Another Temple, Another Market

I set out a bit earlier today in order to miss the most intense heat. First stop was Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn. I didn’t quite make it at dawn, but it didn’t open until 8:30 anyway. This is a real populist temple in that you are allowed to walk, and even climb, all over it. There are stairs that take you almost to the top. Unfortunately, you need to take these same stairs to get back down again. I stayed on the ground. Next up was Wat Pho, or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This is a very impressive (and at the same time, very silly) 150 ft long statue of the Buddha lying on his side. The statue is housed in a building that is not much bigger than the statue, so it is hard to find an angle in which you can take the whole thing in at one time. Kind of adds to the drama, in a way. Between wats, I came across a dried fish market. Surprisingly, dried fish smell worse than fresh fish.

The culture shock for the day came when I went to the Siam Paragon shopping center in the afternoon. This place is huge. The food court is bigger than all of Bellevue Square. It even has two McDonald’s (one at each end) to keep your walking time down. Altogether, an amazing and disorienting place.

Tomorrow morning, at 5am, I am off to Hanoi.

I'm not complaining... really!

Whenever I travel to someplace that is really hot and humid, the only thing I can think about until I acclimate is how hot and humid it is. Such is the case with Bangkok. I knew it would be this way, but still. The nice thing about Bangkok is that it is built around the Chao Phraya River, and when you are on the river there is a nice breeze and the weather feels about perfect. This might explain why it seems like the entire population of the city is travelling on the river at any given time. It’s a visual feast. Today, I traveled up the river, first to visit the Grand Palace, and then further to the northern outskirts of the city to the flower markets in Thewet. The Grand Palace was, well Grand, as you would expect, but also very crowded. We were here 20 years ago with the kids when they were pretty little, and it hasn’t really changed.

The flower markets that I had been told about sell mostly fish and meat. I suspect a translation error in my communications somewhere along the line. In any case, this was a more satisfying excursion as there were no tourists and fewer crowds. The people (mostly women) in the stalls were very friendly and were happy to let me take pictures. Even the men, who did not so much work the stalls, were friendly. I’m not sure what I will be doing tomorrow, but I am sure that it will involve being on the river.

I Bought Myself a Present

No, not the Chia Obama. This was a present from some friends. I must admit that I find this thing to be vaguely offensive, yet strangely compelling. I guess that I've always secretly wanted a Chia pet; I just didn't expect to get one in the image of my favorite president. In any case, you can see that it is growing nicely.

My real present is an opportunity that popped up on the Wednesday before Christmas: a photo workshop in Vietnam and Cambodia with Art Wolfe. With Carol's encouragement, I decided to sign up and go. I will be leaving on January 28th and will return on Feb. 15th. I have my visas, and I'm already packed. My dedicated readers (all three of you) can be assured that I will be posting regular entries during the trip.