She had a car and driver waiting outside the hotel to take us down to the river (it was nice riding in an air-conditioned car), where we joined some other people for our boat trip. While we were waiting for the boat we watched some kids and adults swim in the river, which was filthy, but they were having lots of fun.
The boat ride was terrific. It went along the Chaophraya River for awhile, past some temples, government buildings and some houses and then turned into the canal. It is a man-made canal with houses, temples and markets along it. Some of the houses were pretty run down and others not too bad, but again everyone seems to be happy in Thailand no matter how poor they seem to be.
We stopped at one of the floating markets along the canal and then we stopped at the snake farm (which used to be a crocodile farm), The snake farm was interesting and fun. They had lots of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes, birds, one crocodile, turtles and 2 Bengal tigers, and they put on a great show with the snakes. The snake handler made the King Cobras rise up and fan out their hoods and then caught one by the head and milked the venom into a cup, walking around so we could all see the snake and the venom up close. Other handlers brought out pythons and vipers and one of the handlers caught the head of one of the vipers with his own mouth. Very exciting to watch, because vipers are 3 times more poisonous than rattlesnakes. Shari and I also took pictures of each other holding a python and I took lots of pictures during the show.
After the boat ride we rode with Nancy and the driver to some shops around town. Waste of time for them because Shari and I aren't into buying expensie jewelry or custom made clothes, but it was fun to see the shops anyhow., They dropped us off at the Wat Po (all temples are called Wat) about 12:30. Wat Po is regarded as Bangkok's largest and oldest temple. It houses a gigantic gold-plated reclining Buddha (46 meters long and 15 meters high with beautiful inlaid mother-of-pearls soles). It is also a school for Thai traditional massage and the students give massages. Shari and I each got a /2 hour massage for 180 Bahts (just over US$4). The massages were done in a big room with mattresses on raised platforms and the students knelt on the matresses while giving the massages. It seemed like it must be very uncomfortble to give a massage that way, but they do a great job.
After the massage and tour of temple we came back to the area around the hotel. We walked down Khao San Road which is a famous street known for cheap backpacker guest houses, and looked at both the shops and the people. Our hotel is on a road just off Khao San Road and I certainly am glad we are staying there instead of some non-airconditiond backpacker place. We are lucky we got such a good recommendation for a place to stay from Sahron and Emma when we were back in Te Anau.
Before we left Nancy today we made arrangements to go on a countryside tour on Friday, and we paid her for the show tonight. Nancy had agreed to get us tickets and provide transportation to and from the show for the same price we saw quoted for just the show. The show was called Calypso Cabaret and it was quite spectacular - lavish costumes, great music and beautiful women. One thing though, the women weren't women! They were all transexual men! Nancy told us there is a hospital in Thailand that specializes in gender change.
So, for 800 Baht each ($19) we rode to and from the show in the nice air-conditioned car, saw the show and got a free drink while we watched it. Nancy also watched the show, but had to sit in the back section of seats with the other tour guides. We had the same diriver who drove us around today and I guess he just sat in the car and waited for us during the show.
We had eaten dnner in the hotel restaurant before we left for the show, but Shari wanted some dessert and I wanted something to drink when we got back after the show, so we walked down the street to the 7 Eleven on the corner. (There are lots of 7 Eleven stores in Bangkok). Even at 10 PM there were still lots of street vendors cooking all sorts of Thai dishes and lots of people still eating, drinking and walking around the streets. It is also still very hot in the evenings here, not like New Zealand where it got quite cool as soon as the sun went down.
4/17: I know I wrote that Bangkok was dirty and it is pretty run down looking, but a lot of the trash I first saw was from the festival celebration. Shari and I went out after breakfast this morning tofind an internet place and all the Thai shops and businesses were just opening up after their holidays. People are out sweeping the sidewalks and washing off the mud from them. They are also cleaning all the glass (windows and doors) and it all looks much neater and cleaner than it did the last 2 days.
After using the internet, we walked over to see the Grand Palace and the Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha.We rented headsets so we could tour the Palace and Chapel at our own pace. The Commentary was very well done and it was nice to be able to turn it off if I needed more time to take pictures at a particular site.I took lots of pictures and I hope they capture some of the beauty of the buildings and statues we saw today. The Emerald Buddha is the most sacred image of Buddha in Thailand. It is only 61 cm high and was carved out of a simple piece of Jade. You are not allowed to take any pictures of the Emerald Buddha and you must remove your shoes and hat before you enter the temple, which you do in most temples anyhow. Everyone sits on the floor while viewing the Emerlad Buddha and everyone is very respectful while in the Palace. Thai people are very religious and show great respect whenever they are in the presence of any image of Buddha.They kneel and pray, give offerings, light candles and jost sticks (insence) and put flowers near the alters.
The Grand Palace was built for the first king of Thailand (King Rama I) and is still used for royal ceremonies and receptions for visiting dignitiaries by the current king, King Rama IX. The Thai people are also very respectful of the King and there are a lot of pictures of the King and Queen throughout the city streets. The admission to the palace also included a ticket to the Vimanmek Mansion, which was a fair distance away from the Palace. We didn't feel like walking too far in the heat, so we went on our next adventure - we took the bus! It all worked out fine - we got on the right bus, found out the fare and how to pay it, and we even got off at the right stop. A fun adventure that only cost 3.5 Baht (about 10 cents).
The Vimanmek Mansion was built in 1900 by King Rama V, but he only lived in it for 5 years. It was closed down for many years after his death and was basically only used for storage until 1982 when it was renovated for use as a museum to commemortate King Rama V.
It is the world's largest golden teak mansion with 31 exhibition rooms and it is really beautiful. We saw a traditional Thai dancing show and then we went on a one-hour tour of the mansion. The mansion is filled with exquisite carpets and furnishings and interesting gifts of china, furniture, gold objects, etc. from the governments of many countries around the world.
After the mansion, we took another bus to the newer part of Bangkok to ride the Skytrain (which is a train system that was built2 years ago). It is like our subway system but all the tracks are elevated above the streets. After the skytrain we took a ferry to Banglumpoo Pier which is not too far from our hotel. The .5 hour ferry ride cost 8 Baht.
We got pizza to go at a place near the hotel and took it back to eat in the room. I was tired after all that sightseeing in the heat, and I was quite happy to just write notes, drink a couple of beers, eat pizza, read and go to sleep early.
