Being a Tourist

I have almost been in Thailand for 5 months and I am proud of myself especially when it comes to visiting places in Bangkok. A lot of co-workers haven't even been to half the places I have already visited and they have been here longer. On my weekends I have tried to go to at least one tourist/cultural location. My first ever excursion into the city was to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. I started bright and early one Tuesday morning and made my way to Central Pier then got on a commuter long boat. Once I got to the pier for the Grand Palace Tuk-Tuk drivers, who were trying to get me to go anywhere but the Grand Palace, immediately greeted me; I ignored them and went on my way. You know you have made into the Grand Palace because you are greeted with a stark white wall. Once you enter the gates there is a long beautiful walkway to the entrances of the palace.   Here is where you are stopped and told how to properly dress. It was a pretty warm day and you must be completely covered when you go into the grounds of the Palace. Once you get into the Palace grounds you enter the temple part of the compound where you will find the most famous site in Bangkok, Wat Phra Kaew: The Temple of the Emerald Buddha. There were numerous people going into to see the Buddha. There were no pictures to be taken and with the crowds it was quite difficult to view the Buddha. I was expecting some giant Emerald Buddha and was greeted with a much smaller one on top of a tall shrine, it was kind of disappointing. Once I walked the ground where the temple was I moved on to where the real Palace was. It was a large traditional Thai building with immaculate gardens. What I remember most about the gardens were these cool trees that had balls of green leaves, it reminded me of a Dr. Seuss story. 

Eventually I left the Grand Palace and began my walk to Wat Pho, The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. As I walked down to Wat Pho I was harassed by Tuk-Tuk and Taxi drivers offering to take me to a "better" place. I finally made it Wat Pho and was much more impressed. Even though it was a smaller compound the reclining Buddha was so much more impressive. First thing that I liked was that I was allowed to take pictures of this incredible Buddha. I have no idea how tall or long the Buddha was, but it filled the entire room. I couldn’t believe how big this Buddha was and can't even imagine the amount of time it took to create this thing. As I was walking down the building I began hearing some kind of banging noise. As I walked around the giant feet of the Buddha I saw a table where people were paying 20 baht and given coins in return. I would then see people walk to a wall with bowls and drop a coin in each bowl. It was pretty cool to see all these people dropping coins and the noise was pretty loud. I wonder how much is made from this little tradition? After I left the Buddha I walked around the compound and found this cool courtyard with Buddhas lined all the way around. It was really cool to see all these Buddhas perfectly in line with one another. I explored some more of the gardens and temple and this statue garden with numerous orchids. I particularly enjoyed this garden because the statues were doing Yoga poses, by the way I could do about 75% of the poses. I wandered around for a bit more and then decided to catch the boat back to the BTS to head home.

Another adventure here in Bangkok was to go to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was this American who during the war fell in love with Thailand and saw a business opportunity to export Thai silk. After years of renting a property in Bangkok he decided to buy a plot of land and build his own home. His home is absolutely gorgeous; it is so full of character and one of kind pieces. The home is now run by a foundation because when Jim Thompson turned 61 years old he decided to go to Malaysia on vacation and went for a walk in the jungle, he was never seen or heard from again.  The Jim Thompson House has tours every half an hour led by English speaking Thai staff. The gardens and home are exquisite and full of detail; unfortunately you cannot take photos inside the house. He built his home with a mix of western and Thai style. He had an entrance hall and kitchen unlike Thai homes, but also kept the house very open like Thai homes. The home had amazing pieces of artwork and statues, a lot of artwork was from Burma. My favorite part of the house was his dinning room. To make his dinning room table he used two ornately carved mahjong tables to create a table to seat 6. It was beautifully carved and I would love to have this piece in my house. Unfortunately I was being good tourist and decided not to take a picture.

 I really enjoyed how his whole house was arranged and all the furniture in the home. Throughout the grounds there were numerous art exhibits, some of the exhibits by modern day local Thai artists and the other collections were his personal collection of silk artwork showcased in the old servants' quarters. Going to the Jim Thompson house was a nice easy afternoon excursion and a place for me to escape for a couple of hours. If you ever went to this house you would never believe you were in the city center of Bangkok, it is so surprisingly peaceful.

One Tuesday I decided that I was going to be adventuress and try to go to the National Museum, National Gallery, and the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center. Unfortunately when I went to the National Museum and Gallery both were closed. So I walked through old town and decided to go across the river to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is this gorgeous temple that you pass by when you are on the boat to the Grand Palace. I had planned to go on the day I went to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace but due to the heat I was too tired to cross the river. When I got to Wat Arun I was surprised at how small it was. 

There wasn’t really much to do. The only real activity was climbing to the top of Wat Arun and seeing Bangkok from a higher vantage point. It was a pretty tough climb because the stairs were so steep. I actually got a little winded on the way up and I was quite tense going down the stairs. After I wandered around a little bit more I decided to head back into the city center. I went to the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center. It is a free museum next my office that has all kinds of exhibits and the best part is it is free to the public. I spent my afternoon wandering each floor looking at Royal Art, Photography, Modern Art, and Interactive Art Pieces. The only thing I wish about the exhibits was better lighting to take photos of the art pieces. There was horrible glare off of the artwork and I would have loved to take a picture of some of the pieces. The building has a circular ramp that takes you from floor to floor. On the ramp between floors there are interactive exhibits. The exhibits on the ramp were pretty cool there were these cool lampshades that you went under and it felt like being in a kaleidoscope. 

There was also so cool ropes course exhibit and a fluorescent light exhibit. As I climbed to the top the top floor, the exhibit wasn't completed so I was unable to view it. It was still a pretty nice day out I got to see some pretty cool things and the best thing about the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center is that it is right next door to my office so if I ever want to escape I can just walk across the street.