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Click
here for photos from Jack and Mary's Thailand trip Nov. 2002 |
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Part V: Thailand's birth place, full moon festival, the River Kwai, the king's birthday, and farewell |
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December 1:
Continuing south this morning we had our morning break at a textile
museum. Beautiful ancient
fabric of cotton woven with gold threads was displayed in glass cases.
Some of the fabric was several hundred years old.
Of course, there was a shop and here is where we bought a shirt for
Jim, since I was the one who bought an indigo garment the day before.
Jim is not a shopper and could walk through the Mall of the
Americas without buying a thing. Like
any good wife, I insist he get something whenever we travel, but only to
help the local economy. Stopping for lunch at a very
upscale hotel, we were delighted to find that we were back in the
territory of western toilets! Imagine
our delight at not having to deal with the eastern kind any more! Lunch was a spectacular buffet.
The decorations on the huge buffet tables were all made of
intricately carved melons - a sight to behold.
Another new dish for me today.
Note suggested we try the green papaya salad.
Well, ripe orange papaya is one of my most favorite fruits so I was
game. Each person's salad was
made while you watched. The
lady serving it mixed the dressing with a mortar and pestle.
She began by squeezing limes into the vessel, then she put in
peanuts, coconut sugar, onions, garlic, salt, dried shrimp and chiles -
just a little for me, Note had about a tablespoon in his!
After she crushed all of these things together, shredded green
papaya was placed on a dish and the mixture spooned over it.
It really was delicious! The
remainder of the buffet held many wonderful dishes - too many to mention -
but I must speak of one of the desserts which was pearl tapioca and salted
corn in a coconut cream sauce. This afternoon we headed to 13th
century Sukothai, Thailand's largest collection of historic ruins and a
World Heritage site. This is
the place where the Thai nation was born: the kingdom's magical and
spiritual center. With its
cache of remarkably preserved columns, shrines, temples and palaces, it
epitomizes old Siam. It is
also home to the world famous statue of the walking Buddha considered the
most beautiful Buddha ever carved. The site is quite large so we
boarded an open-air tram that carried us through the well-kept and
attractive grounds to see the monuments and learn about its most famous
king, Ramkamhaeng. Not only
did this legendary ruler leave a great legacy of art and architecture, he
also left stones inscribed with a chronicle of his achievement. King Ramkamhaeng is credited with inventing the Thai script -
made up of 44 consonants and 26 vowels!
He also is credited with amazing skill at hand-to-hand combat on
elephant back, the spread of Theravada Buddhism and developing relations
with China. An hour's drive south of Sukothai
brought us to the most famous Buddhist temple in the region: Phra Buddha
Chinnaraja. It was Full Moon
and when we arrived a festival was taking place.
There were four venerable monks sitting under umbrellas at each
corner of a square outside the temple.
On two sides of this square were clay molds and at the center was a
small blast furnace where bronze was being fired.
Four young men dressed all in white were pouring the molten bronze
into molds accompanied by chanting that was coming over a public address
system. The chanting was
actually taking place in the temple.
The molds were triangular in shape and contained replicas of the
sitting Buddha in that temple. It
was a hot afternoon and the heat and roar from the blast furnace added to
the intensity but the ceremony was fascinating, and we were glad that we
happened on this festival. Of course, there were both food and
souvenir vendors and it was here that I bargained for two wooden croaker
frogs. About another hour's drive in the coach and we were at our
hotel for the evening, The Phitsanulok.
(http://www.thailand.travelmall.com/travelmall/hotel/ Another great dinner and this
evening I had the good fortune to be seated next to Note so was able to
chat with him a little. The
staff brought him a few different dishes when they served our menu. He offered me a taste which I accepted because I didn't want
to be rude, but just a small amount almost blew my eardrums out!
I really don't see how they eat something that hot!
Tomorrow is another traveling day as we head toward the River Kwai. December 2:
Very early breakfast followed by an early departure found us driving
through rice-growing country to Utaithani where we visited a most unusual
Buddhist temple, Wat Chantaram. The
interior was completely covered with mirrors of various sizes, mostly one
and two-inch-square mirrors which had been applied to the walls, ceilings,
columns - everything! Boarding a large traditional wooden
rice barge gave us the opportunity to have lunch while cruising past
peaceful scenes of river life. Our
lunch consisted of various types of vegetables and giant Grourmi, which is
a delicious fish related to the little kissing grourmis that people often
have in their tropical aquariums. After
we disembarked from the boat we walked through the food market in the
village. There were many
unusual items: black crabs from the rice fields, live eels and fish,
eviscerated frogs ready to be cooked and all sorts of fruits and
vegetables. We arrived in Kanchanaburi Province
late in the afternoon. Our
lodgings were at a lovely resort (http://www.sawadee.com/kanchanaburi/legacy/details)
surrounded by forest and right on the river. It's like being in the jungle
with modern conveniences. Note
told us we were going to be staying in huts, but these are really duplex
cabins that are very livable and even have air conditioning, which is very
welcomed because we are back in the heat and humidity.
It's a very large complex with cabins all over the place. The grounds are lovely and well kept. They sent a little tram to pick us up and take us to the
restaurant complex for dinner, but the evening was so pleasant and the
moon so bright that we just walked back later in the evening. I know everyone is tired of hearing this, but the meal was
spectacular, especially the Pad Thai.
The desserts were pineapple and banana fritters with vanilla sauce
- delicious! We were really tired
and all we had done was sit on the bus and sit on the barge.
Tomorrow is a busy day and we depart for all the activities at 7:30
a.m. so it's early to bed! December 3:After
having an early breakfast, we were under way to the landing area to meet
the very narrow long tail boats (also known as James Bond boats after
having been used in a Bond movie shot in Thailand – “Man with the
Golden Gun”) for our ride up the River Kwai.
What fun! Well, after
you made a fool of yourself getting into the boat, it was fun.
You sit on a cushion directly on the floor.
The life preserver you must wear provides padding for the wooden
board at your back. The boat
throws an amazing spray when you go fast (is there any other way to go if
you are in a James Bond boat?). Reaching our
destination, we extricated ourselves from the boats - almost as much fun
as getting in! Climbing a
hill, we again boarded the open-air pickup trucks which took us to Hell
Fire Pass. This is the area
where the POWs chiseled through solid rock while building the Death
Railroad for the Japanese Army during WWII.
There is a great hiking trail and a small museum, which is kept up
by the Australian government because so many Aussies lost their lives in
the Japanese forced labor camps. Tomorrow
we will visit the memorial cemetery, which is in Kanchaniburi. From there we went
through the countryside to lunch at a local open-air restaurant.
Note told us that the place had been inspected and that it was safe
to eat there but he did not know how good the food would be.
Well, it was - yes, delicious!
The soup we started with was a sinus clearing experience and much
too hot and spicy for some of our group but I enjoyed it.
I think my tolerance for this seasoning is getting stronger. The restaurant was
located in the small settlement where we were to catch the train to
experience a ride along the River Kwai, but it appeared the train was
never on time. Sometimes it
is early, sometimes late. During
lunch, Note discovered that the train was running over an hour late so we
hopped on the bus and visited a delightful waterfall not too far away.
We were the only foreigners! There
were several groups of school girls in their early teens, dressed in their
uniforms and wading in the pool at the bottom of the fall.
It was wonderful to watch them having fun. Small shallow streams ran from the major stream of the fall
and several young children were building little dams and trying to catch
minnows. Children are the
same the world over. There
were also a large number of lady food vendors cooking right at the base of
the falls. It's a good thing
we had already eaten lunch because the smells were wonderful. Back to the settlement
to await the train, which did finally arrive.
The Thai schoolgirls from the falls were there to ride the train as
well. There was only one
adult with about 60 girls but he had a bullhorn and gathered them up
effectively when the train pulled in.
It was a great ride. The
cars had slatted wooden seats and an oscillating fan at each end.
The windows went down and we bumped along laughing and talking as
best we could with the locals who sat across from us.
We did not stay on the train long enough to actually cross the
river or the bridge made famous by the movie - that would have taken
forever - but we did travel along the river on a very high trestle, which
was thrill enough. Tomorrow
we will walk across the Bridge on the River Kwai. Getting back on the air
conditioned bus was a treat today as it is very humid and 95 degrees F -
the hottest day we have had and for the first time my clothes are soaked
with sweat! Back at the lodge
there was time for a walk around the beautiful grounds before showering
for dinner. Tonight we were treated
to an East/West combination dinner and the kitchen staff did themselves
proud. Beginning with green
curry with beef and eggplant, vegetarian curry, several rice dishes, my
beloved pad thai for the noodle dish, vegetables, chicken and shrimp
tempura cooked right before your eyes and ending with small fillets of
beef being cooked to order served with small baked potatoes!
The only time I remember potatoes in Thailand.
Since I grew up in the southern United States with rice as the
staple starch, I did not miss potatoes at all, but some in our group were
missing them. They were
delighted! The meal ended
with ice cream, which was being hand dipped at the dessert table as well
as the wonderfully sweet pineapple slices we loved. After dinner a few of
us hung out at the open air bar where there was live music.
Note sang for us again: “Dreamy Eyes” and “It’s Now or
Never.” He, like most
Thais, is an Elvis fan. The
fellow playing the keyboard was good, too, and when he swung into some
salsa beats, we could resist no longer.
Although we were the only ones on the floor and we aren’t very
good, Jim and I had a few enjoyable minutes dancing.
We invited Note to join our table, bought him a drink and chatted
with him about his life as a guide and what motivated him to choose this
as a career. He is also
fluent in Spanish having spent two years studying in Spain and when he
isn’t working for OAT he leads Spanish-speaking groups from South
America and Spain. December 4:
We had a breakfast buffet while floating on the river this morning.
Lovely way to say good-by to this area.
Headed out to
Kanchanaburi , where we visited the JEATH War Museum, which is located on
the grounds of Wat Chaichumpol. It
was established in 1977 by the present abbot of the temple and is kept up
by contributions. The museum
was established to collect various items connected with the construction
of the Death Railway by prisoners of war during World War II.
It is a realistic reconstruction of a prisoner of war hut and
contains photos of prisoners, letters and sketches done by the prisoners
as well as other artifacts having to do with the construction of the
railway. JEATH is the
abbreviation of the names of the six countries involved: Japan (J),
England (E), America and Australia (A), Thailand (T) and Holland (H).
The Japanese were the controllers of the railway project, Thailand
was involved as the conquered country and the other four countries were
involved as POWs on the actual construction of the 415 kilometer long
Death Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai. The Death Railway was a
strategic railway built between Thailand and Burma. The Japanese intended to use the railroad to invade Burma,
which was to be a stepping stone into India. Construction was begun on
September 16, 1942, in Thailand by approximately 30,000 prisoners of war
from the aforementioned countries and 200,000 impressed laborers from
India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma and Thailand.
Of these, more than 16,000 POWs and 100,000 impressed laborers died
of disease, starvation and lack of medical care.
It is said that the first survey by the Japanese engineers
predicted that it would take at least five years to finish this railway
line, but the Japanese army forced the prisoners to complete it in only 16
months with the completion date of Dec. 25, 1943. The abbot had posted a
letter at the beginning of the museum that reads as follows: “Dear Visitors, JEATH Museum has been
constructed not for the maintenance of the hatred among human beings,
especially among the Japanese and allied countries, but to warn and teach
us the lesson of HOW TERRIBLE WAR IS! MAY PEACE ALWAYS
CONQUER VIOLENCE” It began to lightly
rain on us as we left the museum and headed for the English &
Australian Cemetery. All the
Americans who died working on the railway line were sent back to the
United States to be buried, but there were so many English and Australians
that it was decided to keep them in Kanchanaburi.
The English Embassy in Bangkok keeps up the grounds of the
cemetery, which was donated by Thailand.
It is a heart rendering and moving experience to walk up and down
the rows of markers in the rain reading the inscriptions and the ages of
the young men who lost their lives so that we are now able to live free.
I was again moved to tears. Finally we visited the
actual bridge which has been reconstructed after it was blown up during
the 40s. When there are no
trains due, visitors are allowed to walk out onto the bridge. If you have seen the movie made in the late 50s you need to
know that it was shot in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the actual river and
bridge look quite different than in the movie. We headed toward
Bangkok in the rain (this was our first rain of the entire trip!), and
stopped in a suburb at a delightful buffet.
The traffic became horrific the closer we got to the city.
Delivered back to the Regency Park Hotel, we felt right at home.
Tonight is our Farewell
Dinner even though we do have one more night to spend in Bangkok - well,
part of another night. At
sundown we boarded a very large converted rice barge on the Chao Phraya
River for a dinner cruise and show of ethnic dancing and music. The dinner was served rather than a buffet.
This was a good thing because the wakes from other craft on the
river made things a bit rocky at times.
The waiters deal with this every night so it was better for them to
bring us the food! The
buildings on shore were all lit up as we passed the Palace/Temple complex
and Wat Arun. Many high-rise
office buildings were also lit because tomorrow is the King’s 74th
birthday and this town will throw a celebration like none we have ever
seen. By 9 p.m. we were in
bed and sound asleep. Another
early day tomorrow. December 5: Happy
Birthday to King Bhumibol, Rama IX! http://www.escati.com/king_of_thailand.htm,
http://bangkokpost.net/king2000/
These two web sites will give you pictures and a bit more
information about the King. He
is very much loved and revered by his people.
For someone who was never supposed to be king he has done a
magnificent job of bringing his people into the modern world.
It is apparent that he sincerely cares about all of his people!
Every home, every business we visited had a picture of the King and
Queen displayed, not because it is required by the government, but because
of the high regard in which he is held.
King Bhumibol was actually born in the United States while his
father was a medical student in Boston.
It was his uncle who was king.
But when King Bhumibol was a young boy, his father died at an early
age, then his uncle defected. The present monarch’s older brother became ruler when the
brother was about 20 years old. The
younger prince was at that time studying in Switzerland, which was where
he became an accomplished jazz saxophonist as well.
There was an unfortunate gun accident which killed the older
brother, and suddenly at age 18, he found himself King! On the bus by 7:30 a.m.
this morning we head out of Bangkok.
Our destination is the only floating market left in the country (40
miles outside the city), with several stops along the way.
Surprisingly, the traffic is lighter this morning.
Note reminded us that it was the King’s birthday and everyone has
the day off from work, except those in the tourist industry.
It is a national holiday so there is no “business traffic” in
the early morning. Later in
the day the traffic will become totally snarled as the local population
makes its way to the Palace/Temple complex for the celebration. We traveled through an
area where there were seafood processing plants and salt flats for the
purpose of producing salt from seawater.
This is the area where Chang and Eng Bunker were born. They were the famous Siamese twins who were joined at the
breast bone/heart area. They
came to live in the US in the early 1800s and were in the P.T. Barnum
sideshows that toured the world. Later
they married American women, settled in Mt. Airy, N.C. and raised
families. Between them, they fathered almost 20 children!
We stopped at a small memorial museum, which is being set up in
their honor. Further along the way
we stopped at a coconut farm for an informative look at what all can be
done with a coconut and its by-products.
Did you know that there is such a thing as coconut sugar which is
made from the sap gathered from the blossoms on a coconut palm?
The sap is collected in a similar way to maple sap and then cooked
down to make a product that tastes a lot like dark brown sugar. The floating market was
our next stop. It was here
that we really felt for the first time the crush of tourism! There were many, many buses disgorging tourists who would
then get in long tail boats and ride through the canals to the floating
market. I felt like I was in a “Disney World stand-in-line situation.”
Eventually we boarded the boats and off we went flying low through
the canals. The market is
kept alive by tourism now and the locals do not come here to buy any
longer. It was very
interesting to see, but by far the most touristic area we visited. Our final delicious
buffet lunch; another green papaya salad for me! Back to the hotel for a free afternoon and we are on our own
for dinner tonight. Jim and I
had such a large lunch we will definitely have a light supper, if any at
all. Putting the video
camera in the safe, we went out to walk with Jim unencumbered by the
equipment for the only time in the whole trip.
Our wanderings took us to a couple of bookstores looking for a CD
of authentic music, but we were unsuccessful.
It is difficult to find a CD of any sort in Thailand.
According to Note, they are not yet readily available.
There were no readily available cassette tapes of authentic Thai
music either! We managed a
walk through of Robinson's Department Store.
It's always fun to see what is popular in the housewares and
clothing sections in department stores all over the world.
After that we crossed the street and headed to Times Square and the
Internet store to send final messages to friends and family.
There were answers to the messages we had sent before leaving
Bangkok so we sent quick replies. Note had told us
earlier that there would be a special celebration for the King's birthday
in all the little parks around the city in addition to the big celebration
at the Palace/Temple Complex. Not
too far from our hotel was a very nice park so about 6:15 p.m. we left to
walk to the park for the 7 p.m. celebration.
Met with two other couples in our group who had the same thing in
mind. Arriving with a bit of
time to spare, we strolled around stopping to watch some young men playing
rattan ball. It is played
similar to volley ball with one exception - you can use any part of your
body except your hands to propel the ball.
The ball is interestingly made from interlocking strips of rattan
fiber so it is very light and the slightest hit sends it flying.
These guys were good and we watched for several minutes.
There was also a beginner's skateboard area with a small ramp and a
place for spectators so we took that in as well. With about five minutes
to spare we walked to the area where a platform was set up with pictures
of the King and Queen; draped bunting and bright lights completed the
scene along with a few dignitaries. Many
local people were there all holding yellow candles.
Note had explained earlier that yellow is the King's official
color. In Buddhism each day
has a particular color attached to it. Your color is determined by which day you are born.
One of the security guards approached and offered us each a candle,
which I thought was a very nice gesture.
At 7 p.m. one of the dignitaries spoke for about five minutes, the
candles were lit, and the King's songs were sung.
Of course, we didn't understand a word, but we stood and held our
candles like everyone else. It was a moving ceremony and afterwards several of the local
people who were near spoke to us, welcoming us to their country, asking
our impressions, telling us about themselves.
It was a very special end to what has been a wonderful trip. Walking back to the
hotel, we realized that it was extremely hot and humid that evening.
Rather than trying to find a place to get a bite to eat, we headed
back to our room for showers, soft drinks from the mini-bar in the room
and the last few granola bars we had brought along.
Then it was time to get the suitcases packed and try to get a bit
of sleep. We must get up at 2
a.m. for an early departure to the airport.
Note has warned us that security is very tight and that even the
luggage that we plan to check will be hand inspected as well as put
through the x-ray machine. We
tried to pack so that it would be easy for the inspectors to look through
our things. December 6:
We were down in the lobby by 2:30 a.m. to turn in our keys, have a cup of
tea and a croissant. There are seven of us leaving.
The other eight will leave later today for the post trip extension
to Viet Nam. We always seem to have
difficulty leaving. If you
have read the Costa Rica journal you will understand that statement.
This time Note arrived 10 minutes ahead of time but there was no
bus. He whipped out his
cell phone and tried to call Preecha, the driver, but got no answer.
After a 10-minute wait, he hailed three cabs that were parked in
front of the hotel and we had a wild ride to the airport.
The traffic was light so we sped onto the toll road.
Note was in the first cab and the other two did a good job of
keeping up with the leader. It
only took 30 minutes whereas the first time we came into Bangkok to the
hotel during the day, it had taken two hours! True to form, we lined
up for the United inspectors to go through our luggage.
Each of us had one suitcase that was to be checked.
We took off the locks and helped whenever they asked us to.
After the hand inspection, the bags went through the x-ray machine
and were strapped with some sort of fiber material.
Then we proceeded to the question asking person.
After she was satisfied with our answers we were allowed to proceed
to check in. Finally our
tickets and passports were accepted and we were given boarding passes for
all three successive flights. By
that time Note was back from helping the others get their departure papers
and ready to help us. I
handed him two 500 baht bills that he fed into a machine which spit
out the departure tax receipt. He
could go no further with us so we chatted a moment before handing him his
tip and telling him good-by. It
has been an excellent trip and quite different to any other travel we have
experienced. We would now go back
across the International Date Line and gain back the day we lost on the
way out. Flights home were
uneventful, which, in my opinion, are the best kind.
Coming back to the Colorado cold did shock us just a bit, but 32
hours after we boarded the taxis at our hotel, we were unlocking our front
door in Boulder. Would I do it again? You bet I would! |
(Click thumbnails for larger versions)
The temple bells at Phra Buddha Chinnaraja.
Mirrors of various sizes cover the walls of this unusual Buddhist temple.
Walking over the Bridge on the River Kwai.
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Top / Part VI
Click here for photos from Jack and Mary's Thailand trip Nov. 2002