jdenparis

 Welcome to jdenparis.com.  I'm jd, and I just graduated from college.  For one year before med school, I'll be working and living in Paris, and traveling the world with my job.  Below are my stories, photos, and videos.  Enjoy!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Bangkok: East Meets West, Part II - An Eastern City (sub-unit 2 of 2)


Good Morning US and A!

Its a new day, and I am slightly refreshed and ready to finish up East Meets West with 'An Eastern City (sub-unit 2 of 2). I gave you a slight preview in the previous post of how I would start this one (as my original intention was to just soldier on). Without further ado, I present:

Bangkok: East Meets West, Part II - An Eastern City (sub-unit 2 of 2)
The Final Cut


(con'td.) Anyway, our tourguide from the hotel went by P.C., and was very kind, smiley, and knowledegable (Thailand is the 'land of 1,000 smiles'). He drove us in our own mercedes (the make is circa 1980, but still cool!) to the sites, and then walked with us the whole day. If you intend to go (and I HIGHLY recommend it, as you'll see...) see the Royal Palace and Temple compounds, be sure to wear pants and closed-toed shoes, as you won't be allowed to enter the royal compound without this appropriate attire (they revere the monarchy...quite unlike the Prime Minister). First we saw the Temples, chapels, and several towers (I feel so uncultured, I don't remember the proper names of these, Manju, help!!). They were all breathtaking. Actually.

The outer walls are lined with tiny little glass pieces, about 2 cm^2 (square centimeters), which are all hand cut and applied individually. The entire compound is under continuous restoration, and each piece is replaced once every three years to maintain the shine (the guy is constantly working, it just takes 3 years to complete the cycle. Then he begins again). The effect is spectacular! The outside of all of these buildings, shrines, and Temples are truly like nothing I have ever seen (including Rome, Florence, and Paris, as well as the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Mexico, etc.), and I was really awestruck the entire time. Another more astonishing site awaited around every bend.

Whereas the sites in the European cities I have seen are all in ruins, these are still in very much in their prime (I think this effect is compounded by the insane shopping experience right across town - the whole city is growing at an astounding pace I'm told). The experience is just incomparable. Imagine jumping into one of those tour guide books with the semi-transparent pages that shows what you see today on one page, and what you would have seen a couple hundred years ago on a clear page overlaying the modern photo. In Thailand, these books don't exist because this stuff is still in its magnificent prime.

The architecture too is quite different from Europe. Here, there are radiantly colored overhanging eaves, golden wings flying up from the roof peaks, and a conglomeration of the curved roof top patterns I imagine of China and Japan. This contrasts the flat tops of the ruins in Europe. As some of you may remember from Europe, some of my favorite pictures are of the rooftops contrasted against a bright blue sky (see: Rome, Florence, Vienna, Europe). In these photos, the buildings are gray stone, but still look gorgeous against the clear sky. Even the still modern churches, which are magnificent to see, pale in comparison to the bright reds, blues, greens, and golds, which are electric and lively against the blue sky we were blessed with (I am a fortunate travel-photo-logger-tourist).

One of the coolest sites we saw was the Reclining Buddha. This gigantic replica is 49 meters long (yeah - half an American football field), and 16 meters high at the head. To walk its length took about 10 minutes with snapping photos and video, and I really couldn't believe it was still going as I reached the thighs and knew there was more to go. The feet are inlayed with an intricate mother-of-pearl design. Again, this pattern is comprised of tiny pieces cut and placed individually by hand. The Buddha is a site to be seen.



After sweating between 3 and 5 gallons (i couldn't get my shoes back on after entering the Temples because my socks were so sweaty and my feet swollen. Can't even imagine what Grandy's feet would have looked like!), we took a break from the sites and checked out the regalia museum. Worth every penny for the air conditioning, otherwise it can be skipped. Its just some dresses, swords, coins, crowns, etc. But at least it was cool.

All in all, the sites were fabulous. Definitely the most beautiful place I have been yet in my life. I suggest you make any and every effort to see them too.

After the sites, we were quite famished, and I took a page out of the Jon Jacobs book of eating and asked PC his favorite place (Jon always asks wait staff, "what's the best thing? Your favorite?" This tactic doesn't work as well in Thailand, as nobody really understands what I'm asking. PC did.). He told us of a place he knew that was nearby, and hailed us a tuk-tuk.

A tuk-tuk is a small little automobile powered by what must be a lawnmower engine. Think a pizza delivery scooter modified to hold 3 people in the back, instead of 3 pies. They are loud, zippy, open, and quite uncomfortable. They are decorated with some lights on the inside and other hanging colorful things. The roof is a cheap tin thing, like the fence bordering a construction site. It is a legacy form of transportation here, and I imagine is kept around just as a novelty (and probably because the cabs, which are all bright pink, idle in traffic). It was an experience to do, but I don't think I would do it as my main form of transit. I did take some fun video though, so I'll share that for you all someday!

We arrived at a lovely and inexpensive restaurant (240 baht for the two of us, ~8usd), right on the river. Manju and I sat at a table overlooking the water. It was very relaxing to have a slight breeze, the calming sound of a lightly moving river, and the occasional boat drift by. The food was delicious too (I have some nice pictures), but especially enjoyable because we garnished it ourselves (I wasn't certain why they gave me a cup of chopped parsley and one of chopped onion to accompany my dish, if NOT for garnishing!). After only 4 (or less, Manju woke up around 6 to get Milli from the airport) hours of sleep and a long day of touring in the HOT (and humid!) sun, this was a much needed lunch. The shade was welcome too :)

When we finally returned to the hotel, I went and showered and skipped my nap to write an entry (this is a few days ago now, I can't quite remember exactly. Of course I could look it up, but I don't want to open another browser tab.). Just as I began dozing off, Manju called that she and Milli were going out to the mall and then to dinner. I got up with no sleep, and hit the town again!




Now in these three short posts, I have more or less filled you in on my first 24 hours in Bangkok. I've been here 4 days since then and still have 9 to go. I've already had a massage, done some market shopping, eaten, eaten, and eaten some more, and I've still got ton more to eat and experience.

I'm sure we'll talk soon, but until then, for your VIEWING enjoyment, I present PHOTOSSS!!! (I found a hard ethernet wire here in the conference room, and it still took like 3 hours to upload the 20 or so pics I've got to share. These are whittled down from the 120 I STARRED (forget the 300+ I've taken...) and I think they are the best of the best of the Temple sites. More to come, obviously.



A bientot,

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the shout-out. I would also like to hear more about that massage that you carefully breezed over. Me, Matt and Jake had Thai massages in Bratislava (the obvious place to get Thai massages) and this 90 lb. woman stretched me and stepped on me, which hurt my back more than anything. But most importantly, how "happy" was your "ending"??