Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...

[Lightcycle]

The main attraction in Wat Pho is the 46-metre long, gold-plated Buddha lying on his side

The Reclining Buddha is an example of Parinirvana, the final passing of Buddha as he passes from death into the afterlife of Nirvana. Which has absolutely nothing to do with the Foo Fighters at all.

Buddha says, "Come as you are"

108 pretty bronze donation bowls line the inside of the temple in Wat Pho

108 is a special number in Buddhism. The 108 bronze bowls represent the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha as he takes the form of birds, tigers and flowers.

Is it my imagination or are the clouds getting thicker and darker?

The buildings in Wat Pho, although not as bright and shiny as the temples in the Grand Palace grounds, are so intricately detailed. It's getting a bit late in the day and the low sun is casting a beautiful glow over everything here.

 

[Lightcycle]

As we walk around Wat Pho, parts of the sky turn black above us

Cat seems unfazed by the large drops of rain starting to fall from the heavens

Okay seriously? WDP?!?! (Wat Da Phu...)

It shouldn't be surprising. If we can bring rain to the Sahara Desert, surely rain in the dry season in Thailand isn't that much of a stretch.

We seek shelter inside the cloister with a buncha Buddhas

Wat Pho houses the most Buddhas in one place. There are over 1,000 representations of Buddha here. In another section of the large complex, there is an actual working monastery where monks live and go to school. So far, I find Buddhist monks the most fascinating aspect of Thailand. We had to go investigate that!

 

[Lightcycle]

Buddhist monks congregating at the monastery in Wat Pho

We were allowed to sit with them as they chanted. Everyone was mesmerized by the monotonic sounds, almost hypnotic in their rhythm and lilt

Iva was sitting outside waiting for us as we came out of the temple. She said it only rained for 5 minutes

Hm... I'm starting to doubt the rain-warding power of the Pula Girls. Maybe you need two of them for their sunshine-magnetism abilities. Well, hopefully that will be it for the rest of our time in Bangkok and Thailand. Bring it on, dry season!

Beautiful sunset through the haze of the big city

Wow, I took a lot of pictures today. After spending so long in Europe, things kinda started looking the same. But now that we're on a new continent and in a new culture where everything looks so different, I went a bit crazy with the camera...

We're tired and jetlagged and need to get our Ferengi ***** to bed. But we're totally looking forward to seeing more of Thailand!!!

 

[vrus]

I love thailand, especially their food. My friend just came back from a second time.

 

[statsman]

I truly enjoyed the tribute you made to your wife while you were in Croatia.
The secret to enjoying a long ride is having the right person riding with you.

 

[Lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/270.html

It's a grey, overcast day in Bangkok today. Iva has left us to continue her SE Asia tour in Cambodia.

Those two statements might be related...

But we're trading in a Pula Girl for two Belgians:

Yes, Thomas and Eva are in Thailand!

Totally not a coincidence. While Iva may have persuaded us to join her in Thailand for her vacation, what further convinced us to come here was knowing that Thomas and Eva were also spending their vacation here as well! We have been so social the last couple of months and we just want it to continue!

Since we had arrived a couple of days earlier than our Belgian friends, we took them on the requisite temple tour

I always thought bonsai was a Japanese art, but it originated in China and other Asian cultures have their version too.

Farang those bells, Neda

 

[Lightcycle]

There are statues and pictures of the King of Thailand everywhere. He is a very important figure in the country.

We've discovered that it is a serious crime to speak ill of the King and his throne in Thailand. It's called Lèse majesté and it's different in Thailand than other countries that enforce this rule. In Thailand it's against the law to criticize any royal aspect of Thai life, from development projects, to all members of the Royal family, distant past and present. The Internet is heavily policed and a Thai tour operator got sentenced to 60 years imprisonment for insulting the King on Facebook. Last year, a man from Bangkok was arrested for making sarcastic comments about the King's dog.

I'm going to have to watch my sense of humour while I'm here... Good thing I'm all about the self-deprecation!

I think you're allowed to make fun of Thai elephants. But why would you? They're beautiful! Can't wait to see one in person.

So we've been hanging out with Thomas and Eva for the day, showing them what little we know of Bangkok since we have a 24-hour head start on them, when it becomes very clear that the grey skies above us just cannot tolerate the fact that we are dry. They welcome us to Thailand the RideDOT.com way.

Watching these temple workers sweep water off the floor of the temple in the pouring rain is like watching Sisyphus roll that rock up the hill

"Dry season in Bangkok extends from November to February" -- The Internet

From underneath the awning that we are hiding under, Thomas and Eva glare at us. Almost as if they are blaming us for all of this rain... I shrug my shoulders and look helpless, but deep inside I know we are the real reason it's raining.

An interesting thing happened while we were waiting for the rains to stop. A Thai lady also stopped under the same awning we were all under and started speaking Thai to me. Once again, I shrugged my shoulders and told her I didn't speak Thai. She responded, "Oh, I thought you were a tour guide".

Because if you're Asian in Thailand and hanging out with a bunch of farangs, you *must* be a tour guide! Well, it's better than constantly being called "Jackie Chan!" in Latin America...

 

[Lightcycle]

Well the rain wasn't going to stop, so we walked into Chinatown during a period of light drizzle

Chinatown, Bangkok

I'm often asked if I can tell the difference between Thai, Chinese and other Asian races. Because apparently I should be an expert. But truthfully, I can't tell. And judging from the "tour guide" comment, Thai people can't tell the difference either.

Thomas, being the perfect gentleman, gives Eva a lift over the flooded streets up onto the sidewalk

After this picture was taken, Neda gave me a lift up onto the sidewalk as well. True love, people. It comes in all forms.

Finding veggies to feed the vegetarians was a strangely difficult task in Chinatown

 

[Lightcycle]

Rain looks to be letting up

A constant feature on the streets of Bangkok: a dense canopy of telephone and electricity cables overhead

Street vendors selling food

Apart from her lactose intolerance, which Neda has finally licked (like an ice cream cone), we've both been fairly free of stomach bugs - pretty much ever since leaving Latin America. But now that we're out of Europe, we're a bit wary about getting sick from the food in SE Asia. But everything looks sooooo good though!

Strolling through some of the open air markets

Street food is sooo cheap. Typical dishes are about $1USD.

 

[Lightcycle]

Thomas and Eva live a bit outside of the downtown core, so they introduced us to their mode of transport - the river boat

Buddhist monks get free transportation all over Thailand. There are special seats and waiting areas for them

The Chao Phraya River is the main waterway that cuts through Bangkok

Wat Arun temple on the shores of the Chao Phraya River

We must have the worst luck when it comes to visiting famous monuments. The Roman Colosseum, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Glockenspiel in Munich, the Kizhi Pogost in Russia... all covered up in scaffolding. New RideDOT.com curse? Rain and scaffolding, coming soon to a city near you!

 

[Lightcycle]

Our last stop of the day, the backpackers paradise: Khao San Road

I can't believe how touristy this place is. Nothing but hippie farangs walking up and down the length of the street. Wall-to-wall stores selling cheap custom-made suits of dubious quality, cheap massages, cheap souvenirs and cheap food and beer. Neda and I managed to dodge the tailors and souvenir stores, but:

Neda fell victim to the cheap $3 half-hour foot massage

Stalls selling all kinds of food

We found an outdoor restaurant and ordered cheap Thai food which was not very good at all. We know what good Thai food tastes like and Khao San Road is *not* the place to get it. We've been here for a few days now and Bangkok is kinda wearing on our nerves. It's so crowded here, and there are so many western tourists it hardly feels like a foreign country. We came here to relax and it's obvious this is not the place to do it, so we're not going to stay long. Thomas and Eva aren't big city people either, so they're leaving the day after to do jungles and beaches, which is our cue to get out of here as well.

More Khao San Road at night

It's so nice hanging out with Thomas and Eva again. We said goodbye to them back in July, not knowing when we'd ever see them again, and here we are together once again! So I think we've all learned our lesson. It's never "goodbye", but always "seen you again!"

 

[Riceburner]

Didn't know bonsai originated in China, can't tell the difference in Asians....hmmmm, think Gene has to hand in his Asian card....

 

[mbroyda]

Thailand is awesome!!! I see you guys already taking advantage of the cheep massage services.
if you enjoyed those, some temples offer Thai massages that are 2 hours long.......highly recommended.
I refused to go more than 2 days without a massage there, especially when it cost $5

 

[Lightcycle]

Gene has to hand in his Asian card....

If you're talking about my Ten Ren's bubble tea loyalty card, you'll have to pry it off of my cold, dead hands.

 

[Kri$han]

Awesome entry Gene! I can't stop following your blog, cuz I've been with you since the very first post... it's a blog, its about travels and (also) it's a bout marriage. It's beautiful. Also you've also done a much better job of documenting what you've pictured than I did LOL - did you take a tour of the palace grounds? Do you write all this stuff down in order to recall it later for the blog entry?

I was in Thailand a LONG time ago; just before my final year of University in 2005, as part of a whirl-wind SE Asia big-city 3-week tour of Singapore, Kuala-Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand) and Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam). Getting there was expensive, but staying there was super cheap, I loved it! Singapore was the most North-American like city (especially in price), but Bangkok had some great food... I suppose we got lucky in that regard.

You guys rode some big Tuk Tuk's! The Tuk Tuk's we rode in were like motorcycles with a 2-seater seat and cage where the pillion seat would be - it was probably the most fun thing I did while there.

I'm surprised you haven't wrote about the Red Light district in Bangkok yet, or will that be the next entry? You probably won't get as many good photos, heh.

 

[Motorcycle Mike]

Yes, 3rd floor of the Nana Plaza certainly had some stuff going on I wish I hadn't seen.

 

[mbroyda]

you guys must visit a ping-pong show while in Thailand...its a cultural experience that is not to be missed ;-)

 

[Lightcycle]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Not sure Neda will be keen on visiting some of your must-sees...

 

[Lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/271.html

Sawadee Khrup!

That's how you say "hello" and "goodbye" in Thai. The masculine version at least. Guys end every sentence with "khrup" and gals end it with "kah". So, women would say, "Sawadee Kah".

If we're going to be here for awhile, we're going to have to learn some words. It's very difficult since Thai, like all Asian languages is a tonal language, so it's not enough just to pronounce the words correctly, you have to "sing" it in the right pitch or tone, or it's a completely different word.

Today we're venturing out of Bangkok temporarily to visit the Damnoen Suduak Floating Market. It's about a an hour and a half bus-ride west of the metropolis. I woke up today with a bit of a stomach ache. I polled Neda to see if it was something we ate yesterday, but she seemed fine, so it must have been something *I* ate. A year and half in Europe and I didn't get sick once. Just a few days in Bangkok and my insides feel like they're rearranging themselves. This does not bode well...

There are lots of floating markets in the Bangkok area, but Damnoen Saduak is perhaps the most famous one. We had to load the bus very early in the morning to make it out here before the afternoon heat becomes too unbearable.

Our bus lets us off a couple of kms away from the market and we climb aboard a covered boat and ride along the canalways in style

We've left behind the urban jungle of Bangkok and traded it in for the actual lush jungle that presses up against the sides of the canals and over the buildings that line the waterways. This is more our speed.

Our tour guide is a Chinese lady who entertains us by telling us jokes in broken English. Hm, so you don't actually have to be Thai to be a tour guide here, eh? You just have to look the part. Hmm... if I pick up the language, I may be able to subsidize our stay here...

A flashy tour boat with huge twin motors zooms past our rickety barge. Our tour guide deadpans, "That rich people boat. You pay more you go on rich people boat." In turn, we pass by another tourist group, their operator is paddling the boat down the canal. "That poor people boat", she says. LOL! I hope the people on the rowboat didn't hear her...

If learning to speak Thai is hard, trying to read the Thai script is a completely different level of impossible. Good thing all the signs are in English too

 

[Lightcycle]

One of the vendors paddles her way to the market

A local resident watches the tourists go by. Just like the Croatian nonas at their windows above the street!

Neda is excited: "SHOPPING!!!!!"

"Final offer!" You can buy anything at the floating market. Even calculators.

Bargaining is Number One Beloved National Sport. If you don't haggle, the vendor will lose respect for you. It's like showing up to play a soccer game and just sitting on the field while the other team keeps scoring goals around you. They won't stop playing and scoring goals, but it's no fun for them anymore.

If you're going shopping in Thailand, you gotta bring your A Game, otherwise go to a farang store.