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Temples, Buddhism, smog and food, glorious food
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BANGKOK, The City of lights
Which is just as well as you can't see the sun for all the smog. We arrived in Bangkok at 5am with some trepidation given all the things we had heard. However we quickly managed to negotiate our taxi fair to half, found the air, while dirty was breathable and the drivers were much less maniacal than in Kuala Lumpur. They also seemed to know what rubbish bins were. As all travelers to Bangkok we visited the temples, notably the Grand Palace and the massive reclining Buddha. The stature and details are quite spectacular. A good escape from the touts and over populated city streets.
There is a plethora of shopping opportunities in Bangkok. You can buy anything and everything in Bangkok, from the tourist rip-offs on Khao Sarn Road to the more authentic fare off the beaten track.
However, the best buy in Bangkok is food! It doesn't matter what time of night it is, there are street vendors with there wheel away food stalls selling everything, including banana cooked anyway you can imagine, dishes that include at least half the animal kingdom in one bowl, delicious cold fruit and the obligatory curries. We are now able to order food from street vendors who speak no English (their food is better), and Kate has mastered 'Di chan kin jae' - I eat only vegetables.
Ayuthaya
We then travelled to the World Heritage LIsted ancient city of Ayuthaya, which has numerous ruined temples dating back to the 1300's. There was also a festival on at this time which seems to attract Thais from all the country. We did a bicycle tour of the ruins and viewed a 'sound and light show', which as far as we could tell (no english) was a re-enactment of the rise and fall of Ayuthaya. The festival also had much food and markets as well as cultural shows, dances, and live music. While watching one band we were shouted drinks by some Chang Beer workers and invited to sit with them. Perhaps not such a good idea as one beer soon turned into many! They also insisted we try there local food which included fox, octopus and raw shrimp. - anyway, back to Bangkok.
We returned to Bangkok to watch the Bangkok jazz festival, which (for those jazz fans) included the James Taylor Quartet, David Sanbourn and Al Jarreau. Tonight Michael is going to watch Muay Thai, and then we are off to Chang Mai to experience more of this fantastic country.
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| 9. | Temples, Buddhism, smog and food, glorious food - Bangkok, Thailand Dec 18, 2004 (  4 ) |
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