My Around the World Adventure: Bangkok

Now that I have finished posting photos from Singapore, I can finally get to my photos of Bangkok. And just in time! I leave tomorrow afternoon for Ho Chi Minh City. The photo above was taken on the Chao Phraya River on my way to the Royal Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Dawn, and the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The photo of me was taken by an American medical student seated on the boat in front of me. He was with 2 of his friends, all of them were from Michigan. They were traveling throughout Southeast Asia. We were headed to the Royal Palace, a major tourist attraction in Bangkok. The ride itself was an adventure as we headed up the river, weaving in and out of much larger boats whose wake made the ride a little bumpy!

Before I get to the photos, let me give you my first impression of Bangkok. I was expecting a quaint little city, having been a colonial outpost. I was surprised to find a sprawling urban metropolis. It certainly does not have the wealth of Singapore, but it has its share of modern skyscrapers. However, there are many remnants of an impoverished city dotted among the more "modern and affluent" sections of the city. The weather was sweltering. I found it more humid than Singapore, and the air heavily polluted. The triple combination of heat, humidity and air pollution made being outside intolerable at times. But what a fascinating and dynamic city! Everyone is on the move, and like Singapore everyone is an entrepreneur, trying to sell you something. I was also impressed by the respect of the people for the royal family, especially the king and the queen. Large billboard photos of the royal family are everywhere. It is like a giant family album throughout the city, especially near the palaces where they used to live. I learned that the king and queen are both in their 80's and now live in a military hospital.

And now to the photos: the first group of photos are from my brief walk on the day I arrived.

The street sign will give you my location in Bangkok! How's your Thai? I never knew where I was when I was walking around or using the Metro because English was rarely used on any signs!

EVERY street corner and EVERY building had a small Buddhist shrine. It is considered bad luck to build something and not erect a shrine on the property. Every hotel, office building, and mall had a shrine in a very public place. This shrine was next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

A Buddhist holy water container, next to the Erawan Shrine. The shrine is in the next few photos.

The Erawan Shrine is at a major intersection of "downtown" Bangkok. The day I was there it was filled with men and women offering incense sticks and garlands of flowers (mostly, marigolds) to the Buddha.

Contributions from those who visit the shrine is enough to pay for Thai dancers to perform daily at the shrine!

And now for a change of pace away from "downtown" Bangkok....river journey to the Royal Palace...

Temple of the Dawn...more of this temple later, right now I am headed to the opposite side of the river to the Royal Palace.

The sign which greets you after you pay your ticket to enter the grounds of the Royal Palace.

The temple area of the grounds of the Royal Palace is a feast of colorful, ornate, and richly detailed temples and shrines, not to mention mythic creatures lurking all over the place, as you will soon see. It was difficult to focus on any one building since there was a profusion of colors and designs and jewels and statues, etc. in every direction