Since my change of itinerary now includes a days trekking and an overnight stay in the jungle, I also need to purchase a torch!
I was up quite early, walk to Starbucks for a nice latte and a muffin. This is the first time I have had a muffin since I started baking - maybe that is because I know how many calories goes in them!
I took a taxi ride to the Royal Palace and Emerald Buddha Saturday must be shopping day in China Town, the traffic was atrocious. It took almost an hour to get there.
There are loads and loads of con artists outside the Palace, more than one told me the palace was closed for a Buddhist holiday, they then try to get you to go on an alternative your with them. The palace wasn't closed at all, nor was it a Buddhist holiday. There is a sign outside the palace that says 'beware of wily strangers' good advice. It had been pouring with rain as I rode the taxi to the palace but as I stepped out of the taxi the sun came out and it was glorious.
I had visited the palace and temple the last time I was in Bangkok some 20 years and it is an absolutely amazing place.
The Grand Palace has an area of 218,400 sq. metres and is surrounded by walls built in 1782. The length of the four walls is 1,900 metres. Within these walls are situated government offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha besides the royal residences. When Siam restored law and order after the fall of Ayutthaya the monarch lived in Thonburi on the west side of the river. Rama I, on ascending the throne, moved the centre of administration to this side of the Chao Phraya; and, after erecting public monuments such as fortifications and monasteries, built a palace to serve not only as his residence but also his offices--the various ministries, only one of which remains in the palace walls. This palace came to be known as the Grand Palace, in which the earliest edifices contemporary with the foundation of Bangkok were the two groups of residences named the Dusit Maha Prasat and the Phra Maha Monthian.
It is not know for sure when the Emerald Buddha was carved however judging from the appearance and style one could conclude it was carved in Northern Thailand not much earlier than the fifteenth century. On the other hand, the Emerald Buddha, which is in an attitude of meditation, looks much like some of the Buddha images of Southern India and Sri Lanka. This attitude of meditation has never been popular in other Thai carvings of Buddha images so one might assign the origin to one of the aforementioned countries.
According to reliable chronicles, lightning struck a Chedi in Chiangrai province of Northern Thailand in 1434 A.D.and a Buddha statue made of stucco was found inside. The abbot of the temple noticed that the stucco on the nose had flaked off and the image inside was a green color. He then removed the stucco covering and found the Emerald Buddha which is in reality made of green jade.
At that time the town of Chiangrai was under the rule of the King of Chiangmai, King Samfangkaen, as people flocked to view and worship this beautiful Buddha image. The King then decided to move the image to Chiangmai. He sent out an elephant three times to bring the Emerald Buddha to Chiangmai but each time the elephant ran to the city of Lampang instead of returning to Chiangmai. The King thought that the spirits guarding the Emerald Buddha wanted to stay in Lampang so it was allowed to remain there until 1468. Then the new King, King Tiloka, had the Emerald Buddha brought to Chiangmai. According to Chronicles the image was installed in the eastern niche of a large stupa at Wat Chedi Luang.
The King of Chiangmai in the mid 16th century had no sons. His daughter was married to the King of Laos and born one son named prince Chaichettha. After the King died in 1551 the prince, at the age of fifteen, was invited to become the King of Chiangmai. However when his father died, the King of Laos, King Chaichettha wanted to return to his own country. In 1552 he returned to Luang Prabang, then the capital of Laos, and took the Emerald Buddha with him. He promised the ministers he would return to Chiangmai but he never did nor did he send back the Emerald Buddha. In 1564 King Chaichettha was chased out of Luang Prabang by the Burmese army of King Bayinnaung and took the Emerald Buddha with him to his new capital of Vientiane. The Emerald Buddha remained there for 214 years.
When King Rama I was still a general during the Thonburi period in 1778 he captured the town of Vientiane and brought the Emerald Buddha back to Thailand. With the establishment of Bangkok as the capital, beginning the Rattanakosin period and the Chakri Dynasty, the Emerald Buddha became the palladium of Thailand and has been here ever since. On the 22nd of March 1784 the image was moved from Thonburi to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Two seasonal costumes were made for the Emerald Buddha by King Rama I, one for the summer season and one for the rainy season. King Rama III (1824-1851) had another costume made for the winter season.
After the tour I wandered around, there were loads of tuktuks and taxis around. One guy stopped me and offered his taxi. He asked me how much I had paid to get there. I told him 100 baht (it was 120). He offered to do it for 50. By this time I should have been wise buts oh no! Once on the road he told me he was taking me to an emerald gem store, I said no, after an altercation he stopped the cab, told me I was no good and I got out.
it was no problem hailing another taxi back to Silom. It is good advice to always take a metered cab.....
I spent the afternoon wandering around Silom looking for postcards. It must be an art because I think I would have stood more chance finding rocking horse shit.
After a quick beer (needed to put some fluid back in by body after all the sweating!)
I made my way to the hotel. My shirts had been delivered from the tailor and sherry nice they were too. I changed into one as I was feeling particularly grubby after all the walking and sweating.
I had decided to take a taxi to the station from the hotel, true, it would have been cheaper to go on the metro but i didn't want to get to the train all sweaty, especially in my new shirt :-) and it was less than a couple of quid.
I arrived at the station in plenty of time, it was packed, Thai's and backpackers.
I found a shop that sold postcards, yippee !
Although crowded inbound a seat and spent the next hour people watching, fascinating place. I don't know why but one again the station was in bad repair. Faded elegance, that said it is all part of the charm. It beats the clinical airports hands down.
Outside the station was a pretty sorry sight, loads of beggars and drug addicts littered the streets, some in quite a poor way.
At six o'clock the national anthem played and everyone in the station, including me stood up, it was quite a sight.
My train was to arrive in Chiang Mai at 9.45 the next day where hopefully, thanks to my travel agent Sarah, I would be met by a taxi to take me to my hotel.
I boarded my train at 7.00. The steward came around, welcomed everyone on board and showed then a card which advised you to keep man eye on your belongings and be wary of 'wily strangers'. We left on time at 7.35.
To his train was quite a big one and packed. My travelling companions were all European backpackers. Joey, a Dutch physic was sat opposite me. When the steward came around taking orders for dinner and breakfast I ordered and also ordered a couple of beers. They were the. Huge 630cl ones so I offered the second one to my fellow traveller. The steward left a bucket of beer next to my seat and the couple opposite, a guy from Belgium and a a girl from Poland thought they were all for me!
The group of us chatter for a few hours, had a few beers. Once again this confirmed my view that it is the best way to travel if you want to meet people.
Joey had arrived in Thailand four days before, it was pleasing to find out that I was not the only one to have been conned in Bangkok. The Belgium and Polish couple had been travelling since January and were going to complete their trip next January. They had done South America too so we compared notes on Peru.
At 12.00 I turned in. The steward converted the seats into bunks (wearing a face mask! )
The train was uncomfortably warm, not sure if the air con was working, it didn't feel like it. I awoke at 6.00am, went to the loo. Once again it was straight onto the track. And looked like it could have done with a bottle of bleach.
The sights from the window were even more spectacular than the trip into Thailand. More pretty, well kept stations. novice buddhist monks in saffron robes, mist over the mountains and paddy fields. What a pleasant sight to wake up to on Sunday morning!!
Today I will be returning to the Grand Palace to do the tour and take photos.
I need to check out of the hotel by midday and my train does not leave for Chiang Mai till 7.35 this evening.
Since my change of itinerary now includes a days trekking and an overnight stay in the jungle, I also need to purchase a torch.
After the tour I wandered around, there were loads of tuktuks and taxis around. One guy stopped me and offered his taxi. He asked me how much I had paid to get there. I told him 100 baht (it was 120). He offered to do it for 50. By this time I should have been wise buts oh no! Once on the road he told me he was taking me to an emerald gem store, I said no, after an altercation he stopped the cab, told me I was no good and I got out.
it was no problem hailing another taxi back to Silom. It is good advice to always take a metered cab.....
I spent the afternoon wandering around Silom looking for postcards. It must be an art because I think I would have stood more chance finding rocking horse shit.
After a quick beer (needed to put some fluid back in by body after all the sweating!)
I made my way to the hotel. My shirts had been delivered from the tailor and sherry nice they were too. I changed into one as I was feeling particularly grubby after all the walking and sweating.
I had decided to take a taxi to the station from the hotel, true, it would have been cheaper to go on the metro but i didn't want to get to the train all sweaty, especially in my new shirt :-) and it was less than a couple of quid.
I arrived at the station in plenty of time, it was packed, Thai's and backpackers.
I found a shop that sold postcards, yippee !
Although crowded inbound a seat and spent the next hour people watching, fascinating place. I don't know why but one again the station was in bad repair. Faded elegance, that said it is all part of the charm. It beats the clinical airports hands down.
Outside the station was a pretty sorry sight, loads of beggars and drug addicts littered the streets, some in quite a poor way.
At six o'clock the national anthem played and everyone in the station, including me stood up, it was quite a sight.
My train was to arrive in Chiang Mai at 9.45 the next day where hopefully, thanks to my travel agent Sarah, I would be met by a taxi to take me to my hotel.
I boarded my train at 7.00. The steward came around, welcomed everyone on board and showed then a card which advised you to keep man eye on your belongings and be wary of 'wily strangers'. We left on time at 7.35.
To his train was quite a big one and packed. My travelling companions were all European backpackers. Joey, a Dutch physic was sat opposite me. When the steward came around taking orders for dinner and breakfast I ordered and also ordered a couple of beers. They were the. Huge 630cl ones so I offered the second one to my fellow traveller. The steward left a bucket of beer next to my seat and the couple opposite, a guy from Belgium and a a girl from Poland thought they were all for me!
The group of us chatter for a few hours, had a few beers. Once again this confirmed my view that it is the best way to travel if you want to meet people.
Joey had arrived in Thailand four days before, it was pleasing to find out that I was not the only one to have been conned in Bangkok. The Belgium and Polish couple had been travelling since January and were going to complete their trip next January. They had done South America too so we compared notes on Peru.
At 12.00 I turned in. The steward converted the seats into bunks (wearing a face mask! )
The train was uncomfortably warm, not sure if the air con was working, it didn't feel like it. I awoke at 6.00am, went to the loo. Once again it was straight onto the track. And looked like it could have done with a bottle of bleach.
The sights from the window were even more spectacular than the trip into Thailand. More pretty, well kept stations. novice buddhist monks in saffron robes, mist over the mountains and paddy fields. What a pleasant sight to wake up to on Sunday morning!!
It is supposed to be a little cooler in northern Thailand. We shall see !
Next stop Chiang Mai...
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