Bangkok Day One - City of Contrasts

Bangkok Day One - City of Contrasts

Following three weeks of teaching English to novice monks I decided to make a trip to Paske, Laos.  The trip began with flying to Bangkok on Air Asia and changing to Lao Airlines.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to stay in Bangkok for a couple of days and revisit the city where I graduated from high school forty-six years ago. Bangkok remains a city of contrasts. 

First Outing

I stayed at the Prince Palace Hotel in the heart of the city.  After checking in (the reception area is on the 11^th floor!), I went for a walk to see what was in the area.  I stuck my head out the window while waiting for the elevator and immediately saw the target for my walk – the Temple of the Golden Mount. 

Temple of the Golden Mount

Water Taxis

This temple is the closest thing Bangkok has to a hill – at least 150 feet high.  I had fond memories of… I’m getting ahead of myself.  The view directly below the elevator hall window was a large klong (canal) with water taxis running up and down.

The Prince is a luxury hotel surrounded by markets and crowded housing. Outside I headed past clothing and other markets and over the first bridge in the water taxi picture.  This took me to a street through the area in the pictured here.

Crowded Housing Near Hotel

My path led me into a sort of industrial zone similar to the ones I remembered from long ago. Here a machine shop was using tools and technologies from the 1940’s or 50’s to make…  I don’t know what the man was making, but he was very industrious.

Bangkok Mechanical Shop Equipment From 1940's and 50's

Wood This and Wood That

A couple of blocks later I was in what might be called the wood products block. There was shop after shop making everything from decorative pieces to add to your home, to huge carved doors, and outdoor benches.  All made of teak hard wood of course.

Wood Shop

Wood Decorative Pieces

My walk reintroduced me to the legendary Bangkok traffic – negotiating some intersections was ‘exciting’. It was dusk as I headed toward the Golden Mount and rush hour had started.

The Golden Mount

            The Golden Mount is actually Wat Srakese Rajavaramahavihara founded in the 17^th century. Golden Mount is a much simpler and descriptive name. The temple has a long staircase that circles the mount and a very large golden cheddi at the top.  The walk up provides great views of the city and nearby temples.

Roof With Bougainvillea

Temple Compound

Temple Roof From Golden Mount

  Along the way there are also Buddhas in carved niches and large temple bells.

Buddha Niche Golden Mount

Reclining Buddha Along the Walk Way

City Skyline Beyond the Golden Mount Temples

In 1965 there were almost no buildings in Bangkok taller than five or six stories high. As you can see from the skyline in the photo above, Bangkok has changed.  The tall buildings of Bangkok stand in stark contrast to its ancient temples.

I met four girl scouts on the way up. They were happy to pose for me, ring the bells and one of the gongs.

Girl Scouts Climbing Golden Mount

  Bell and Gong Ringing Girl Scout

At the top, I found a serious looking monk observing the cheddi. By happenstance his picture had some words on the part of the building to his left. Curious.

The sun was at my back as I rounded the south side of the cheddi. I was having trouble framing my next picture because there was a bright light in my face. Eventually I noticed people were frantically waving for me to move out of their way. I had walked into the filming of a favorite Thai soap opera. I stepped aside and got some shots of the filming and the sunset as well.

The top level Thai soap opera stars – Phetlada known as Aoh and Nutthawot commonly called Poh were at work.  Aoh was all the more famous because she lost her whole house in the Bangkok floods.

Poh and Aoh Filming

Looking to the Heavens

Filming Thai Soap Opera

Filming around a religious site can be tricky.  There is a statue of Settinavagot next to the cheddi. Settinavagot is an eight faced Buddha that sees in every direction.

Settinavagot

Camera Man at Settinavagot Buddha

Every time this camera man stepped by the statue, he turned, bowed his head, brought his hands together and “weied” to show his respect.  Of course he did this quickly because the light was fading.

Golden Mount Cheddi Sunset

Golden Mount Cheddi Sunset

The setting sun gave me some special photos as I headed down.









It was quite dark as I headed down from the Golden Mount and found some more beautiful vistas of the city as I walked the stairway rounding the mount.

Golden Mount Temples by Night

Grand Palace and Wat Po by Night

Once I was down, I wound my way through unfamiliar streets back to the hotel.  I was thankful the hotel was tall and had its name on top in large red neon letters.  Kind of a guiding star.  As I walked I stopped and picked up a few bites to eat – some grilled sausage from one street vendor and then, for dessert, a bag of pineapple chunks cut from fresh pineapple as I watched.

Basket of Pineapples

The pineapple lady was engrossed in the latest soap opera as she prepared my bag which was complete with hot pepper laced sugar to spice things up!

Pineapple Lady Watching the Latest Soap Opera