Exploring Bangkok

Bangkok, Jul 18, 2549:

Also known to westerners as 2006. Bangkok is hot and humid as advertised, but the climate is basically Houston in summer. The past few days have been pretty overcast, and any actual rain has lasted less than a minute (not sure how typical that is). What the city really lacks is the catalytic converter. It's VERY smoggy and poluted here, and of course there's substantial poverty. But we're having a fantastic time exploring the city. We walked across most of it yesterday, and my feet are tired.

The food is amazing beyond my dreams. A little hole-in-the-wall vegetarian restaurant half a mile from our hotel served up the best pad thai I've ever had in my life. Total bill for both of us, 75 Baht (about two dollars).

The above photo is taken in Lumpini park just east of downtown, as Amy and I cut through the park on our way to the Vietnamese embassy to secure our visas for the next stage of the trip. It's a gorgeous park, full of ducks and tightly manicured lawns. Speaking of Amy...
Here she is in front of the golden buddha, a recently recovered Thai treasure. It was covered in plaster to hide its value (probably during the 18th century) and when it was being moved in 1953, it was dropped. Some of the plaster came off revealing the gold underneath. It's stunning- eight feet tall at least.Here I am outside of the Grand Palace, the residence of a former Thai monarch. The current King lives in a more modern palace on the north end of the city. We walked through the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kew yesterday morning:



This is the sitting doctor, who is beleived to be the father of Thai herbal medicine. Wat Phra Kew is a huge temple complex on the banks of the river. Each King adds his own construction to extend and enhance the complex, so over the years its grown to an impressive collection of beautiful buildings:

Okay that's enough for now. Amy and I fly to Chaing Mai in northern Thailand tonight, after we pick up our visas at the Vietnamese Embassy this afternoon. I'll post again after we've had a few days to explore Chaing Mai.