Thailand

The Grand Palace and a Ride on an Elephant

View from my hotel window

I just returned from Bangkok, Thailand, about three weeks ago.  Thailand was an amazing, bustling city full of street vendors, tuk tuks, and lots of Chinese tourists. I was there because I had been chosen to be a speaker at an international educator's conference known as NESA: Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools.  We stayed in this beautiful hotel located on the Chao Phraya River called the Royal Orchid Sheraton, well named because there were bouquets of orchids everywhere.  You can buy orchids by the bushel in Bangkok at the flower markets not far from the hotel.  I arrived at night by taxi and was greeted by the doorman who made sure my bags were taken to the lobby, then I checked in.  My hotel room was spacious; overlooking the river and the city itself.  I looked down and saw the river cruise boats moving slowly down the river and the lights of city lit up and so welcoming.  I could hardly wait for tomorrow!  I arrived about four days before the conference so I could get acquainted with this bustling city.  In four days I barely scratched the surface, but I gave it my best shot!

This lovely woman played music in the lobby every afternoon

Fresh orchid bouquets everywhere

The Grand Palace

These little guys are "monks in training" on a pilgrimage to the Royal Palce which houses the Emerald 

Buddha

No visit to Bangkok is complete unless it includes a visit to the city's most famous landmark, the Grand Palace.  The Grand Palace is a huge complex of buildings with a combined area of about 218,400 square meters (2,351,000 sq. ft.). Construction began in 1782 and completed a hundred years later in 1882.  It was very crowded with Chinese tourists the day I went.  It wasn't easy to get a good photograph without asking about twelve people to get out of the way.  I was a typical wide-eyed tourist.  Nothing I had ever seen before could prepare me for the grandeur and opulence of the Grand Palace.

Gold everywhere you look

Borrowed this pic from ytravel.com.  There were so many tourists it was hard to get a good shot of him.  I think this big guy is one of their national symbols.  You see him everywhere.  I don't think I would want to mess with him!

 Detail of the gold tiles you see everywhere you look

One of the many former office buildings in the complex.  Those are actually giant bonsai trees in the foreground.

Amazing craftsmanship 

Striking a rather cheesy pose!

Me and my buddy!

Bangkok River Cruise

I could see the river cruises from my window, so I decided I would sign up.  The buffet was wonderful and the entertainment was interesting.  You haven't lived until you have heard "Friends in Low Places" sung with a Thai accent.  They had some lovely Thai dancers which I enjoyed a little more!

I love watching these traditional dancers.

One of the many lovely sights to see as we cruised down the river.

Like most cruises, this one had a very nice buffet.  I was busy filling up my plate, when I heard the guy who was doing his very strange American country western twange with a Thai accent announce that if you're standing, you need to duck because we were going under a bridge.  I thought he was joking and if I ducked, I would look really silly because I'd be the only one foolish enough to actually duck.  

Well, I looked up and HE WASN'T KIDDING!!  Looming before me was the concrete underbelly of this enormous bridge.  I never bent my knees so fast in my life!  I'm lucky my head is still attached to my shoulders!  That was a little too much excitement for one day.

These Chinese tourists really know how to get down and boogie!  That was my hotel in the background.

Riding an Elephant

Yes, this is a very touristy thing to do in Thailand, but I had to do it for all my friends back home.  Glad he wasn't very big!

I started out on that chair contraption you can see behind me, then before I knew what was happening, the young man who was sitting where you see me in this picture hopped off and told this grandma behind him (that would be me!) to slide on down and straddle the elephant's neck like he had been doing.  Really???  Not wanting to appear any more fuddydudddy than I already was sitting on this elephant, I slid down very carefully.  It wasn't too bad...it was actually pretty fun.  The tricky part was getting back on that darn chair without sliding off and getting stepped on!  

Taken while floating down the river Kwai in a bamboo raft.  So very peaceful.

I survived riding the elephant, now it was time to float down the River Kwai to catch the train for the ride home.  On our way back, we stopped to see the Bridge on the River Kwai made famous in World War II.

Built by Allied POWs in WW II and Asian labourers from other countries.  It took 60,000 men about 8 months to build it.  Over 13,000 men died building this bridge.  It was destroyed two years later.

The water lilly is the national flower of Thailand.

Enough for one day!  I will post again in a couple of weeks.