At 9 in the
morning our patience is already put on a strain: indications are not clear,
Thai language and symbology don't help, air moisture and heat keep growing and
patience goes down. I'm offhanded and irritable, Sebastiano looks confused and
lost. But love always prevails.
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| 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved |
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| The Gran Palace in Bangkok. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved |
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| The Gran Palace in Bangkok. 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights
reserved |
We use any
means of transport, public and not: metro, skytrain, ferry, taxi. We come upon
the amulet marketplace, all stands sell more or less the same knick-knack, all
roads have the same odour/stench (it depends on point of view).
We arrive to
our prearranged destination, Wat Phra Kaew with Royal Palace attached. Wat Phra
Kaew, better known as the Temple of the Emerald, is considered the oldest
Buddhist temple (Wat) in Thailand. It's located in Bangkok old town centre.
It's a whole complex of religious buildings, and it's one of the four parts in
which the Royal Palace complex is divided. Inside of its main temple an Emerald
Buddha sacred statue is kept and theoretically it couldn't be photographed.
Precisely theoretical, as I managed to take a picture from the outside. The
small statue is located on a raised altar and it's hardly visible amongst the
golden decorations, but always dressed up with regal clothes, a different dress
for each season (hot, cold and rainy season) which is personally changed by the
kind at the beginning of every season (or by the crown prince) during a solemn
ceremony.
We visit the Wat in exemplary silence, we watch from every possible side and in all its nuances. We take off our shoes and put them back on continuously, you gotta enter temples barefoot or wearing socks at the most.
We visit the Wat in exemplary silence, we watch from every possible side and in all its nuances. We take off our shoes and put them back on continuously, you gotta enter temples barefoot or wearing socks at the most.
Inside of
the Royal Palace the visitor isn't allowed to enter exception made for some
anterooms, and it's a real shame because we probably missed out a big portion
of Thai culture.
We rapidly pass from one Wat to another to complete our cultural tour of the Temple of the Reclined Buddha (Wat Pho). Along our way to admire the Reclined Buddha, we have a chance to make some offers to monks; 20 Bahts divided into 100 cents in order to put a coin in every single bowl. Every bowl represents a different assignment (monks, cleaners, food etc...). The whole temple is pleasingly sparkling. And it's strange to think that a kind lady who had approached us outside of the palace, had highly suggested us not to enter this temple: "Guys, monks are praying at this time, go and see Dusit Park (Ed. wonderful anyway) with my tuk tuk". Between the two travellers, one is very distrustful, fortunately.
We rapidly pass from one Wat to another to complete our cultural tour of the Temple of the Reclined Buddha (Wat Pho). Along our way to admire the Reclined Buddha, we have a chance to make some offers to monks; 20 Bahts divided into 100 cents in order to put a coin in every single bowl. Every bowl represents a different assignment (monks, cleaners, food etc...). The whole temple is pleasingly sparkling. And it's strange to think that a kind lady who had approached us outside of the palace, had highly suggested us not to enter this temple: "Guys, monks are praying at this time, go and see Dusit Park (Ed. wonderful anyway) with my tuk tuk". Between the two travellers, one is very distrustful, fortunately.
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The Temple
of the Reclined Buddha in Bangkok
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights
reserved
|
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| Seba inside of the Reclined Buddha temple. |
After a tiring and burning afternoon we deserve a nice massage, which is
all but relaxing! One hour under the hands, legs and feet of two capable
masseuses from the official school of Massage of Bangkok, put us back on our
feet. Seba is snoring, I am groaning in pain, from time to time we hear some
bone creak, clear sign of a long term physical inactivity. But music and
feeling make us want to relax and while closing my eyes I can still hear the
chirping birdies.
We eat up a lot of more mileage, looking for a restaurant where to have
dinner. Under the lucky star of our trusted guide we arrive at the well-known
Racanawi Samosorn. Locals come here for the nice view on the river and for the
taste but cheap fish dishes and seafood. The only con is as it's not exactly a
touristic restaurant, waiters speak a little and really poor English so that
it's hard for us to be understood even for a bottle of sparkling water.
Not exhausted yet from the eventful day we had, we decide not to miss out on anything by heading to Patpong, the most lively and populated area for Bangkok nightlife. Actually I'm sure that tiredness is gonna let us have some regrets later on, because of all those people, odours and noises we ran against. For those who love sex or transgressive tourism or who just wanna come to Thailand for fun, then this is the right place. In fact we didn't feel very comfortable walking on the streets where promoters literally force you to take a look (they literally put them in front of your eyes) their "pussy show" menus.
A tuk tuk ride to the hotel and a hot shower. Pollution and tiredness are the last memories of the day. And tomorrow we start again.
Not exhausted yet from the eventful day we had, we decide not to miss out on anything by heading to Patpong, the most lively and populated area for Bangkok nightlife. Actually I'm sure that tiredness is gonna let us have some regrets later on, because of all those people, odours and noises we ran against. For those who love sex or transgressive tourism or who just wanna come to Thailand for fun, then this is the right place. In fact we didn't feel very comfortable walking on the streets where promoters literally force you to take a look (they literally put them in front of your eyes) their "pussy show" menus.
A tuk tuk ride to the hotel and a hot shower. Pollution and tiredness are the last memories of the day. And tomorrow we start again.
Do
you wanna see all pics taken in Thailand? Then click here
Keep reading... My travel story continues in the next
post!
