Do you know the best way to
spend the Chinese New Year????? Leave
China!! And I am not kidding. As the end of 2011 was drawing near I was
asked what we would be doing during the Chinese New Year; not having given it
much thought, I replied that we were looking forward to seeing the New Year
celebrations! WRONG was the unanimous
answer from all my work colleagues. They
went on to explain that the Chinese New Year is a time for the Chinese to go
home and celebrate the new year with their relatives, hence we would be left
out of any celebration parties and would be annoyed by the almost nonstop
fireworks celebration. Now as we all
know, fireworks are kind of exciting and can be a fun thing to watch; but I
must have to agree with them that when the majority of the fireworks only make
load and hideous noise and now beautiful patterns in the sky, that the novelty
soon wears off.
So taking the advice of my
colleagues I started to once again long at the quickly vanishing “Bucket list”
for new ideas. It wasn’t long before I
was on the telephone with my long term friend Jeff now living in Bangkok asking
if he was really serious about having the welcome mat out. Well indeed it was out and it wasn’t long
before Jeff had convinced me that Bangkok was the single most beautiful place
on earth to visit. So after finding out
that the Chinese airlines make ALL! Their money during the Chinese New Year, we
went ahead and booked the overly expensive flights from Shanghai to Bangkok for
a week’s worth of history chasing and sun basking. It was to be one of the best decisions in
recent history (since we got back from Cambodia).
The adventure started in the
city of Bangkok with my friends Jeff and Dream Kinane. Surprisingly Dream was 6 months pregnant with
what will soon be their first baby (a boy), but her enthusiasm for the city and
her country made her an excellent tour director. We soon came to find out that it was a good
thing that we were not relying on Jeff’s tour guide experience since although
he had been living in Thailand for over 4 years, he had not seen any of the
sites we were planning to visit. This
really made it exciting for all of us! I
did a very un-Mark Like thing and decide that we really needed an R&R trip
so we lavished in the luxury of the Renaissance hotel for 4 days; it was to be
a great decision and we had earned it!
The tour started off ,as
most of them do, with a trip to McDonalds and Starbucks for breakfast! Next we boarded the sky train for the temples
in the heart of the city. As a backdrop;
Bangkok is a small city when compared to Shanghai (only 12 million people) and it really felt a lot less crowded which
was a good thing because it was hot for the entire week we were there. Bangkok was founded in the early fifteenth
century, when it was under the rule of Ayutthaya. It is located on the Chao Phraya River along which the
beautiful temples of Wat Arun and the Grand Palace are built. After disembarking from our river boat, we
entered the beautiful temple grounds of Wat Arun. Fortunately the majority of the areas in the
city were unaffected by the terrible floods but we did see evidence of the sand
bags that had been used to protect some of the areas.
Wat Arun Rajwararam, "Temple of the Dawn") is
a Buddhist temple west bank of the Chao
Phraya River. It was named after Aruna, the Indian God of
Dawn, the Wat Arun is considered one of the most well known of Thailand's many
landmarks. The temple is named because the first light of the morning reflects
off the surface of the temple with incredible beauty. (we saw it in the full
light of morning and it was truly beautiful).
Believe it or not the sky was really this blue and the
roofs of the temples we an amazing cocoufiny of beautiful bright colors. The large vertical temples (built in the Khmer-style much like those at
Angkor WAT) also took on a charm of their own as they were completely
covered with small porcelain tiles and sea shells, a really awesome sight. The outer four temples are dedicated to the wind god, Phra Phai.
The halls that surround the temple complex are beautifully adorned by
Buddha statues like the ones seen here.
The entry way to the Coronation Hall is beautiful with
its guardian statues on each side to protect the king from intruders.
The Thai architecture is amazing and unique. The predominate feature is the bright colors
and the covering of the surface with brightly colored tile pieces or
shells. This gives the buildings a
unique look which distinguishes it as being from the Thai culture.
The first day ended with dinner with our friends the
Kinane’s in a great Italian restaurant; I know, we are in Thailand and we had
Italian, but actually you can get too much of a great thing.
The next day we once again ventured onto the
banks of the river to visit the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace really is a must
city in the city of Bangkok. The temple complex was built in 1782 - and for 150
years it was the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative
seat of government - the Grand Palace of Bangkok is an amazingly ornate temple
complex which has been exquisitely restored to the Grandeur days. Thai
craftsmanship is well worth seeing an is unique in all the world. With is blend of bright colors and intricate
detail, it is a fascinating to spend many hours. Today, the complex remains the
spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom.
Also
inside this complex are temples, the most famous being Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald
Buddha), which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered
Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. Although the emerald Buddha
is very impressive the most memorable event was the “loosing of the
shoes”. So it is typical before entering
the temple that everyone removes their shoes and leaves them outside the temple
in a well organized shelf system. So
after the interesting visit to pay
homage to the Buddha, we returned to put on our shoes as the day was very hot
and the pavement was heating up quickly.
After searching in vain, Cath was unable to find her’s and rather than
just finding something that fit and potentially starting a chain reaction of
missing shoes, she sucked it up and ventured on with them. It was interesting to see her darting from
grass patch to grass patch and from shadows on the pavement. The day was probably 90+ degrees and the
pavement was certainly oer 100. She was
a real trooper and we were able to finish our visit and upon leaving the
complex, she was able to find a vendor outside that was more than willing to
help her out. So back to the visit: The
robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by HM The King of Thailand,
and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar. Thai Kings stopped
living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace
complex is still used to mark all kinds of other ceremonial and auspicious
happenings.
The other famous temple inside the
grounds of the Grand Palace is
Wat
Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha). It is located behind the splendid
Temple of the Emerald Buddha and is the largest temple in Bangkok and famed for
its huge and majestic reclining Buddha measured 46 metres long and covered in
gold leaf. The Buddha's feet are 3 metres long and exquisitely decorated in
mother-of-pearl illustrations of auspicious 'laksanas' (characteristics) of the
Buddha.
Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya
was by far the most surprising settlement that we visited in Thailand. This once-prosperous Siamese trade and
political capital goes down as the most glorious as well as the most devastated
city in Thai history. Although Ayutthaya is a 1 ½ hour drive from the city of
Bangkok, the city is a haven for history seekers and the city is bursting with
stories to tell. As we wandered through the seemingly endless ancient ruin
sites, we couldn’t help but feel humbled
by the ingenuity of the Ayodha craftsmen and their powerful spiritual beliefs.
At
the center of Ayutthaya City is Ayutthaya Historical Park – a UNESCO World
Heritage Site – the most visited site in the area. Here, the four spectacular
temples of the early Ayutthaya period (1350 – 1529) stand amongst a dense
canopy of ancient trees. West of it is the site of the Royal Palace and Royal
Chapel (Wat Phra Si Sanphet) – the political and spiritual heart of the lost
kingdom.
In
many ways, Ayutthaya reminded us of the temples of Ankor Wat. The architecture of the domed monuments is
reminiscent of of the domed towers of the temples in Siem Reep. Ayutthaya has become synonymous with temple
ruins and historical sites. Most visitors head over to Ayutthaya Historical
Park located in the center of the inner city for a comprehensive overview of
its history and past glory. When surrounded by these ruins, it’s not difficult
to imagine the grandeur that once was the kingdom of Ayutthaya.
Ayutthaya
Historical Park comprises four temples – Wat Phra Ram, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat
Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana – the Royal Palace and Wiharn Phra Mongkol Bophit.
Outside of the historical park, the sites are randomly peppered along the west,
south and eastern parts of the outer island.
Ayutthaya History
The
rise of Ayutthaya followed a period of power consolidation and economic
hegemony across the central plain. Legend has it that the original site of
Ayutthaya was actually across the river to the east, in the area spanning Wat
Ayodhya and Wat Phanan Choeng collectively called Ayodhya. It was already a
thriving political and economic centre, with magnificent temples and palaces as
well as warm trade relationships with Lopburi and Supannabhumi (Suphanburi).
When
an epidemic broke out and threatened to wipe out the entire civilisation, King
U-Thong – the first Ayutthaya King – relocated the capital across the river to
where it is today. Ayutthaya’s wealth attracted traders and emissaries from
across the continent as well as Europe. At its height of prosperity, Ayutthaya
maintained close diplomatic and trade ties with Louis XIV’s court in France, Portugal,
Holland, Persia, China and Japan, until it was felled in the last battle of the
Siamese-Burmese Wars, which lasted 224 years (from 1539 to 1767). This final
battle sealed the fate of the kingdom forever, as it was ransacked and burned
completely to the ground.
From
Ayutthaya we journeyed about 3 hours by car to the town of Pattaya. Pattaya is a coastal city known for its “wild
Life” and I don’t mean the abundance of animals. This area attracts many people
from China and surrounding countries that are looking for a beach vacation
“with benefits” . By benefits I am
referring the varied type of Thai massages, the abundance of fresh seafood and
the tropical climate. Combine this with
a low cost and living and you discover why so many Europeans have made Pattaya
their retirement home. Pattaya is the home of my colleague and his wife; tough
assignment!!
Below
is the view from their balcony overlooking the ocean. The sunset can simply be described as
stunning. We really enjoyed the couple of days that we spent there but this is
not the type of life that we actually long for.
While there we were treated to the Thai hospitality by Dream Kinane and
also to her extraordinary Thai cooking skills.
The Thai like to cook with many really hot spices and I really enjoyed
the drastic departure from the food in Shanghai (Which Cath prefers because it
is predominately Sweet based).
One
of the more surprising attractions in Pattaya was the Sanctuary of truth. The Sanctuary of Truth was a wooden structure
built primarily of teach wood from the forests of Thailaind and Cambodia. The
temple is a very ornate hand carved temple with many Buddha images. The temple has been under construction for
the part 40 years and will be for at least another 20 years. The building was constructed according to
ancient Thai ingenuity and every square inch of the building is covered with
wooden carve sculptures. The purposes of decoration with wooden carve
sculptures are to use art and culture as the reflection of Ancient Vision of
Earth, Ancient Knowledge, and
Eastern Philosophy. With in this complex we get a glimpse of
Ancient Life, Human
Responsibility, Basic Thought, Cycle of living, Life Relationship with
Universe and Common Goal of Life toward Utopia.
The temple is truly a work of art and more than 200 Cambodia carvers are
currently working on the temple structure.
A
big thank you goes out to the Kinane’s for their hospitality and especially to
Dream for sharing her Thai heritage and the local culture. We had an outstanding visit and can highly
recommend it to anyone who is interested in history, culture, beautiful temples
and great Thai cuisine. More pictures on Picasa.
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