Our first day wisely scheduled by Pam, a day of recovery. Breakfast at the hotel is an eclectic blend of East and West--omelets, pancakes, yogurt, fruit, sushi, dim sum, and a vast assortment of noodles and "add ins" for soup. We wander the hotel checking out pool, surrounds, and river traffic before boarding a river shuttle to the nearest express boat dock. A ticket buys us the privilege of cruising the Chao Phraya river all day...getting off and on as we choose. One of our stops is to check out the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, famous for the Author's Lounge...every bit as elegant as the Ritz in Paris.
We arrive back at our hotel just in time for our two hour, traditional herbal massage. I couldn't wait. Pam and I got to be in a room together where we stretched out on separate mattresses on the floor. All of those kinks and stresses soon to be released. My masseuse knelt at my feet, and as she pinched and pushed her way up the back of my right leg, I knew this was to be like no massage my tender hide had ever experienced. Here is my mind's recollection: eiee, ouch, yowie, umps, yuh, I didn't know my leg bent that way...owww, (Roll over, please)...ahh, she's standing on me, pushing me with her feet, owww, (I peak over at Pam who seems perfectly content). Now the sounds of something boiling. The man in the next area over answers his phone for the 6th time, and mutters "Harder, Harder.". I think, "Are you crazy?". Hot herbs are daubed up my back. "Ahhh," I think until the scrubbing starts...at the end, I smell lovely and feel invigorated. With a bow and a smile, our masseuses invite us to come back tomorrow. Oppps, we're touring with York tomorrow.
Forgoing our dinner reservations down river, we eat at our hotel and fall gratefully into bed, to be awakened by a wonderful fireworks display one bridge down. A truly amazing night.
Friday morning. York, our guide, picks us up for our day's outing. Roger, our driver does a great job navigating the early morning rush hour. Our first visit is to the Grand Palace - the Kingdom’s most important site - there we visit several halls, including that of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keo). Amazing statue who gets a change of clothes from season to season. Clothes changing is done by the King. Buddha is due for a change in two weeks, and because the King is in his mid-80's, and unable to climb safely up to the Buddha, he has asked his son to do the honors thismyear. Next, our tour takes us to Wat Po, home of the enormous Reclining Buddha. He is gargantuan. While there we donate $ (bhat) and receive a
cup full of 108 coins. Pam did the honors of walking alongside 108 pots to deposit one coin in each bucket--giving her credit for 108 virtues (I don't have nearly that many--probably why she did this). The 108 virtues are pictured on the bottoms of the feet of the reclining Buddha. We walk the grounds of Thailand's first university...the school of massage, and I begin to understand what happened to me yesterday. Run first by monks (whom women may not touch or be touched by) the method of teaching/learning is through books, traditional pictures frescoed on walls, and sculptures that are found throughout the grounds. Diagrams of pressure points can be found for both humans and devils...to assist in healthful living for the former, and to understand how to kill the latter. Thai massage is taught and practiced here.
Lunch is at a local restaurant. After lunch, we board a Long Tail Boat (Local Style) to spend the next several hours exploring the old canals of the Thonburi Side of Bangkok where an older and more gracious lifestyle still prevails. Our last stop is to visit Wat Arun, "The Temple of the Dawn--supposedly so named because travelers and merchants traveling to Bangkok often arrived at dawn, and recognized where they were because of the Temple. Rama the third built the four temples here because he loved his brothers and didn't want to have one of them killed. It was the custom that in the royal family, first-born son was the next in line to become king, second son was a warrior held in reserve in case #1 didn' live, #3 son became a monk, and #4 was killed so he didn't cause trouble. Rama III loved all his brothers, kept them all alive and built the Temple of the Dawn to honor them. The local story goes that the shards of pottery decorating its 79 meters tall spire came from a nearby shipwreck 100 Years ago. We return to our hotel in late afternoon and totally collapse...sleeping for maybe 3--3.5 hours. Walking around in the heat and humidity really takes it out of you...especially when you are trying to memorize thousands of years of Thai history, with side-stories about the Hindu pantheon to boot.
We are sorry not to be able to label pics, but we can't. As it turns out, I can't even upload pictures, so you will just have to use your imaginations for now...grrrr, and good-night!
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Location:Bangkok
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