Bangkok, Thailand (Formerly Siam)

            Today, Monday 21 Oct, was another very busy day.  We awoke to our alarm clock at 5:00 AM; and while we were enjoying a quick breakfast, through the windows we could see our ship gliding slowly into dock at Laem Chaband, Thailand.  Again, another cruise ship was in port beside ours.  Very soon, we proceeded to our 7:00 AM tour meet-up point for a full-day exploration of Bangkok.

At 7:25 AM we boarded our bus, where our tour guide (Wera, or “Wee” for short) was waiting.  Although Wee has a very heavy accent, he spoke very slowly and clearly so that there was sufficient time to determine the English words he was trying to pronounce!

On our way to Bangkok, we passed by many coconut and tapioca trees.  Formerly rice fields were seen here, but the once low cost property has been bought by investors; now that the land has become valuable, it will soon be developed.  Jesse asked Wee about the trucks on the road that appeared to be fueled by natural gas cylinders; Wee responded that the fuel is liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which costs a lot less than gasoline or diesel fuel in Thailand.

Because of its canals and rivers, Wee referred to Bangkok as the “Venice of the East.” However, Jesse recalled that our tour guide in Suzhou, China, had made the same claim about that city – and after our ride on the Grand Canal there, Suzhou does seem more deserving of that nickname.  However, Bangkok has canals and a river, with barges, some of them quite large, as well as ferry boats and river buses.  Gold brightens up the scenery; even common houses might have a small gold temple with a Buddha in a corner of their yard.

Thailand has been compelled by its geographical position and relative weakness to preserve itself by maintaining a balance among its enemies.  Since they could not defend their frontiers, the Thais have for centuries either placated or defied their enemies, changing allies as necessary.  When all her neighbors were losing their independence in the 19th and 20th centuries, Thailand managed to preserve hers.  Through the arrival of Western traders and the French attempts to take over the kingdom, and as well as some natural disasters, Thailand has survived and seems a living museum.

In Bangkok, we rode through Chinatown, and then along the main street near the King’s residence, where billboard-size photos of the royal family appear at each city block.  December 5th is Thailand’s patriotic day (“our beloved King’s birthday,” as described by Wee), and the city already appears to getting prepared for the big celebration.  (Although Thailand’s king welcomes criticism, any disrespect towards him is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.  For instance, the movie, "The King and I" is banned in Thailand.)  The king has pardoned some of the offenders, but not all.)

Wat Po Temple

Our first stop was the Wat Po, one of the largest and oldest wats (Buddhist temples) in Bangkok.  Wat Po is home to more than 1,000 Buddha images.  The Reclining Buddha, one of the largest single Buddha images, fills most of the inside area of Wat Po and we walked along with others along the perimeter of the statue.  In order to go inside, we took off our shoes and placed them in bags, which we carried with us.  Before departing for Bangkok, we were given the following instructions about clothing acceptability in Buddhist temples: Women are supposed to cover their shoulders and knees; both men and women should wear shoes that don’t have open toes or heels, plus socks, since shoes must be removed to enter a temple.  (Some advice was conflicting, such as some that proclaimed sandals were accepted, if socks were worn under the sandals.)  Sally observed that people going into the temples generally were dressed up to code; however, two young women wore flip-flops with no socks, and still walked through the Wat Po Temple with the rest of the crowd.  In truth, there was such a crowd of people that probably no one was looking at feet; however, Jesse and I were both told to remove our hats when we were entering – hats were easier to spot than bare feet!  (Ship passengers had not been told about hats.)

Wat Sutat Temple

Our bus then continued to Wat Suthat, known for its Phra Sri Sakyamuni Buddha statue, an impressive bronze Buddha image that stands over 25 feet tall, and its magnificent doors and giant red swing.

 

Tuk Tuk Ride

Next we boarded a tuk tuk (pronunced “took took” with the “oo” sound in the word “moon” by our guide), a motorized rickshaw (a 3-wheeled conveyance), and traveled through the inner part of Bangkok for 25 minutes to the Royal Princess Hotel.  This ride was definitely the most entertaining part of our day.  Since a rickshaw can carry only 2 passengers (or 3, if they are small and wish to travel together), carrying our busload of people required quite an armada of tuk tuks.  Obviously very experienced, the drivers worked together to stay together as much as possible, using blocking techniques as much as possible to provide safety for the group from taxis, busses, and trucks traveling the same streets.

At the Royal Princess Hotel, we enjoyed a sumptuous international buffet lunch.  Separate tables held salad, sushi, main courses, and desserts, with plenty of all of those.  Each item was well labeled, and everything that we tried was delicious.  (Of course, Jesse went back for seconds.)

After lunch, we re-boarded our bus and stopped at the Jessadabordin Ground and witnessed a stunning Thai architectural-styled, open pavilion, and caught a glimpse of the Golden Stupa Mountain Temple, the highest temple in Bangkok.   During a conversation with one of the other passengers of our bus, we discovered that touring with us was a retired baseball player, Charles (Buddy) Bradford, who played for the Chicago White Sox during the 1970s.

Before the end of our day in Bangkok, the bus stopped for 40 minutes at the Royal Lapidary, where fairly expensive handicrafts, jewelry, and some souvenirs and gifts were on display.  This was the typical shopping stop that some otherwise interesting tours use to provide some “kickback” shared by the cruise line, the bus company, and probably the guide.  (All cruisers soon recognize this ploy.)  Because our guide said we should use the restrooms there before our long drive back to the ship, everyone left the bus.  When the two of us entered the store, a well-dressed sales clerk immediately attached herself to us, following us through all three floors of the stores, trying to show us jewelry, silk scarves, etc.  After about 10 or 15 minutes, we had walked through the store and used the restroom.  When we tried to re-board our bus, the bus driver would not allow us to do so, the first time we have not been allowed to re-board our bus when the driver was onboard.  (Since he was eating, we assumed he must have been on break.)  So we had to wait outside in the heat for another 20 minutes or so.  By then, we had decided we would not be giving the bus driver a tip!  That time could have been used driving down streets from a different direction so that we could see some sites that were only visible from the other side of the bus. 

Regarding the heat, free bottles of cold water had been provided with our tickets to the Wat Po, as well as large bottles with our lunch.  Although it was hot (at least 86 degrees, with very high humidity), it never rained on us (though it rained heavily in Laem Chaband, where our ship was docked).  We decided that we were less uncomfortable in Bangkok, and also less worn out, than we had been in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly because we had walked very little.

Our bus was caught in a traffic jam on the way back to the ship.  A big truck had a flat tire, blocking one of the 3 lanes of traffic, which delayed our bus by at least 25 minutes.  We arrived back in our cabin after 5:30, but managed to go to our dinner table by 6:15.  Until we arrived, Jeri was alone at the table.  In fact, the dining room was relatively empty, with several servers standing around with nothing to do.

After dinner, we went to the Explorers Lounge for some brief dancing, where the Diamond Princess Orchestra was playing.  Although the room was relatively empty, our friends Niona and Dennis were there, and we sat with them, also dancing to a few songs (including a tango).  When the band went on break, the few present in the bar started to play Multimedia Trivia.  Since we had played Trivia without embarrassing ourselves too badly a few evenings earlier, we played again, scoring 13 out of 21; since they considered this score pretty good, their skills and ours for that game seem about even.  When the orchestra returned from break at 9:30 PM, we decided to call it a night and retire to our cabins.