Sue and Gus Semester at Sea: Bangkok and Hua Hin, Thailand

Sue and 2 Buddhas

Having docked in the habour we took a 2 hour bus trip up to Bangkok and stayed in a recommended bed & breakfast which was so convenient for the sky train. It was owned by an Englishman who was incredibly helpful advising us on what to do and where to go. The traffic in Bangkok is horrendous - unlike India no hooting but just continuous traffic jams. When the traffic came to a complete standstill the bus driver suggested all 40 passengers should collect their luggage and get off the bus,as we were nearing the bus station.It was certainly far quicker. That evening we looked around one of the many night markets where one can literally buy anything. I was in Bangkok 32 years ago and would certainly never recognize the city now with its enormous skyscrapers,awful smog and huge shopping malls featuring all the US & UK shops (McDonald, Starbucks, Boots, Marks & Spencer etc.) Early the next morning we took the sky train down to the river and went on a tour up the river to see some of the many palaces. At least on a boat it was a little cooler with temps. in the upper 90's with 100% humidity. The 5-hour tour was incredibly cheap, even more so when we discovered we had our own personal tour guide who made the tour so interesting.
The one temple featured the "Reclining Buddha" which is 46-meter long and 15-meter wide - it was spectacular with so much intricate carvings. The Grand Palace complex, of which the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is a major part, consists of over 100 buildings, representing more than 200 years of royal history and architecture. One sees Buddhas in various stages of life, Buddhas in meditation, Buddhas standing, crowned and uncrowned, fierce or soothing, Buddhas in stone, in stucco, in bronze, in wood. The golden Buddha stands at 3 metres tall and weighs 5.5
tons. Apparently it was undiscovered until the 1950s, but then an outer layer of plaster began to peel away, exposing solid gold icon beneath! Apparently, after this discovery, lots of other Buddha icons had their outer layers peeled away, but no others were found to be hiding solid gold figures. After the tour we jumped back onto our junk and had a fabulous lunch in the Mandarin Orient Hotel which stands beside Chao Phraya River. It's rated to be one of the top hotels in the world (the hotel is very proud to show off the pictures of Prince Charles and Di when they stayed there several years ago) We sat outside, had a great lunch and enjoyed watching the constant stream of boats and junks winding up and down the river.
The following morning we took a minibus down to Hua Hin which is on the Gulf coast 3 hours south west of Bangkok where we stayed at another recommended bed and breakfast called "Bee & B". The first thing one notices in Thailand is the incredible respect and hospitality.The Thai
people are so very gracious and courteous. They bow to greet you and always have a smile on their faces. This was even more pronounced when we arrived at Bee & B. Not only did we have a very luxurious room but Bee walked down to the beach with us the first time carrying our towels
and water to make sure we found a suitable umbrella and were well looked after by the local cafe owner. When we walked back from the beach having spent the whole afternoon in the wonderfully warm sea, we were greeted with cold face towels plus a very cold beer.It was like
being in someone's home. We walked downtown for dinner on the first night and found a very good Thai restaurant where again we were so well looked after by very elegant gracious waitresses.(they even sprayed one's legs with insect repellent) One thing that is very noticeable is the number of overweight bald-headed European men with petite pretty "very young" Thai women some of whom they've married.
Thailand now has a population of 65.49 million and again it is a country of extreme contrast. Whereas there are loads of 5-star hotels, beautiful homes, there are still thousands of people living in tin-roofed shacks. These are particularly seen around the many rivers and canals. Bangkok is a very clean, well-run city and the Thai people are extremely helpful and friendly. Spirit houses are common throughout Thailand, and can be found outside almost every house and building. The doll house-sized homes are set atop a pedestal and placed in an auspicious location, which allows residents, workers and others to offer prayers and small gifts to appease spirits, believed to be dwelling in the land and mountains. Spirit houses in Thailand usually include doll-sized human figures, and a small figurine of Buddha. The Shrines are places of worship where you'd go to pay respect to sacred religious icons in Buddhism and Hinduism, who in turn could grant you love, happiness, good fortune, success, luck or even fertility. People place garlands of bright yellow marigolds around the particular Buddha - they're always very colorful.The drive down to Hua Hin was very interesting. We saw workers in the many rice fields, hundreds of palm tree plantations and several beautiful garden shops as well as hundreds of stalls selling fruit by the roadside.
Flowers are seen everywhere in Thailand - frangipani, bourganvillia and orchids seem to be very plentiful and are used to decorate everything from food dishes and drinks to beach towels. We are now en route to Vietnam where we will be spending 5 days.