Our local tour guide met us at the hotel at 8:30AM. It was a woman (our first on the trip) and she said to call her “Ben” as her full name was Benchaporn Udomsook. She has been a tour guide for over 40 years. We again had a fabulous Toyota oversized van with comfortable seats, plenty of room, and air conditioning which turned out to be important as the day wore on.

It was expected to be over 90+ degrees today with matching humidity so we asked Ben to make sure we saw the most important sights first so we could quit early if need be. She had recognized this and took us first to the most important attraction in Bangkok, the Grand Palace and the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand, Wat Phra Kaew.

Although it was not far away Ben said it would probably take an hour to get there. We would come to find that one hour seemed to be the magic number for wherever you wanted to travel in the city. I have complained about the traffic in Seattle and Gerry complains about Chicago traffic but Bangkok has taken traffic to a whole new level. There are 30 million people living here (for comparison New York City has 8.9 million people). In addition Ben says there are 1 million motorcycles in Bangkok and I think we saw them all today as we drove around the city. They are everywhere, weaving in and out of traffic, snaking between cars as they did so. What is amazing to me was the sense of calmness to it all. There was absolutely no honking of horns, no finger gestures, no road rage. The only thing I can attribute that to is the fact they are Buddhists, which promotes calmness and serenity. Oh, and all (?) of the cars have manual transmissions. The Thai must be excellent drivers as we saw no dented cars, no motorcycle/car accidents. They somehow make it all work, but you certainly must have patience to drive here! It is something to behold, but I would not want to live and drive here.

Our first stop was at Wat Traimit, also known as the temple of the gold Buddha. Why?  Because it contains a 10 foot tall Buddha made of gold, weighing 5.5 tons!  At US $1,400 per troy ounce, the gold in the statue (18 karat) is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars. The body of the statue is 40% pure, the volume from the chin to the forehead is 80% pure, and the hair/topknot, weighing 45 kg, is 99% pure gold.  Now you know why it is called the golden Buddha.

The next stop was the Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. When we got to the Grand Palace grounds I was astonished at the number of people touring the complex, mostly Chinese. We had heard they have become big visitors to these countries and we now see that in real time. At times it was difficult maneuvering in and around the complex but Ben was able to effectively move us through the crowds and see the highlights as she explained what we were seeing and the history associated with it. Both the temple and palace complex are huge and spectacular! Solid gold and gold covered statuary and buildings that can be blinding in the sun. The site is truly one of those that causes one to simply say “wow”!

Wat Phra Kaew is commonly known as the “temple of the emerald Buddha”, and is the most revered site in Thailand. It dates back to the 15th century and was brought to Thailand in 1782. It is only 26 inches tall and made of jade, not emerald. It is revered here because it was said that its presence will bring prosperity to wherever it resides; thus most Thai believe it is the protector of their country.

When we visited temples in Myanmar and Cambodia we were asked to enter temples with bare feet. In Thailand they simply ask you to remove your shoes; socks are OK- much easier on our feet! The big problem at the temple of the emerald Buddha was finding your shoes after you emerged as there were hundreds laying around near the temple entrance. Luckily ours were distinct enough and no one decided they liked them better than the ones they wore, so we always found and reclaimed our shoes.

Wat Phra Kaew covers 234 acres, contains over 100 buildings, and is part of the Grand Palace grounds. Besides various stupas in the complex there is a fairly large scale model of Angkor Wat built in 1860. The king wanted to move Angkor Wat from Cambodia but the expedition was a failure so he settled on a scale model instead.

Most of us are familiar with the musical,The King and I. Well this is where it all happened. Although most government functions reside elsewhere today the Grand Palace still is the ceremonial focal point for the Thai monarchy.

 

It grew hotter as the morning progressed. The back of my shirt was drenched but we plugged on, consuming lots of cold water carried in the van and cooling towels provided by the driver. Ben wanted us to see Wat Arun (temple of dawn), which sits on the banks of the main river of Bangkok, Chao Phraya. To get there we had to cross the river via a 2 minute ferry. We kept expecting to keep seeing more of the same when it came to temple complexes, and we continued to be surprised. Wat Arun was no exception. It is unlike anything we had seen so far, anywhere. The main stupa is somewhere between 281 and 282 feet tall. The various buildings are covered with porcelain figurines and tiles.They even used old dishes, carving them into segments to make petals of flowers. The temples are colorful and quite pretty. It provides a total different look to the traditional Buddha temples.

Lunch in an air conditioned riverfront restaurant gave us renewed energy to carry on, for at least a short while. The restaurant was right next door to the wholesale flower market which we walked through. Yellow marigolds are the flower of choice for a Buddha offering. Everywhere you looked in the market was a sea of yellow. Of course there were other flowers, like roses, lotus flowers and a small white delicate flower (I forgot to ask what it was) strung on string to make delicate bracelets and wreaths. People buy a ton of flowers in Bangkok, mostly to place at statues of Buddha (at home or in a temple).

We were ready to quit but Ben encouraged us to see one more temple, Wat Pho, which is the site of one of the largest reclining buddhas in Thailand. It is also considered to be the first public university of Thailand, teaching students in the fields of religion, science, and literature through murals and sculptures. A school for traditional medicine and massage was established at the temple in 1955, and now offers four courses in Thai medicine: Thai pharmacy, Thai medical practice, Thai midwifery, and Thai massage.

After seeing the reclining Buddha we cried “uncle” and headed back to the hotel for a well needed shower and nap. Dinner consisted of a visit to the rooftop outdoor lounge for another happy hour, followed by a walk to a nearby Italian restaurant that got high raves. We all agreed it was well deserved!

The hot weather we endured wore us out and everyone opted for an early end of the day.