. The storm cleared the air, so it was quite sunny this morning.

Ms. Sammy met us this morning after breakfast (I don’t think I mentioned that the breakfast buffet at our hotel is fantastic… even Mark likes the coffee). Today, we had a tour of the Prasart Museum, and it was truly amazing. The owner has collected antiques for about 40 years, and built this private museum from the ground-up. He has thousands of beautiful pieces of art - wood, sculpture, pottery, pictures, etc. from the 7th through the 19th centuries. He has recovered many Thai artifacts from around the world, and also has some Khmer and Chinese pieces. The museum, which is only open for small private tours, has their own very knowledgeable guide, Benjawan (or “Ben” for short). She did a fantastic job of describing the different pieces, helping us to understand more about the different art styles of the people and times. We even saw a 19th century sitar and drum. The museum is both outdoors and indoors. Once we figure out how to post pictures, we will show a few. It was a fantastic place to spend the morning learning more about Thailand.

Next, we went to Chinatown. What a busy and bustling place! We walked through the streets, smelling interesting food, seeing beggars asking for blessings with only smiles, looking at Chinese handicrafts, and seeing the people in the Thai gold stores. Thai gold looks so different than the gold we see in the USA - it is much more yellow and bright. Mz. Sammy said the Thai people prefer this because they too want to be much more bright and shiny in their disposition.

We had a good lunch at a Chinese restaurant, then took a tuk-tuk (mini-taxi) to a temple where the Golden Buddha is. This Buddha was covered in plaster, and weighed about 5.5 tons when it was found over 250 years ago. In trying to move it, it was dropped, and someone realized that the plaster covered a golden body. While it was common to cover a Buddha with plaster for protection from enemies, most Buddha figures are constructed of brick and cement, and covered with gold. The discoverers were astonished to realize this Buddha is made of solid gold - 5.5 tons. Wow. It was interesting to see the large Golden Buddha and the recovered face from the plaster which once covered it. Ms. Sammy said that Buddhists believe that the “accident” which uncovered the true beautiful Golden Buddha underneath was no accident, but instead something Buddha wanted - it was time for the true image to be revealed.

We took a short visit to the flower market, and saw many garlands being made by women. Some are for offerings to the elderly, some for weddings, and others just as gifts. Orchids everywhere! We also learned about many fruits of Thailand. Ms. Sammy bought us a bag full of rambutan - it looks like a strawberry met a porcupine. You pierce the skin, snap it open, and a beautiful off-white flesh is revealed. The flesh has the texture of a kiwi fruit, but tastes different - a mild, sweet taste. There is a seed/nut inside which is very bitter, and Ms. Sammy said to not eat it. One large bag (I think it’s a kilo) of these was 15 baht… roughly 30 cents US.
The traffic in Bangkok is really amazing - even on a Sunday. You have to be very patient, and very sharp. Our driver (we don't know how to spell his name yet... gotta learn that tomorrow) is terrific.

After the flower market, we went to Jim Thompson’s house. After the fantastic Prasart museum, this was not very exciting. It was nice, but much of what we saw was eclipsed by Prasart’s fabulous collection. Perhaps some of our mood was tempered with the fact that Mark was feeling a little under the weather The heat and travel was getting to him. We headed back to the hotel and got him a nice ham and cheese sandwich and some “Pepsi Max” (like Diet Pepsi, but tastes better) and he’s off to sleep.

More tomorrow, after we’ve visited the floating market outside of Bangkok.

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Comments

[Valerie]

Hello!
Hi Lynne and Mark! How interesting is this? Glad you sent me the link! Looking forward to pictures, as soon as you figure that out. Stay well, keep safe, have a wonderful time! Blessings to you.;-) Valerie DeFore