Bangkok

Jennifer joins us in Bangkok

So after our extended stay in Australia we have finally moved on to another continent and have landed in the country of Thailand. Here the weather is finally very hot after experiencing the coldest year in 50 years in the land down under, so the 32 degree heat was a welcome treat. Our first stop in our Thailand journey is the amazing city of Bangkok.

As we have traveled through Bangkok before on several other trips to this part of the world, it was like returning to a good friend. The city is massive sprawling metropolis with over 12 million inhabitants spread along the river delta of the Chao Phraya River. Here you make your way through a maze of freeways, overhead train system and subway systems to explore this planner’s nightmare of a city. There is no other city like it with its smells of car fumes, sewage, incense and Thai food on every corner, with every inch of the city being occupied by some sort structure from five star hotels, world class architecture and shanty houses built overnight. And the shopping in Bangkok compares to no other from high end malls with Ferrari dealerships next to the Starbucks to the infamous Patpong market with it’s designer knock off goods. This truly is a great city to explore and just jump into with both feet.

Jennifer blessing with lotus flower @ Wat

We spent our first few days reacquainting ourselves with our favourite restaurants, street side bars and night clubs, a few too many late nights for sure. And of course we were taking the royal treatment with Thai body and foot massages daily. Oh it is a tough life.....

Henry and Jennifer in front of statues

It is here in Bangkok our good friend Jennifer, from Calgary, joined us for ten days through part of our trip through Thailand. It was wonderful to see a friendly face and catch up with a close friend from back home. And it was great playing tour guide to her and showing her our version of the city of Bangkok.

Took a Thai longboat down the river

We only had two days with Jennifer in Bangkok but we were determined to show her as much as we could. We started with a tour of Jim Thompson House; a museum of the original home built by this Thai silk tycoon from the 1950s, the structure is seven traditional elevated log Thai homes along the canals of Bangkok. This beautiful teak structure is surrounded by a wonderful tropical garden and is a tranquil spot in the centre of the chaos called Bangkok.

Jim Thompson House

From there we toured the megamalls of the Silom area taking in some of the best shopping this world has to offer. From Central World with its designer boutiques to Siam Paragon the mega mall of Southeast Asia we explored the stalls for wonderful deals. And of course we got lost in the massive MBK mall with it’s over 6000 stalls of mostly electric goods of every type imaginable.

Bangkok train system

Traffic in Bangkok

Santa Claus scales building to his helicopter

Thai Christmas Tree

We did take in some of the cultural sites by visiting the old city of Bangkok and some of its famous temples. We started with the Royal Palace and the world famous Wat Phra Keo. This temple (or wat) is home to the refereed emerald Buddha; the most honoured Buddha in all of Thailand. Here amongst the lavishly decorated temples and chedis is a complete history of the faith in Thailand as well as practising monastery. The timeless design of the temples with bright glass mosaics glisten in the sun along with the gold leaf on what seems to be every surface.

Wat Phra Keo

Next to the temple compound is the original royal place with its European influenced architecture, unique changing of the guards and delicately manicured lawns and trees. Even though the king does not reside here anymore it is still considered the royal residence for formal occasions.

Amazing Palace Doors

Beautiful Elephant Sculpture

Guard Standing in front of palace

Changing of the Guards

After touring the temples in the heat we decided on a canal cruise to see the other side of Bangkok. Here we boarded a long tail boat, a wooden boat with a car motor in back with crudely mounted rudder and we winded our way through the maze of canals seeing how the original Thai people lived along this low lying land. We made a pit stop to buy some bread to feed the catfish in this murky water.

Catfish coming to the surface

People feeding the catfish

Catfish trying to get chunks of bread

Then off to the Temple of Dawn or Wat Arun a much older temple based on the shores of the river and the first temple in Bangkok to catch the sun in the morning. And finally we visited Wat Pho home of the immense reclining Buddha and a series of beautiful designed temples and chedis in a very large religious compound.

Henry and Jennifer watching me come down the stairs

talk about steep

It was great fun to see the city of Bangkok with Jennifer and share our most favourite spots and haunts, as she has heard our stories far too many times.

Off to the Island of Koh Samui next for beach time.