Bangkok Day One

We met our guide at 8:30 in the lobby. With a name like Suzie, I wasn't expecting a short, stout, older lady, but there she was. Her English was very good, which is very important. And she turned out to be very knowledgeable, so just fine. I had on capris and she nicely asked if I could change into pants. The guy who picked us up the day before had told us that they have skirts for rent to go into the temples so I told her I am agreeable to that, it is WAY too hot for pants. Off we went.

 

Our first stop was Chinatown. We walked thru the markets, looking at the knock offs and all the food. It was fascinating. We then went to the flower market which was unreal! You could buy a bouquet of a dozen stems of orchids for about $3. There were women making bracelets and bouquets which are used for offerings at the temples. I'd never seen so many flowers. Great place to visit.

Our next stop was the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple. After renting a wrap around skirt for me we entered with hundreds of other people. Suzie gave us commentary the entire time, telling of the history and purpose for the various buildings. It is a huge complex. The various temples were covered with gold leaf or china mosaics, absolutely gorgeous! The Emerald Buddha is actually jade. It is about 2' tall and sits in a place of honor high on a "throne". It was dressed for winter, with a gold lace cloak. They have a big ceremony to change his clothes for each season. Interesting. The walls were covered with beautiful murals. Many of the coaches and clothes were in gold leaf. We spent about an hour in that complex then headed to the pier. I ended up buying my skirt so I could use it in other temples, plus it was nice fabric with elephants all over.

 

We got on a long, narrow boat to see the sights from the river. Years ago, the canals and rivers were the main transportation in Thailand. It was interesting to see the tall buildings and small homes from grand ones to shacks along the river bank. We were dropped off at a beautiful place for lunch. It had been a private residence but the Mandarin Oriental Hotel across the river bought it and turned it into a luxury restaurant. It was buffet so we helped ourselves. I've never been fond of Thai food, and wasn't impressed with the selection there, regardless of price! The shrimp was delicious and they had ball pancakes, like I make (Danish ableskiver) on Christmas only these were coconut flavored, also very good. We ate then took the hotel's shuttle boat across the river to the hotel. The owner's daughter was getting married there that evening, so the lobby was full of people decorating the place with flowers. It was gorgeous.

 

Next stop, the Golden Teakwood Mansion. That building had been pretty much unused since the 20's. The current queen decided to reopen it as a museum which was an excellent idea. It would be sad to not share that beautiful place with the world. The building was entirely built with wood. There were original antique pieces in every room. There were also photographs and paintings of the royal family, consorts and children. Every room held something to oooh and aaah over. Once again I was using my wrap around skirt, shoes left at the entrance.

 

I was on a quest to find a gold tiger charm so Suzie took us to a very nice jewelry store. They had a nice gold cat with ruby eyes but no stripes. It wasn't tiger enough so we moved on. We stopped at one of the tourist places we've been to all over the world where they have a workshop first so you can see how the jewelry is made, then a HUGE store. They did not have one single tiger to look at. Since it is one of the Chinese zodiac symbols, I was pretty surprised. Suzie said maybe they were sold out since last year was the Year of the Tiger. Who knows. We were back at the hotel at about 6. We had dinner in the concierge lounge, showered and went to bed. It had been a long day.