We set out by boat (by the way, don’t get the 120 baht tourist day pass, it is a rip-off; pay as you go instead) to pier no.5 at Memorial Bridge and then took a taxi to Wat Suthat, entering via a small gate on Th. Ti Thong (main gate is on Th. Bamrung Muang). This meant that we were able to go to progressively bigger temples in the complex.
At the final and most important Bot (temple), there was chanting, which was wonderful to be able to sit in the middle of. The statues in the grounds of Wat Suthat are Chinese, because they were reputedly used as ballast on trading boats. This is what all the guide books tell you but it is rubbish and don't believe it. Here is what really happened: someone imported the statues and they were heavy enough that the boats didn't need to be ballasted. As an afterthought, the entrepreneurial importer may well have filled the boats with rice or another cargo on top to maximise profits. But even at the height of Chinese civilisation, they didn't go around carving statues to use for boat ballast! But it makes a good story.
Look for the statues of European soldiers. A lot of these temples, all dating to around the same period in the nineteenth century, use images of armed European soldiers. This makes sense because if you want to protect your temple, then you are going to scare the evil spirits with the smelliest, most violent and horrible creatures you can imagine. Clearly, these must be Portuguese soldiers, because the English soldiers were all drinking gin in the Oriental Hotel.
We exited via Th. Bamrung Muang, turning left and left again along temple wall, then crossed Th. Ti Thong and walked down Th. Ratchabophit, crossing Th. Fuang Nakhon to the entrance of Wat Ratchabophit.
This temple has beautiful mosaic decoration, and the interior of the Bot (open for chanting in the middle of the day, but you can ask a monk to open it if it is closed) is Thai crossed with gothic because Rama V had just been to
Leaving the Wat, we walked southwards down Th. Fuang Nakhon, stopping at Johnny’s Gems, which is on the other side of the street a few blocks down. Johnny got rich off of US GI's on r&r during the Vietnamese War. It is always such a relief for me to find something positive to say about poor General Westmoreland, God rest his soul. Anyway, our assistant, whose informal name was Pillow, offered a good deal on older rings left over from that time, and as I don't have any moral scruples at all, I did not hesitate to make a purchase. Yippee!
We then continued down Th. Fuang Nackhon until we hit the flower market. Laurie bought as many cut orchids of different varieties as she could carry for about $6, and then we hailed her a taxi heading south over memorial bridge so that she could go back and meet Paul.
I turned back and headed deep into the flower and vegetable market at Pak Khlong Talat. Like all big produce markets, it is worth lingering there for a long time. The best time to go is supposedly at the crack of dawn but let's face it, that is not going to happen, and it is just fine in the middle of the day, when most of the traders are kicking back and watching their favourite soap opera on the small tvs set up at most stalls.
I came out of the market, crossed the Khlong and walked up Th. Sanam Chai to Wat Pho. One of
By this time I was hot, tired, and hungry, so I didn’t linger but walked to Tha Thien pier (no.8) and took the express boat to pier 13. Th. Phra Athit there has a number of good shops and places to eat, and I stopped at a family bakers called Saffron, which prides itself on Thai versions of American desserts like blueberry pie and brownies. You can also get noodles. Noodles and blueberry pie, now there's a combination I hadn't thought of before! I bought half a dozen croissants for Laurie and Paul (okay, for me too).
I then walked back across the street and up a ways to Phra Sumen Fort, part of the original defensive boundary wall for the city. It is now surrounded by a quiet park on the river, a good place to relax and watch boys like my son Bobby on their gap year who think that they are the coolest guys in the world because they can juggle in a park in Bangkok. Sadly, they mostly resemble Portuguese soldiers but without the weapons.
Back to pier 13, I took the boat back to pier no.8. I have to say that health and safety on the river is vastly different here to the Thames. The guy in this picture is painting a bridge while standing on a plank of wood in the middle of the river. The Port of London Authority Harbourmaster would have a stroke!
I caught the ferry crossing to see Wat Arun, the famous
After that I went back to the flat by boat. Paul had just about woken up by then, and we caught up on his news. Paul is really excited because while he was in southern Ethiopia he secured an important new client and his law firm will be now be opening a branch office there. That Paul! It took Laurie a few minutes to adjust to this news, but she seemed ok about it once she saw some of the lovely things that you can get in the markets there (which were mixed in with strange insects in Paul's duffel bag). No need to worry folks. Those Ethiopians are smart enough to carry weapons when they meet with a lawyer. To cheer Laurie up we went out to eat at the ‘Dairy Queen,’ not the ice cream store, but a big rambling riverside restaurant which is a bit bizarre in a very Thai way, with a lot of big parties and families eating there. The food was excellent, and we brought the leftovers home for breakfast, Paul Dreamer style.
