We had a great day on Wednesday! We began the morning with some fresh pad thai from a street vendor, and then we were off to the Chao Phraya River to take the boat for some sightseeing. After the traffic yesterday, we swore off travelling by roads for a little while. The river boat took us down stream a bit, where we visited Wat Arun, the huge temple right on the river that we posted a picture of when we were in Bangkok last time.
This temple was built Khmer style, with lots of steep steps going to the top. It had four symmetrical sides that were covered in mosaics made from Chinese porcelain. The mosaics covered figurines in the shapes of gods, demons, and animals. The clean whitewash and the colorful pottery gave it a distinctly Thai flavor, different from the carved sandstone of the Khmer temples. From the top (or at least as far as we were allowed to climb up) there were beautiful views of the river and the Bangkok skyline.
Several of the hallways were lined with golden figures of the Buddha.
Our next stop on the river boat was the flower market. We got a little skeeved out in the neighborhood before we actually found the market, but it turned out to be one of the gems of Bangkok. There were countless stalls selling bouquets of orchids and garlands of jasmine for mere pennies. Across the street was a fruit market, boasting some of the most beautiful colors we have ever seen.
From here we hopped back on the river boat and connected with the Skytrain and rode that back into the middle of the city. We did a little shmying and when started to rain, we returned to a tried and true way to pass the time... we got more Thai massages. These were by far the best that we have had, but we are not going to quit on our search to find the best Thai massage in Thailand. Let us make you even more jealous; we splurged on these because they were $5 each for an hour. We're really breaking the bank over here!
An hour was the perfect amount of time for the weather to clear up. Feeling refreshed, we took a stroll through Lumphini park. We stayed on the main path through the park, and there were many people out for their evening walk or jog. There was even music playing over the loudspeakers. Just then, it started to rain again, and we were not far from the night bazaar we had been to, so we decided to book it over there to get out of the rain. Just as we came around a bend in the path, we noticed everyone ahead of us stopped dead in their tracks. Coming from New York, we assumed it was a shooting, mugging, or ten midgets on a motorcycle (Wait- that would have been Vietnam!). We stopped running, but kept walking - it was raining and we didn't have umbrellas. Just then, a man standing next to us in the road motioned with his hand for us to stop moving and he pointed to the loudspeaker. Everyone picked up right where they left off as soon as the song ended. We realized that it had been the national anthem, and people here are patriotic enough to stand solemnly in the rain.
We have told you before that this summer there is a big celebration in all of Thailand because it is the 60th anniversary of the king's ascention to the throne, and everyone is joining in the celebration. There is an official emblem for the celebration, and it is plastered over the entire city of Bangkok. The offical color is bright yellow, and everything is clad in yellow, especially the people. There is a yellow polo shirt with the insignia on it for sale in every single shop (even the chic boutiques). The king has mandated (although there is no penalty for not following suit) that everyone in Thailand has to wear their yellow shirts on Mondays, and looking around, most people are. They even wear them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays... This decree caused a little uproar in Parliament, because the Prime Minister told all of his cabinet members that they must wear their shirts to their weekly meetings, which falls on a Tuesday!
Lots of love,
Jillian and Ari
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