Bangkok, Thailand. Land of the Temples.

October 30th. Bangkok.

Yesterday I travelled from Beijing to Bangkok. As we descended into Bangkok I was greeting by views of lush green vegetation. The skies rolled with big white clouds where the afternoon sun was reflecting shades of pink and orange.

Traffic in Bangkok in the late afternoon was very heavy. My driver told me it is like that from about 5:00 till about 9:00, as the many working people who can't afford to live in the city commute to the outlying areas, sound familiar?

Bangkok is bustling. Cars, motorbikes, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians and tuktuks (small three-wheeled motorized gold car-like vehicles that can transport up to 6 people).

And it is much easier to communicate with people, English is well used and understood by most of the people I encountered.

So, today off for a tour around Bangkok. Today is about exploring the Temples of Bangkok and learning a bit about the country and its history. There is a group of 19 of us, mostly from the US, plus me and one lady from Australia. Our guides are Pon and Pui and husband and wife team eager to show us their country.

Starbucks in hand we board the vans and travel first to The Grand Palace. This is the holiest of the temples and houses the Emerald Buddha, a small (29 inches high) buddha made from the finest jade.
The Grand Palace is really a complex of many towers and buildings, clustered together. It is almost overkill. One lavish, golden, carved building after another with intricately carved spires reaching to the sky. There is the Temple of 4 Kings with its 4 spires, one for each of the first four kings (Rama I, RamaII, Rama III, and Rama IV).

There is the sprawling Palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam and later Thailand since 1782. It was where the king, his court and his royal government resided until 1925 and is still used for official events and ceremonies. It was built by King Rama I who founded the Chakri Dynasty and moved the capital to Bangkok.

The complex is 2,351,000 square feet surrounded by four walls. It is made up of a number of buildings, halls and pavilions with gardens and courtyards. Central is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Apparently Rama V was instrumental in modernizing Thailand in the late 1800's, early 1900's. He travelled to Europe and brought back European ideas and technologies and was able to maintain Thailand's strength. He was able to retain their important culture and traditions while developing important political and trade relationships with Europe and the West. Hence, Thailand is a country that has never been dominated or ruled by any other power or country. The word Thai meaning Free, for just that reason. 

Next stop was Wat Pho,  Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It is about 250 years old built by King Rama I.  It was originally the centre of education for traditional Thai medicine including massage and yoga. It was later used to bring together modern medicine with the ancient Chinese and Thai medicine. It is considered the firs public university in Thailand.

Wat Pho houses the Reclining Buddha, a huge golden statue of a Buddha lying down. It is 150 feet long and 50 feet high. The bottoms of the feet are carved with inlaid mother of pearl in intricate depictions.

Lunch at the Riverside Restaurant watching the Thai long-tail boats go by. Thus is a unique boat that uses a standard automotive engine and is designed to carry passengers on a river. It has a long canoe type hull and, often, a canopy. The best spring rolls EVER! And, for dessert mango with black sticky rice and coconut ice cream... to die for!

And finally, The Golden Buddha, the largest golden Buddha image in the world, made of pure 18 karat gold and weighing five and half tons.  It sits 15 feet high and 12 1/2 ft wide. The value of the gold is estimated at 28.5 million pounds. The Buddha is about 700 years old.

Originally the image was completely covered with plaster to conceal its value from invading forces. The statue was moved several times. In 1955 when moving it again pieces of plaster cracked off and the solid gold statue underneath was discovered. In 2010 a beautiful new temple was built to house the precious monument, where it sits today.

A walk though Chinatown with its market of fruits, vegetables, spices and Chinese trinkets and it was time to call it a day.!

As we waited for our driver we popped into another temple which also housed a monastery. The Thai

monks wear bright orange robes. I couldn't believe how young some of them were.

I feel I have learned a bit of the Thai history and culture. They are a gentle people with strong traditions and culture and real strong devotion to there king and country. I like it here.

Tomorrow ..... the markets!  Come with me......

Day 3: The Great Wall of China!!!!!!!!

Breathtaking. Stunning. Utterly amazing.

I HIKED ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA,!!

Sections of this wall date back to 700 BC.  Built over the centuries by several dynasties to protect their lands from invaders, the wall snakes over the mountain crest for over 7000 kms. I hiked a mere 7 1/2 km but it feels like a monumental feat, an accomplishment.

I am glad I chose to do this hike versus the more touristy tours nearer to Beijing. Here the wall is more authentic, it's just about the history and the wall itself, not all the crowds of people and souvenir stands. And because it is past the busy tourist season there was just me and my guide, Tao. We met several other small groups along the way and passed a school group. There was a young lady from Poland who was challenging her fear of heights. And a young man, English speaking, possibly US, who couldn't overcome the dizziness and had to turn back. A young couple from UK and Australia and a sixty something woman from the US who were doing a 2 day trek where they would see the sunrise and sunset over the wall.

First we had to drive about 140 kms out of Beijing where we would enter the wall at the village of Samatai. The wall here is virtually unrestored, closed in some areas because it is too treacherous. But first you have to get onto the wall. That involved an hour long hike virtually straight up because, after all, the wall is along the top of the mountain ridge. This was probably the hardest part of the hike. Setting out from Beijing the smog hung low over the city, but by the time we got onto the wall the smog was more distant and we had a pretty good day with some blue sky and only a light smog.

I will never forget the first moment I stepped through the watchtower onto the wall and saw the wall snaking off in either direction as far as the eye could see. The trail undulates up and down along the crest of the mountain ridge. Steep, narrow trails up to a watchtower where guards would have watched for invaders, followed by very steep and narrow steps down the other side. Some sections were crumbly and you had to pick your way carefully down, others where it was less steep were like steeply sloping pathways of ancient brick.

We hiked past or through 15 watchtowers winding our way toward the village of Jinshaling where the wall is more restored and there area more developed, with a few restaurants and a hotel and few local farmers selling trinkets along the walkway.

It was an amazing, humbling day that will stay with me for a long time. It was a tick off my bucket list, but much more. A journey into ancient history, a tribute to what man without today's technology can build, and how that can endure over the centuries. A physical and mental challenge. And mostly defying turning sixty.

A great day!

Today my legs are stiff and a bit sore and I am off to Bangkok for the next part of my journey. I am very excited!    Come With Me.......

DAY 2. Wandering the streets of Beijing.

Monday October 27th.

 Day 2 was not as adventurous as Day 1 but I think I walked a hundred miles! At least my feet felt like that.  I just wandered about Beijing and discovered that it is a BIG place. Along the way I stumbled upon the Hutongs. I had read about these areas where row after row of small shanties are joined by rough concrete or stone walls to enclose them into a sort of usable rugged courtyard to give the families that live there more space. Here you see laundry hanging or rusted old refrigerators, more like ice boxes really, signs of simple day to living. maybe a step up from a homeless shanty but that's is probably not being accurate or fair. This is their home in a place where land is overcrowded and inaccessible to many. I watched two old men playing a boardgame with what speared to be large wooden handmade checkers.

 I watched an old man, appeared to be in at least his 80's, struggling to pedal a type of rickshaw bike with a little old lady, not much different in age in the back clutching a yellow bag of groceries. I wondered if they were a couple out doing some shopping and this was their mode of transportation. Or if this was his job, sort of like a taxi. I watched the strain of the exertion on his weathered face.



Grocery shopping?

 

 

 

 

I continued to walk.  I discovered a cool street with shop after shop of the most beautiful papers, paints, brushes. On the wall hung beautiful Chinese watercolour paintings. Of course I had to get a few things there.  I couldn't read the labels and I couldn't speak to the sales person because they spoke no English but I think the paints are tubes of watercolours. Gerry, this would be the kind of place we would browse for hours.  I even picked up a set for my budding artist Sophie who loves to paint live Gammy.

I stopped for tea at an authentic Chinese tea house where I sipped sweet jasmine tea and nibbled delicious crunchy walnut cookies. Yummy.  I imagined sipping tea with Kris, you would love it. Imagine the feeling of sipping green tea in something that is combination of Starbucks without the people and a spa without the pedicure. And the most beautiful tea sets, if it wasn't such a hassle I would bring a couple back.

 From there I took a cab to the Silk Street market which is really a huge department store or mall with 6 floors of every kind of clothing, shoes, handbags you can imagine where you barter aggressively. I got a couple of good bargains here. Cynthia, you would love this place!

Next I had to stop for tea and a blueberry Danish at Starbucks.... No blueberry scones but the Danish was awesome, I could charge my phone, and my feet needed a rest!

From there on the Wanfujing which is a modern shopping area like you would see anywhere with all the common stores like Gap and H&M plus all the big designer names.


 I just passed through this place and decided I would walk back to Tiananmen Square for a few more pictures but when I got there everything was blocked off and cordoned off and people everywhere. I wondered what big deal was going on and noticed I was the only non-Asian there. In fact young girls would come up to me and talk to me and ask me if I wanted to go get something to eat with them. I thought it was weird but then remembered reading they do that to practise taking English. I waited for a while and then learned that the head of state (not sure what he would be called) of Ukraine was there and they were having some big deal thing. I wasn't particularly interested in the Ukraine so I left.  But all the streets were blocked off and I couldn't get a cab so walked forever and eventually took a rickshaw the rest of the way.

Overall, I spent a lot of time walking and get ripped off by cab drivers and even the rickshaw driver, but it's all part of the experience!

So, off to the Great Wall tomorrow!

Have a good day, or night or whatever it is.

People gather to catch a glimpse of their leader and visiting dignitaries in front of the national Museum of China across from Tiananmen Square.

Sunsetting over the monument in Tiananmen Square.

Wednesday in Bangkok.

I have to first apologize for not being able to report on my journey in China. As I discovered the Chinese government does not allow any social media in that country including facebook and, apparently, blogging. so all sited are blocked.

so here is a recap of my 4 days in Beijing:

Oct 25th I arrived in Beijing. Flying in the sky above the clouds was a bright sunny blue. I was eager to see Beijing spread out below as we descended. I could not envision what a city of 21,000,000 would look like. However, I soon discovered it was not really clouds below it was a blanket of smog hanging low over the entire city.  My first impression of the city, unfortunately, was not that favorable and I could understand why so many wear the masks over their nose and mouth.



And traffic is horrendous! After 1 1/2 hours to clear immigration  and another hour in traffic to the hotel I was sipping a glass of pretty good white wine and enjoying sweet and sour pork with rice. I also discovered a really good jasmine tea.

And the adventure begins. Come with me........

Smog over Beijing airport

Above the smog

Sunday October 26th. Beijing.

Sunday morning and the smog lifted to a beautiful sunny day with blue skies.

I met up with the day tour group at 7:00 for a full day tour of Beijing and the most notable or historic sites.

First we went to Tiananmen Square and the monument to Chairman Mao.  Then on the Forbidden City which was the Imperial Palace if the Emperor, built in early 1400's. It covers 72 hectares and contains 9999 1/2 rooms, enough for his Empress, a couple of Imperial Consorts, and 3000 concubines. Plus 10,000 eunuchs who waited on everyone.

No one was allowed inside the complex until 1925, hence the name Forbidden City.

The architecture is quite stunning, all wood and at has stood virtually unchanged for 600 years because of the protective coatings, resins and coats of paint. The roofs are clay tile. The colours are mostly blue for sky or heaven, green for earth or nature, yellow which was the color of royalty, and red which is luck.

From there we went to a factory where they manufacture silk, one of China's protected industries. Very interesting. The silk thread from one silkworm cocoon is 1300 metres long but so fine they have to spin 10 threads together to make one thread they would use in making fabric.

Then onto the Temple of Heaven, my favorite. This temple was built in 1420, round which symbolized Heaven, and built to pray for a good harvest. It is surrounded by a brick wall and a beautiful park. Absolutely beautiful. Very tranquil and peaceful.

Lunch at a Chinese buffet place, nothing special but the beer was excellent!

Next stop was a Pearl place where they explained the difference between ocean pearls and freshwater pearls, which they harvest.  Did you know that ocean pearls have one pearl in an oyster shell but freshwater pearls have many. The one we opened had about 30 pearls in it.

Of course they wanted us to buy jewellery but one of the ladies on the tour told us of a market where you van get them for a fraction of the price so maybe I'll check that out today.

Finally, the Summer Palace, a little ways further out, which was the summer residence of the Emperor, just in case he got tired of the 9999 1/2 rooms of his Palace. It is a beautiful place on a man made lake following the same architectural style of the Palace but with a lot more trees and nature around.

When the Rebublic of China took over the country,  all of the lands and properties of the Imperial Family became the property of the government and the family were basically stripped of everything and became commoners. A bit of a fall I would say.

Anyway, a full day. But an interesting one.

Tiananmen Gate.

In front of the Forbidden City.

Temple of Heaven.

In front of Tiananmen Gate,

Tribute to Chairmen Mao at Tiananmen

In the Forbidden City

More to come......