Middle Man: Episode VII: The Force Awakens!

Dec. 26-28

Ted said goodbye to Pattaya, as we packed our bags and headed to Bangkok for his last two days.  Mick drove us to the Holiday Inn Silom, not too far from the Grand Palace and points of interest.  It was too late to see the Grand Palace when we arrived, since it closes at 3:30 p.m., so we decided to go to Chatuchak Market instead.  We walked a few short blocks to the BTS Sky Train station and picked up a couple Rabbit cards that you can use to ride the trains (I still had mine from last time.)

The Sky Train system in Bangkok is efficient and easy to use - reminiscent of the London Tube.  Even the signs say "Mind the gap."  A Thai mom and her young son were sitting nearby.  Each time the son wanted something from his mother's bag, she insisted that he do the "wai" and bow first - cute!

I'd been to Chatuchak Market three other times already, but never took the Sky Train before.  Walking from the train station, I realized that the market sits next to a lovely little park.  We walked through the park to get to the market; people were enjoying their Saturdays, having picnics and playing.  Since the market is so big, we took pictures of the place we entered so we could find our way back again.

We took our time browsing; Ted picked up some last-minute souvenirs, and we bought some plain t-shirts and scent diffusers.  By the time we left, it was getting dark, and we got a nice view of the traffic below.


With our Holiday Inn points, we were afforded the opportunity to enjoy happy hour with free food and drinks, so there was no need to go out to dinner.  The selection was quite nice - little sandwiches, sushi, fruits and veggies, etc.





The next morning, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet.  The hotel still had some Christmas decorations up - I enjoyed the pretty gingerbread house display.  At breakfast, we noticed a striking, tall, western-looking woman.  From her dress and how she carried herself, we determined that she must be a professional tennis player.  I sneaked a picture of her, hoping to determine her identity later (too creepy?)  I did discover that a tennis tournament was, in fact, taking place in Bangkok at the time, but was unable to identify her.  Anybody recognize her from this admittedly unflattering picture?

After breakfast, we took a taxi to the Grand Palace, not too far from our hotel.  The Grand Palace has some dress restrictions for which we were prepared - no shorts or capris, no tank tops, flip flops, sandals, even no rolled-up sleeves!  For people who arrive unprepared, they have clothing you can rent to cover up.  We were approached by offers of personal tour guides, which we declined.  Then we decided we would probably get more out of it if we did have a guide.  So we asked one of the security guards if he knew of some legitimate guides.  He told us to wait, and disappeared into the crowd, returning with a gentleman who turned out to be a fantastic guide.

Our guide was a retired school teacher who used to give tours on the weekends, but now does them full-time.  He shared a tremendous amount of knowledge with us, and we truly enjoyed our visit because of him.  We learned that the Grand Palace had been the official residence of the kings of Siam/Thailand since it was built in 1782.  This is where Anna Leonowens gave King Mongkut's wives and his children a western education (fictionalized in "The King and I," a movie not appreciated by Thais.)  The present king stayed just one night in the palace, then ordered that it be opened to the public.  It is still used for official events, and has been host to many dignitaries.

our wonderful guide with
pictures of Ramas I through IX

An interesting characteristic of some of the buildings is the raised platform entrances - this allowed the king to ride in on his white elephant and dismount at that height.  It was tradition for the king to own one or more white elephants, an auspicious sign.  The elephants were not snow white, but more of a soft reddish-brown, appearing pink when wet, with light eyelashes and toenails.  The "white" referred more to "purity."  The last of the king's white elephants died in 2006.

model of Ankor Wat

Buddhist version of an angel

a raised entrance

The lotus flower is symbolized everywhere in the architecture, as it is considered a sacred symbol of Buddhism.  The temple of the emerald buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) within the palace grounds holds the most highly-revered image of Buddha, carved from a single block of jade ("emerald" refers to the color.)  Legend has it that a mound was struck by lightning in northern Thailand in the 1430's, revealing the emerald Buddha that had been encased in plaster.  It's origins are unknown.  The statue is dressed in gold according to the seasons - hot, rainy and cool - and is ceremoniously changed by the king or prince.  It was wearing the cool season attire when we visited.

palace guard

emerald Buddha in winter attire

real lotus

another raised platform

After our visit to the palace, we walked around the outside of the palace to the temple of the reclining Buddha (Wat Po), having been warned by our guide to ignore the sellers hawking their wares along the way.  Wat Po is actually made up of several buildings, one housing the massive reclining Buddha, 49 feet high and over 150 feet long.  The soles of the feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, but were under renovation when we visited.  Lots of beautiful architecture and statuary here.  We also got a peek at a classroom, where lessons were being taught to children by a monk in his saffron robe.

from the back

We heard a commotion around the back of one of the temple buildings, and around the corner came a procession.  We surmised it was a new monk preparing to be ordained.  The procession was led by what looked like his family members, all carrying gifts to present to the monks.  They were shouting and cheering as they circled the temple three times.  Dressed all in white, the novitiate (?) knelt and prayed under the shade of a bright yellow canopy.

Wat Pho's Giants

We exited the temple grounds, and sought out a tuk-tuk driver who could take us to a restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner.  We had the hotel staff write the name and number of the eatery, Steve Cafe, in Thai.  Showing the paper to the tuk-tuk driver, he was able to call the establishment to get clear directions.  The tuk-tuk ride was cozy and fun, with lots of close calls, as is the norm!  I'd been to Steve Cafe with our friends, Steve and Carol, and enjoyed finding my way back to this charming little Thai restaurant with a view of the Chao Praya river.  Aroi! (Delicious!)

From the restaurant we could see the boat dock to catch a ride down the river.  But getting there was another story.  A canal sat between, and we took a few wrong turns down back alleys before Ted found a proper bridge to get across.  For just fourteen baht per person, about forty cents, we enjoyed a breezy cruise all the way down the river to the Asiatique Riverfront, a modern, open mall with lots of shops and restaurants.

one of our wrong turns!

Boat Driver

The last time we visited Asiatique, the boat let us off on the property.  But this time some renovations were going on, so we had a bit of a hike along a busy street.  We enjoyed browsing the shops - I finally found a swimsuit in my size, having forgot to pack one.  (Very few places carry clothes for a real American woman :)  We enjoyed the display of painted elephants, much like the painted frogs and cars we had in Michigan a while back.  We stopped for some Italian gelato, and enjoyed the air conditioning.  Then we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel, just in time for the last part of happy hour.

These three wise men, Asian style, greeted us when we exited the elevator onto our floor.

In the morning, we had just enough time to enjoy the breakfast buffet, then met Mick out front for the drive to the airport to send Ted on his way.  So sad to see our Middle Man go, but we had a wonderful visit.  Miss you, Ted!