Thailand has always intrigued me. National Geographic photos of Thai architecture, wats containing oversized Buddhas, and copious amounts of gold-leaf have always piqued my curiousity. So when Rob found our family hugely discounted tickets to Thailand for Christmas... I was in!
Upon arriving in Bangkok late at night, we were hustled along the busy streets in our neon pink taxi (which made a certain little girl
very happy!) After an interesting detour through the backroads around our hotel (which we tried to communicate to the driver that we had already passed), we arrived at the Somerset apartments which would be our not-typical-Thailand home for the next three nights!
We started our adventure with a "Western Day" in Bangkok. We took the kids on their first tuk-tuk ride with Xavier clutching my hand nearly the entire way. At the mall, we were inundated with Bangkok's absorption of all things western--Maddam Tussauds, Starbucks, KrispyKreme, Burger King, and our first stop--
Siam Ocean World. As we walked around, Rob and I got a bit nostalgic of our yearly memberships at Monterey Bay Aquarium and the hours we would spend just sitting and watching with our kids. The one thing that
did set this experience apart was our behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium's gut as well as a short ride on a glass-bottom boat where we could see the sharks swim below us as we tried to feed them shrimp amidst the frenetic chaos of the other fish. We topped off this day with a trip to the bowling alley where everyone was quite thankful for the invention of bumpers! Our day ended with a nod to our Dubai days with a toasty warm hot chocolate as we watched the expat community skate around an indoor ice rink. Very cool.
Our "truly Thailand" tour started the next day with a river taxi ride to the Grand Palace. We walked around the King's former residence in an effort to count the number of gilt mythical features that festoon every nook and cranny on a quest for the famed Emerald Buddha. After climbing up and down steps that lead to one or another shrine of some sort, we finally turned the corner and found the crowd at Wat Phra Kaeo. This dramatically ornate building holds the most revered image of Buddha that Thailand has. The puny 26-inch tall Buddah
(which is ironically carved from a single piece of jade, not emerald) sits in a glass throne high amongst an alter of marble, mother-of pearl, and gold-leaf deities and guards. Unfortunately, due to the fact that we were visiting Thailand in the cool season (as opposed to the wet or dry), our little buddy Buddha was all covered up and we could barely see any of his remarkable "emerald" beauty. Oh well... to learn more about the
true story of the Emerald Buddha,
click here.
We followed up a visit to the smallest Buddha by making our way to Wat Pho which touts itself in 3 distinctive ways. One, it serves as the center of Thailand's public education, two, they run the most respected Thai massage school in the country from this wat, and three, it is home to the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. At 150 feet in length and 50 feet tall, this gigantic statue represents Buddha's passing into Nirvana.
Our Bankgok adventures included long walks down alleyways where few tourists dare to tread. For hours we walked through small mangled streets feeling the true Thailand behind our apartment's manicured lawns. The smells were challenging, the houses were sparse, but the hustle and bustle amongst these tiny streets was enthusiastic and entrepreneurial. As we walked further we felt more and more like Dorothy 'cause we sure as hell weren't in Kansas anymore!
Next on our agenda was a trip to Kanchanaburi in the South central plains. Though the journey is only 2 hours by car, Kanchanaburi could not be more different than Bangkok as we exchanged tuk-tuks, taxis, and trains, for 4-wheel trucks, hundreds of bars, and thousands of tourists! Unfortunately, there were few tourists to be seen at the night market where we sampled a smattering of street foods including sweet roti (a thin chapati drizzled with sweetened condensed milk), Turkish shawarmas, cold vegetarian noodles with chopped peanuts and sugar, which we washed down with delicious fresh-fruit smoothies. We finished our walking-dinner as the sun set behind the mountains and finding a taxi to take us the 20 minutes back to our hotel was proving to be
very challenging. Thank goodness we found a lovely girl who had attended her senior year of high school in Iowa who was willing to help some wayward travelers. Daowz Lee came to our aid and loaded us in her dad's amulet-encrusted Expedition and drove us back to our digs so the kids could get an early night--elephants were on tap for tomorrow!
Our excursion to
Elephant's World was a remarkable one for the three of us (unfortunately, Rob needed a down day to get his stomach back on track). The kids and I were picked up in an open-air truck-truck and driven deep into the mountains and banana fields to the Elephant's World camp where elephants and their mahouts (a.k.a. human driver) came to retire after begging on the streets of Bangkok or being hurt by their work in the logging industry. The workers and volunteers work
for the animals and this resulted in us: hand feeding the younger elephants bananas and pineapple, cooking up sticky-rice balls with cooked pumpkin for the aged and toothless, chopping down banana trees, and bathing them in the river. It was an amazing day that the kids (and their mama) will not soon forget.
With Rob feeling a bit better the next day, we decided to explore Kanchanaburi on foot and have a day at our own pace. We had no idea that our walk would take us to the famed
Bridge over the River Kwai and the gazillion tourists (mostly Thai) who would be there. We arrived just in time to see one of the diesel trains loading up to take off on it's 70+ km. route up and down the Thailand-Burma railroad (which is better known as the Death Railroad). It was difficult explaining why the railroad was built and the inhumanity of war. To explain to my kids how 100,000 Asian laborers and 12,000 Allied forces P.O.W.'s died during it's 16-month build was a sad reality. The kids, though, were so intrigued by the story that they solemnly walked by the graves of 100s of Allied soldiers and read each name and message printed upon the plaque at the Allied War Cemetery.
Our last full day of exploration was Christmas Day which didn't feel like a true holiday in any sense. Amazingly, Santa found his way to our hotel in Kanchanaburi and left the kids a few books that they read as mama and papa called loved ones around the world! After that, we drove to
Erawan National Park which felt more like a leisurely fall drive through the Sunol canyon than a day out in Thailand. The luscious area was full of thick autumn-colored leaves being whipped by gusts of wind. We arrived at a rather empty park and began our hike over knotted tree roots and worn river rocks as we climbed up to various tiers of the falls. The highlight was watching the kids and Rob brave the nearly-arctic water to swim amongst the waterfall of tier 3. Though we continued further up the tiers, we hit our tilt and decided that it would be safer to return to the base tiers for some relaxing playtime in the water.
After we dried off, we drove to Tam Krasae, a stop for the
Thailand-Burma Railroad. This little rail crossing is home to the Wang Po viaduct and the Krasae cave where a huge Buddha lies in wait. Crossing the viaduct was a bit treacherous but with only tourist trappings as our alternative, we braved the cave and walk. When the ground began to shake, we quickly edged our way to the platform to board the train and snag the coveted window seats so we could ensure a great view for our 90 minute trip.
Passing through the area's faming valley, we rocked and rolled our way down the
Death Railway and the tragedy of the railroad's creation sat like a rock in our gut. But things began to change as we approached the center of town. The fervor on the train was once again at its peak as everyone scrambled to look out the windows at the floating hotels and restaurants as we crossed the river Kwai. Riding the Death Railway marks an abysmal time in our world's history that, judging by the sheer number of tourists visiting, is sure to be remembered by many generations to come.
Our terrific Thailand adventure came to an end with a Christmas dinner at the famed
Apple's Guest House. We noshed on blue rice, pad thai, and chicken satay in a delicious cinnamon peanut sauce while watching speeding long boats cruise down the river. Our Christmas feast culminated in an inspired lawn dance by our kids and then was topped off by thick banana pancakes and coconut-apple ice cream.
Our journey had its ups (our hike at Erawan Falls) and downs (getting stabbed at the hospital to determine the severity of our yucky tummies) and our Christmas tree was not bursting at the seams, but the four of us were reminded of what is truly important in this world... and for that, we are eternally grateful!
To view some more of Rob's wonderful photos, go here and click on "slideshow"!
The next day was the start of our Amazing Race. We hired a car to take us to the famed Buddhist temple: Borobudur. Built around the 9th century, Borobudur was home to an Amazing Race challenge during it's 19th season. So, in typical "Angela" fashion, I crafted the roadblock and away we went--climbing up to the uppermost platform, we tried to count the various Buddha statues with 4 distinctive hand orientations. Because of the incredible heat, we gave up and just enjoyed the experience of this mammoth site.
Since then, Borobudur has seen numerous restoration projects. Unfortunately, this amazing site is vulnerable due to recurring natural disasters. The temple is built on a fault which continues to destabilize the ancient arches. During last year's eruption of Mt. Merapi (see the picture at left), Borobudur was covered with over a centimeter of ash whose damage was still visible on the day we visited. Between the challenges of nature and the 2.5 million tourists that visit every year, Borobudur is one sight that may not be around for long.
