April 21, 2009
On to Bangkok. It is Easter morning, and we started with a Joint Sunrise Service with the Roman Catholics. Ok, it wasn’t really sunrise. But it was early for the ship (7:30 a.m.) and I knew the early hour would cut down on our attendance. However, the first busload was supposed to leave for Bangkok around 8:30 a.m., so we really didn’t have much choice but to go for early. One of the singers for the ship’s production shows, Justin (who joined us when we went to the town of Russell in New Zealand), offered to sing a solo and he organized the other 3 singers to join him for an anthem. Unfortunately, he got sick the night before, possibly from food poisoning on Ko Somui. But he was there early still feeling quite rocky. He sang his solo beautifully with obvious feeling, and I told him later that his solo truly made Easter for me, knowing how he ill he was. We had maybe 22 people, but it was Easter and He is risen! I enjoy working with Father Tom and we had a good time with our dialogue sermon.
The drive to the city is usually about two and a half hours, but because it was both a Sunday and a Thai holiday (their New Year’s), we made it in less than three hours. The Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok is well appointed inside. They greeted us with a Bangkok band playing local music as we entered, and they had the registration process quite well organized. We were able to check into our room before noon, and as we were walking to the elevator one of the hotel staff asked if there was anything we needed. Since that afternoon would be our only chance to go, we asked how we might go to the weekend market, a 45 acre extravaganza open only, as you might guess, on Saturday and Sunday. This lady not only got on the elevator with us but also was prepared to go back down get a map and bring it up to us. We declined her gracious offer and said we would pick it up on our way back down to lunch. Sure enough she was waiting for us with a map of the city showing the market circled and including directions on how to get there. Incredible service. Our room on the eight floor was spacious and well appointed, sporting an amazing bathroom with both and shower and a tub, and a nice view of a large green space next to the hotel. It did not take me long to realize it was a golf course, and I could sit and drool for hours as I watched the golfers playing by. Of course, I only watched for a few moments, and given the heat I did not feel too bad about not being able to play.
We had a delicious albeit spicy buffet lunch and headed for sky train right outside the door of the hotel. In a few stops we were there. It was everything you could want in a huge public market, except for some air conditioning. This was our hottest day so far, with temperatures above the 100 degree mark. We were dazzled by the huge variety of goods, and yes gave into a few shirt and scarf bargains, but we were melting quickly in the intense heat and humidity, especially as much of the stalls were in an inside area with little ventilation. Ronnie went to sit in the shade in the park across the street as I went back for one last look around, returning to find her attacked by a group of small red ants! After much wiping and shaking off of the ants, we promptly got back on the Sky Train and headed back to the hotel. It was a perfect day for a swim and the hotel had an amazing pool in a well appointed courtyard, but guess what? No swim suit. As Ronnie rested in the room, I inquired if there might be anything open late on a Sunday afternoon. One stop away on the sky train there was a night market. To make a long story short, I went; I hurriedly bought a suit in a store advertising 60% off, and returned. Only problem, there sizes are totally different from ours, and the medium I bought for more $ than I realized with the currency conversion was so small it would hardly fit a 12 year old child. I called it Don’s folly!
In any case we had a nice nap in our cool air conditioned room and went down for another abundant buffet meal of mostly spicy Thai food. We would pay later for the spiciness, if you get my drift. The dinner included an excellent performance by masked Thai dancers (see photo with Ronnie). At this point we heard a little bit about the red shirt protestors and the street confrontations going on in some parts of the city. We had seen nothing, however, and decided to go for a walk after dinner with a friend from the ship whose husband had not come to Bangkok. We strolled by a small street corner Buddhist shrine, with many people buying flowers and statues to offer to the Buddha. We did notice a strong police presence and went up to an elevated walkway from which we could look down at the city streets, including some government buildings with a large poster of the king decked out in full regalia. Apparently even the protestors love the king even if they don’t like the prime minister, but he is aging and no one knows what will happen if he should die. Again, we saw no redshirts, but a policeman waved to us from the distance to go back, so we did.
The next morning at breakfast we heard from some of our shipmates that the red shirt confrontations had gotten violent during the night and they were taking the early bus back to the port. However, as it was our only day in Bangkok we wanted to see a few of the sights, and we thought the ship staff would not leave us in the city unless they felt it was safe, so we headed for the Sky Train again. This time the lady at the change booth asked our age, which we thought was strange. Although the language barrier was a real challenge, we finally realized she was offering us a free ride on the train. Apparently our advancing age qualified us for these special passes, and of course we didn’t argue! After a riding about 7 or so stops, we arrived at the river where we had heard there was a cheap water taxi that would take us down the river to the some of the temples, the ancient palace, and the emerald Buddha. There were a number of hawkers offering tourist river tours, but the concierge at the hotel had shown me a photo of the water taxi and told us to avoid the others. So we waited a few minutes for a good size boat that was more like a small ferry. It provided some great views as we travelled down the river of many hotels, temples, restaurants and other river front attractions. We arrived at our stop a few blocks from the old palace complex. The whole ride cost us less than one US dollar each.
The place was packed with tourists, and I could spend pages describing the palace complex and the emerald Buddha. In sum it was another overwhelming experience, with new vistas of opulent and colorful temples and palace buildings at every turn. I could not believe so much beautiful architecture could be packed into such a relatively small a space (of course it is several acres, but it is jam packed). To see the emerald Buddha, you must have your legs covered and your shoes off, all strictly enforced. Ronnie had to rent a shawl to put around her legs, and we were reprimanded not to point our toes toward the Buddha as that is disrespectful as well. No photos, of course, and the Buddha is on a high ornate decorated platform, smaller than I expected, but none the less quite emerald and striking. Another water taxi ride back and we took the sky train to my discount swim suit store stop, only to find the store closed for the New Year holiday. Oh well, we ended up giving it to one of the small Indian waiters on the ship, who appreciate it very much and later told us it fit him well. I guess Don’s folly helped someone anyway!
Since we knew the only place to have lunch near the hotel would be at the hotel, and not wanting to relive the spicy food aftermath of the night before, we actually went to a McDonald’s for lunch. Ok, please don’t bother us with the irony of eating McDonald’s in Thailand. A calm digestive system was worth it at that point. The only challenge was getting to the entrance as we exited from the elevated Sky Train platform. You see, this area was packed with New Year’s revelers, all gleefully shooting each other with water canons, applying some kind of gray powder or clay to their faces and actually throwing buckets of water on each other. The street was lined with street merchants selling the colorful water canons, water, and clay in packages.
It’s a blessing to get doused of course, but we were not in the mood for that kind of blessing and did not want to have our only set of clothing sopping wet for the bus ride back to the port. We only made it to the door and back to the sky train by staring down some eager water throwers. Actually one reveler was inches a way from putting some of the gray stuff on Ronnie’s cheeks, but you can imagine that despite the language barrier she made it clear to him that he would be sorry if he did so! As we waited on the elevated platform for the Sky Train, it was kind of fun to watch the revelers below. There were, of course, some stupid Americans (or possibly Europeans) gleefully joining in the mass water chaos. We made it back to the hotel in plenty of time for the 2:30 bus to the ship, and despite all our travels in the city and the long bus ride out of the city, we never saw any redshirts or any demonstrations. Even on the roads there were people with fire hoses dousing the passing cars and trucks. They do take this New Year’s water festival quite seriously!
On to Bangkok. It is Easter morning, and we started with a Joint Sunrise Service with the Roman Catholics. Ok, it wasn’t really sunrise. But it was early for the ship (7:30 a.m.) and I knew the early hour would cut down on our attendance. However, the first busload was supposed to leave for Bangkok around 8:30 a.m., so we really didn’t have much choice but to go for early. One of the singers for the ship’s production shows, Justin (who joined us when we went to the town of Russell in New Zealand), offered to sing a solo and he organized the other 3 singers to join him for an anthem. Unfortunately, he got sick the night before, possibly from food poisoning on Ko Somui. But he was there early still feeling quite rocky. He sang his solo beautifully with obvious feeling, and I told him later that his solo truly made Easter for me, knowing how he ill he was. We had maybe 22 people, but it was Easter and He is risen! I enjoy working with Father Tom and we had a good time with our dialogue sermon.
The drive to the city is usually about two and a half hours, but because it was both a Sunday and a Thai holiday (their New Year’s), we made it in less than three hours. The Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok is well appointed inside. They greeted us with a Bangkok band playing local music as we entered, and they had the registration process quite well organized. We were able to check into our room before noon, and as we were walking to the elevator one of the hotel staff asked if there was anything we needed. Since that afternoon would be our only chance to go, we asked how we might go to the weekend market, a 45 acre extravaganza open only, as you might guess, on Saturday and Sunday. This lady not only got on the elevator with us but also was prepared to go back down get a map and bring it up to us. We declined her gracious offer and said we would pick it up on our way back down to lunch. Sure enough she was waiting for us with a map of the city showing the market circled and including directions on how to get there. Incredible service. Our room on the eight floor was spacious and well appointed, sporting an amazing bathroom with both and shower and a tub, and a nice view of a large green space next to the hotel. It did not take me long to realize it was a golf course, and I could sit and drool for hours as I watched the golfers playing by. Of course, I only watched for a few moments, and given the heat I did not feel too bad about not being able to play.
We had a delicious albeit spicy buffet lunch and headed for sky train right outside the door of the hotel. In a few stops we were there. It was everything you could want in a huge public market, except for some air conditioning. This was our hottest day so far, with temperatures above the 100 degree mark. We were dazzled by the huge variety of goods, and yes gave into a few shirt and scarf bargains, but we were melting quickly in the intense heat and humidity, especially as much of the stalls were in an inside area with little ventilation. Ronnie went to sit in the shade in the park across the street as I went back for one last look around, returning to find her attacked by a group of small red ants! After much wiping and shaking off of the ants, we promptly got back on the Sky Train and headed back to the hotel. It was a perfect day for a swim and the hotel had an amazing pool in a well appointed courtyard, but guess what? No swim suit. As Ronnie rested in the room, I inquired if there might be anything open late on a Sunday afternoon. One stop away on the sky train there was a night market. To make a long story short, I went; I hurriedly bought a suit in a store advertising 60% off, and returned. Only problem, there sizes are totally different from ours, and the medium I bought for more $ than I realized with the currency conversion was so small it would hardly fit a 12 year old child. I called it Don’s folly!
In any case we had a nice nap in our cool air conditioned room and went down for another abundant buffet meal of mostly spicy Thai food. We would pay later for the spiciness, if you get my drift. The dinner included an excellent performance by masked Thai dancers (see photo with Ronnie). At this point we heard a little bit about the red shirt protestors and the street confrontations going on in some parts of the city. We had seen nothing, however, and decided to go for a walk after dinner with a friend from the ship whose husband had not come to Bangkok. We strolled by a small street corner Buddhist shrine, with many people buying flowers and statues to offer to the Buddha. We did notice a strong police presence and went up to an elevated walkway from which we could look down at the city streets, including some government buildings with a large poster of the king decked out in full regalia. Apparently even the protestors love the king even if they don’t like the prime minister, but he is aging and no one knows what will happen if he should die. Again, we saw no redshirts, but a policeman waved to us from the distance to go back, so we did.
The next morning at breakfast we heard from some of our shipmates that the red shirt confrontations had gotten violent during the night and they were taking the early bus back to the port. However, as it was our only day in Bangkok we wanted to see a few of the sights, and we thought the ship staff would not leave us in the city unless they felt it was safe, so we headed for the Sky Train again. This time the lady at the change booth asked our age, which we thought was strange. Although the language barrier was a real challenge, we finally realized she was offering us a free ride on the train. Apparently our advancing age qualified us for these special passes, and of course we didn’t argue! After a riding about 7 or so stops, we arrived at the river where we had heard there was a cheap water taxi that would take us down the river to the some of the temples, the ancient palace, and the emerald Buddha. There were a number of hawkers offering tourist river tours, but the concierge at the hotel had shown me a photo of the water taxi and told us to avoid the others. So we waited a few minutes for a good size boat that was more like a small ferry. It provided some great views as we travelled down the river of many hotels, temples, restaurants and other river front attractions. We arrived at our stop a few blocks from the old palace complex. The whole ride cost us less than one US dollar each.
The place was packed with tourists, and I could spend pages describing the palace complex and the emerald Buddha. In sum it was another overwhelming experience, with new vistas of opulent and colorful temples and palace buildings at every turn. I could not believe so much beautiful architecture could be packed into such a relatively small a space (of course it is several acres, but it is jam packed). To see the emerald Buddha, you must have your legs covered and your shoes off, all strictly enforced. Ronnie had to rent a shawl to put around her legs, and we were reprimanded not to point our toes toward the Buddha as that is disrespectful as well. No photos, of course, and the Buddha is on a high ornate decorated platform, smaller than I expected, but none the less quite emerald and striking. Another water taxi ride back and we took the sky train to my discount swim suit store stop, only to find the store closed for the New Year holiday. Oh well, we ended up giving it to one of the small Indian waiters on the ship, who appreciate it very much and later told us it fit him well. I guess Don’s folly helped someone anyway!
Since we knew the only place to have lunch near the hotel would be at the hotel, and not wanting to relive the spicy food aftermath of the night before, we actually went to a McDonald’s for lunch. Ok, please don’t bother us with the irony of eating McDonald’s in Thailand. A calm digestive system was worth it at that point. The only challenge was getting to the entrance as we exited from the elevated Sky Train platform. You see, this area was packed with New Year’s revelers, all gleefully shooting each other with water canons, applying some kind of gray powder or clay to their faces and actually throwing buckets of water on each other. The street was lined with street merchants selling the colorful water canons, water, and clay in packages.
It’s a blessing to get doused of course, but we were not in the mood for that kind of blessing and did not want to have our only set of clothing sopping wet for the bus ride back to the port. We only made it to the door and back to the sky train by staring down some eager water throwers. Actually one reveler was inches a way from putting some of the gray stuff on Ronnie’s cheeks, but you can imagine that despite the language barrier she made it clear to him that he would be sorry if he did so! As we waited on the elevated platform for the Sky Train, it was kind of fun to watch the revelers below. There were, of course, some stupid Americans (or possibly Europeans) gleefully joining in the mass water chaos. We made it back to the hotel in plenty of time for the 2:30 bus to the ship, and despite all our travels in the city and the long bus ride out of the city, we never saw any redshirts or any demonstrations. Even on the roads there were people with fire hoses dousing the passing cars and trucks. They do take this New Year’s water festival quite seriously!
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