Historic Siam of old, Bangkok is
beautifully set on the Chao Phraya River. Thai culture is rich and engaging in
this bustling center, where modern skyscrapers rub elbows with centuries-old
Buddhist wats, or temples. The towering Wat Arun, named for the god of the
rising sun, stands dramatically on the river’s banks. The revered temples and
elegant buildings within the walls of the renowned Grand Palace date to the
late 1700s, a gilded array of golden pagodas and stupas (shrines). It has been
the royal family’s residence for more than 150 years.
We arrived at our port, which is
about three hours from Bangkok about noon. Our tour bus then drove us from Laem
Chabang to Bangkok. Our tour guide, Pan, was very knowledgeable. In Thailand,
the sun always rises and sets at 6:30, as they are on the equator. The first
thing he explained to us is the top of the head cannot be touched as it is the
highest point. Foreigners cannot hold jobs as barbers or beauticians as they
would have to touch the top of someone’s head.
Thailand, which was Siam until
1949, has a king and a prime minister. The king has no power, just ceremonial.
One of the reasons that they changed the name was that Siam meant barbaric and
Thailand means free land. Thailand has ever been colonized, though they copy a
lot of things from Britain. Thailand has a population of 65 million and Bangkok
has a population of 8 million.
There are 32,000 temples in
Thailand and 400 of them are in Bangkok. The Thai are required to go to the
temple when it is a full moon, half moon, quarter moon and no moon, about once
a week. He said they were really not a religious people as they celebrate all
holidays because they like to party and to drink. In Thailand 90% of the people
are Buddhist and 8% are Muslim.
Bangkok is considered the Venice
of the Far East as it has lots of canals and rivers. They have motorbike taxis.
The driver of the motorbike wears a number on his back so you know he is a
taxi. As we drove into the city you could see high rises right next to slums.
Once we got into Bangkok we took
a river cruise on the Chao Phraya river, which ran right in front of our hotel.
Our first stop was at the National Museum of Royal Barges on the Chao Phraya river. Her is stored a collection of ornately decorated historical barges. The museum houses eight barges including four Royal barges, historical artifacts like flags and old uniforms worn by the oarsmen, models of the boats as well as information about the history of the barges.
Manned by dozens of rowers, steersmen, chanters and signalmen, the long and slender boats adorned with hand crafted ornamentations have been used in Royal Barge Processions that were held regularly in previous centuries. Since the Ayutthaya era Kings travelled to religious ceremonies and other important events.
But, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, so what we have is from the outside looking in. These are really beautiful barges.
And right next store is where the normal people live.
This
Wat or Buddhist temple is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the
center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. In the mythology of Tibetan
Buddhism, Mount Meru is a place that simultaneously represents the center of
the universe and the single-pointedness of mind sought by adepts. Thousands of
miles in height, Meru is located somewhere beyond the physical plane of
reality, in a realm of perfection and transcendence. The four-corner prang of
Wat Arun, which house images of the guardian gods of the four directions,
reinforces this mystical symbolism.
The boat trip ended at The
Peninsula Bangkok hotel. By now it was after 6 PM and we were tired and pleasantly
pleased to see our rooms at this five star hotel.
We had a marvelous dinner at the
River Café and Terrace at the hotel, overlooking the river, with our friends
Karen and John who we originally met on the South America Cruise earlier this
year.
Then we called it a night.
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