In Bangkok we stayed in a grand old hotel near the old part of the city, close to the famous Koh San road (full of tourists, and street stalls selling everything from knock off branded clothes to coconut ice cream, pad Thai and mango sticky rice) and close to the stunning Grand Palace.
Aside from exploring this general area, we also ventured out to one of the massive malls (where we had to stand for the King's anthem at the start of the movie we went to see), and also took a day trip to see the Thailand 'death railway'.
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| Magic Max's turned out to be a great place to get a cheap bite to eat and watch the world go by down Rambutri Alley. Occasionally Max would actually come and show off a couple of magic tricks! |
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| The busy Koh San Road area, and our Royal Hotel, which apparently is 100 years old. It's not terribly fancy these days, but sure is big and grand! |
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| An old fort down by the river in Bangkok. |
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| The Grand Palace and temple of the Emerald Buddha is probably the most spectacular thing we've seen on our trip so far! So much gold! |
The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and is 218,000 square metres in size. It consists of the royal residence, throne halls, government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This temple houses a statue of Buddha made entirely of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 by a monk in Chiang Rai who initially thought it was a plaster cast mould of Buddhas image until he scratched the plaster off its nose and found it was in fact Jade. Three times a year the King changes the statues costume (only the King is allowed to touch it), this is in accordance with the three seasons observed in Thailand - summer, rainy and winter season. We actually got to see the costumes in the Royal jewellery collection as well as an exhibit on how jewels play an important part in Thai culture, and how they restore and maintain them. The exhibit was new in 2016 and they only let people in 3 times a day for an hour at a time, so we timed it perfectly! Unfortunately photos aren't allowed in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or the Royal Jewellery collection so you'll just have to take our word for it that it was all very impressive!
Part of the reason for going to see the death/Burma railway and bridge on the river Kwai was to retrace some of my family history; my Opa's family was taken prisoner when the Japanese invaded Indonesia, and my great grandfather was sent to work on the Burma railway while the rest of the family were sent to internment camps on Java. I'm not sure whether my great grandfather was sent to Thailand or Burma, but apparently thanks to being an engineer he was eventually sent to work in a workshop fixing locomotives, which probably helped to save his life. He also helped others with his local knowledge (having been born in Indonesia) of what kind of berries etc. that you could and could not eat.
The Burma Railway was responsible for the deaths of nearly 180,000 Prisoners of War. The railway was built to link Bangkok to Burma and up to India during WW2 under Japan's Military rule. Stretching 415km in length, it took over 12 months to complete in 1942/1943. The working conditions and torture the POWs were subjected to was horrific. Many starved or died from illness.
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| The cemetery where allied soldiers are buried from WWII. |
The JEATH (Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand, Holland) war museum was a very small museum with a number of old photographs and artists depictions on display of the squalid conditions and poor treatment POWs received at the hands of the Japanese during WWII. I hate to think of what my grandfathers family went through during those years. Apparently in the camps they often ate rats and snakes and whatever else they could catch so that they didn't starve, and my when my great grandfather returned, he had lost so much weight that he was barely recognisable.
After the JEATH museum we were rushed onto long boats to get to the famous bridge and on to the train, for which we were running late. And by rushed, I mean we had the fastest and most legitimately scary boat ride ever! I was actually thinking how glad I was that I had travel insurance so that my body could be repatriated to New Zealand! However, despite my little faith, we made it to the bridge over the river Kwai where we had about 2 minutes to look around before jumping on the train. We were on the train for about an hour an a half watching all the sugarcane plantations whiz by, and thinking about how bloody hard and awful it must have been for the poor people forced to build this railway. I definitely questioned why the hell it had become a tourist attraction and why I was even riding it. I suppose at least it gets you thinking, and that at least their hard work wasn't just left to waste.
We then headed off on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai, but not before Shaun stood in the worlds worst poo. It was so bad I'm surprised we didn't get kicked off the bus (especially when the driver came past trying to identify the smell)! It took a lot of washing in the onboard toilet, along with half a bottle of hand sanitizer as well as double bagging to minimise the smell.
We were very grateful that our room was ready when we arrived in Chiang Mai the next morning, as we were quite weary from a very bumpy ride, seats that cut off the blood supply in the back of our legs, and what can only be described as post traumatic poo disorder.
In Chiang Mai we stayed in a nice little guesthouse near to the Thae Pae
Gate. We were in town for a week and checked out a lot of different markets, temples, and also found a great yoga studio where I went to five classes. Judging by the pain the day after my first class, it really was about time that I got back on the mat!
We also spent a day planning and booking the rest of our trip, which was until then a vague plan at best.
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| Chiang Mai is an old walled city in northern Thailand that was founded in 1296. It was once the ancient capital of the area. There are still parts of the wall and the moat remaining. |
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| There were so many different markets and so many different foods to try! My favourite was the Khao Soi, a yellow curry from northern Thailand. |
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| Doi Suthep Temple up on the hill overlooking Chiang Mai, although the clouds meant that we couldn't see the view! |
We had a great time in Thailand, and I'd love to come back and explore its beautiful beaches.
We are now in Malaysia - blog to come soon!
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