Thailand Part 3: Bangkok

After an overnight train ride from Chiang Mai, we arrived in Bangkok as the city was waking up.  This would be our final stop for this trip. 

Bangkok is made up of 50 districts, with Phra Nakhon being the central district.  This is where the Grand Palace and a number of impressive Wats (or temples) are located, and is also a great place to be based as a tourist.   There are some vibey streets to be found in this neighbourhood, such as Khao San and Soi Rambuttri, which really come alive at night with restaurants, street hawkers and places to get a massage. 

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew is definitely the most popular tourist spot in the city.  Wat Phra Kaew is a temple complex within the Grand Palace complex, and is Thailand's most sacred Buddhist site.  Construction of the temple complex commenced in 1783, with the last of the major additions made in 1880.  It is an impressive complex, with some of the highlights including a cloister that surrounds the complex and is filled with murals (178 panels in total) that tell the story of Ramakien (a tale of good vs evil where the hero Rama is on a mission to rescue his wife, Sita, from the evil Tosakan), the Bot which houses the Emerald Buddha, statues that stand as high as the buildings, and a golden stupa.  After being awed by the temple complex, where you really can spend hours, we then carried on to see the rest of the Grand Palace Complex.  We weren't able to enter any of the buildings, but the outside was more than impressive enough. 

Travelling by Tuk Tuk.  A must in Bangkok

One of the impressive complexes (above) that we passed on the way to the Grand Palace

Exploring Wat Phra Kaew

The cloister that completely encloses Wat Phra Kaew (above)
and a close-up of one of the murals (below)

More pictures from Wat Phra Kaew (above and below)

Some of the buildings within the Grand Palace complex (above)
and the entrance to one of the buildings (below)

Another must see in Bangkok, and which is not too far from the Grand Palace, is Wat Pho.  This is the home of the 46m long reclining Buddha, and also consists of a number of interesting buildings and courtyards to explore.  Wat Pho is Bangkok's oldest (pre 1700 - exact date not known) and largest (80,000 square metres) temple complex.

The reclining Buddha (above)
and exploring Wat Pho (below)

As we still had some daylight left, we then jumped on a ferry to cross the Chao Phraya River to visit Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn).  This temple is covered in porcelain, which makes it quite striking, especially at sunrise and sunset. 

And another nearby temple (below)

Chao Phraya River

Our second day in Bangkok was spent visiting the Jim Thompson House, Lumphini Park, and Chinatown.   Jim Thompson was an American who lived in Bangkok and helped to revive the silk industry in the 1940's and 1950's. Unfortunately Jim Thompson mysteriously disappeared in 1967 whilst on holiday in Malaysia, but his name is still synonymous with quality silk products and his home is now open to the public.  

The house consists of several traditional buildings that have been brought to Bangkok from various parts of Thailand, and which have been combined to create a stunning home on stilts.  It is a beautiful house and definitely worth visiting.  

Visiting the Jim Thompson house (above and below)

A silk pulling demonstration at the Jim Thompson House

King Mongkutklao statue (Lumphini Park)

And then our trip had come to an end and it was time to head home.  We have been getting back into the work routine, but already have some exciting travel plans lined up for 2018.  More about that next time. 

Thailand Part 2: Chiang Mai

For this blog post I have gone with a bumper edition of photos, and tried to keep the words to a minium.  Enjoy!

Chiang Mai is the capital city of Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand.  The city was founded in 1296, and the Old City part is easily identified by the crumbling wall that still surrounds it.  The Old City is approximately 2km by 2km, and full of Buddhist temples and beautiful buildings.  But more about that later.  Chiang Mai Province is also well known for the National Parks that are made up of mountains, waterfalls and forests.  Hiking, or trekking as it is more commonly referred to here, is a popular option to explore these National Parks, and we had signed up for an overnight hike.  

Water buffalo (above) and some of the typical houses that we passed (below)

Chicks looking for their mother (above) 

and Wan, our guide, showing us how to make a traditional 

trap for catching mice or other small animals (below)

Miles and miles of National Park and forest, 

and taking a selfie with Wan

Our overnight accommodation looked 

very similar to these buildings

And then on day two we got to meet some Ellies.  These two elephants are looked after by a local village.  Just about everyday they get to interact with tourists that are passing through, and this includes feeding time (bananas and sugar cane) and a dip in the river for a bath.  We liked the fact that these villagers don't use bull hooks on the elephants, and that there is no riding of the elephants.  It can be quite difficult to find an elephant sanctuary where elephants are being treated ethically, but this one seemed to have the right idea. 

And then after bath time we finished the day with a rafting trip down the river. 

Once back in Chiang Mai, we then spent the next few days exploring some of the many Buddhist temples.  Apparently there are over 300 Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai Province, and about 30 in and around Chiang Mai Old City.  Initially we thought that we would be all 'templed-out' quite quickly, but were pleased to find that the temples are all so different and each has it's own character, that we were quite happy to just keep exploring and finding as many temples as possible.  We can't remember all the names of the different temples (we must have visited at least 20), but these are some photos from some of our favourites. 

And, of course, no trip is complete without visiting the local markets.  So here is a photo of some of the delicacies on offer.  

And then it was time to move on again.  Our next stop was Bangkok, and we had decided to take the overnight train to get there.  A photo of the Chiang Mai train station below. 

The carriage, which consists of bunk beds down either side.

Privacy is by means of a curtain that you pull across. 

And Bron writing postcards on the train 

(These seats get converted into the bunk beds)

Next time:  Bangkok