Saturday Last Day of March
[First full day away from Australia.]
During the night there were three continuous sounds at the Impala
Hotel. 1) a cricket 2) a mysterious squeaky noise 3) water pipes. Roosters
endangered the day with their crowing. I don’t think I had a lot of sleep.
American-style breakfast – fried eggs and sausages, a couple of
slices of tomato, toast, creamy butter (really buttery cream) and pineapple
juice laced with deadly coconut milk.
After breakfast we went on the City and Temples Tour (Cost 198B).
Just driving around the city is amazing. On the main streets, traffic is one
way and moves fast. Today, being a Saturday, is less crowded than weekdays.
Even so, it’s very busy. Look up the street and see a haze of smog. Big trucks
billow out clouds of black smoke. There are thousands of motorcyclists, most
wearing sandals or thongs and no helmet, zooming in and out of the bigger
vehicles. Most of the cars are fairly new. They seem to favour metallic paint.
Then there are the three-wheeled open-air taxis of multi-colours and mudguards
falling off. We passed through Chinatown – over a million Chinese in a city of
five million – and Indiatown on the way to the first temple – actually, it’s a
Wat. Wat can be chapels, monasteries or both. Wat is the complex of buildings
on the campus. A bot is the main chapel or shrines. One needs to take one’s
shoes off to walk in the sacred ground of a bot.
The first wat was a monastery of the golden Buddha, Wat Traimit.
This quite large Buddha image used to be disguised as a mere plaster Buddha. It
was being moved from the now extinct Wat Phya Krai when it fell from the
crane’s grasp and its shell of plaster cracked, revealing 5½ tons of solid
gold. This was in May, 1955, and it is still the same three metres high as it
was then. It is thought that the thing was cast in the Sukhothai era
(1238-1378AD). It is very shiny. [I printed a big
photo of it that I took. The statue is now housed in a different building, since 2010]
Also at Wat Traimit, at another chapel, was a Chinese funeral being
set up. The Chinese Buddhists apparently, cry for a couple of minutes and then
eat. They go to funerals to eat. They were setting up tables and dishes when we
left. [I don’t remember that at all.]
In the street, hawkers were trying to sell rubber band operated
butterflies (boomerang) – butterfly kites, I suppose – and hammocks, films and
toys.
A lot of the shops in Bangkok are very open in that the storefront
is the front door – probably shut by a grill at night. They sell (specialize
in) an amazing array of stuff, like pipes and lengths of metal rods, toilet
basins, car engines, portraits, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Beauty
parlours have outside them pictures of white models with modern Western
hairstyles, much like in Australia. Fashion stores have Caucasian mannequins.
The largest monastery in Bangkok is also the most extensive. It is
Wat Po, which contains the massive Reclining Buddha, 46 metres long and 15
metres high. It represents Buddha attaining Nirvana. It is made of
cement-covered brick covered with gold leaf which is quite thick for gold leaf.
There are patches missing. A huge orange silk scarf was draped over its
shoulder. Many of the Buddha images and Buddhist significates are draped with
orange silk. On the base of the Reclining Buddha’s feet – its soles – are
represented the 108 signs, marks and qualities by which a true Buddha is
recognized. This is inlaid mother-of-pearl.
Also at Wat Po is a big bot surrounded by galleries of 394 sitting
Buddhas. The bot contains a gilded bronze sitting Buddha. There is a boundary
around the bot – a low wall with eight gates guarded by bronze lions. Between
this boundary wall and the galleries of Buddha were many people selling food or
gathering for a service of some sort. A couple of old ladies had bamboo cages
of birds. These small birds would be bought by people who would pay for the
privilege of setting them free. The lady would put one or two birds in a
smaller cage and when released they would fly up into the bot. The life of a
person releasing the birds would be lengthened.
Other things in Wat Po were stalls selling Thai souvenirs (I bought a
lacquer pot of an owl – 60B), a fortune teller, girls selling poses, a guy with
a snake selling poses, and dogs with lumpy sores and patches of bare skin. Some
looked positively stunted.
There was some scaffolding and plastic covering some of the Buddhas
in the galleries – restoration work. Also a massage parlour.
Wat Po is good for seeing viharn and chedi. Viharn are repositories
for sacred objects. Chedi are bell-shaped structures, like pagodas and stupas.
We then went to the last Wat of the day – that built by King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V 1868-1910) in 1897. This is Wat Benchamaborpit and is
known as the Marble Monastery. It is smaller than the previous two and is made
from Italian marble from Carrara. It is at present going through massive
renovation, with scaffolding everywhere. Workmen were panting a pattern like
wallpaper on the wall in gold paint. Incredible that it is all hand-painted.
The wat is next to a klong (canal) and is not far from the King’s
Palace and the National Assembly Building. There are also many royal Poinciana
(or flame trees) near by.
There are stained-glass windows. Bronze Buddha images line the
cloisters. One is of the emaciated Buddha during a 40 day fast. It is copied
from one in India, I think. The living quarters of the monks of the monastery
are across the klong. While we were there, the monks were called to lunch by
the striking of a massive drum.
After this, ‘twas back on t’bus to Valentine Gems Co. Ltd.,
Specialists in Traditional Thai Products, Genuine semi-precious and precious
stones – gem cutting can be seen at their lapidary. Inside were, under glass of
course – masses of stones and jewelry of gold and silver ilk, jade etc, ivory,
rings, bracelets, pearls etc. There was one elephant’s tusk carved to look like
a bridge with lots of plants and buildings and figures of people. ‘Twas
incredible.
Upstairs I bought a Thai silk tie for 70 baht and a lacquer tortoise
for 60B.
On the way to Valentine Gems Co., we passed the zoo, saw a monkey in
a cage, and a truck carrying a helicopter.
We went back to the hotel to have lunch – glass noodle and egg. V.
Thai (not exceptionally nice. 84.70B incl. tax and service).
Paid 286 baht for the Thai cultural shows at the Rose Garden Country
Resort [you can still take the Rose Garden Cultural
Centre and Thai Village half-day tour, about $US42], which is 21
hectares of landscaped gardens, parks and orchards. It takes an hour to get
there [presumably from the Impala Hotel. It's located
32 kilometers just outside Bangkok, along the Nakhon Chaisri River].
On the way there, you see lots of things. The Bangkok Refraction
Hospital. A tyre being changed in the middle of the street. The little Buddhist
shrines on block/street/garden corners. The establishments that sell same –
just like the ones that sell garden gnomes or strutting emus in Australia. There
are ones in Bangkok that also sell such garden ornamentation, including painted
nude statues of ladies. The bus shelters with no walls – a platform with green
Thai roof, all made of wood. The frilly seat covers on the seats of the drivers
of local buses. Lots of banana trees and coconut palms. Street hawkers at
traffic lights selling orchid and jasmine bundles (neatly tied) that are
supposed to protect the people in the car. Drivers hang them from their
rear-vision mirrors. Bus graveyard with hundreds of dead buses. The traffic –
trucks full of big baskets which I think are used for rubbish. (There were
stacks of them at Wat Po.) Looking up a side street, a man with a bunch of red,
white and blue balloons. The police in little huts without walls at intersections
– I think they might control the traffic lights; they control the traffic. A
bus ran off the road on to the nature strip – crashed into a sapling. A small
truck full of baskets of ducks. At first they were unbalanced but when we saw
them later they had all settled down and were quackering to themselves. Another
intersection, street hawkers moving about the stopped cars selling more
flowers, papers and cassette recordings of the speech that a member of
parliament gave one time. Klongs – sidewalk markets that the Thais used not to
have but do now because of the Chinese and Indians. I didn't quite hear what L
said the reason was. L was our guide. Sleepers. Small rice paddies.
All this was seen from a smaller van because there were only ten of
us going to the cultural event so many miles away.
Finally arrived at the Rose Gardens – an amazing diversity of people
there: German, Japanese, American, Chinese, Australian, Indian and Thai.
Undercover walkways with souvenir shops and museum display of Thai
costumes throughout the centuries. Huts where they make and sell umbrellas,
shadow puppets, painted T-shirts (using Hyplar acrylic paint).
There were elephant rides (20B for a couple of minutes) and
picture-taking opportuniy of wrap-around python. In the toilet blocket there
was a little boy handing out paper serviettes to dry hands with: donations 1
baht.
But the main attraction – the cultural show – was held in an
un-walled hut with tiered seating for a couple of thousand people, I'd say. The
ushers gave out white washers soaked in cold water. They also sold fruit juice
in sections of bamboo – 15 baht.
Before the show began, traditional Thai instrumentalists played
songs, including “It's a Small World (After All)”.
The first event was a short procession with the optional elephant
representing the ordination of a monk. Some of the participants wore big head
masks which were very pink – mardi gras type things. Also tambor and cymbal
players. The procession was quite long but short as in time elapsed.
The next thing was the Fingernail dance. This dance was originally
performed to pay respects to the king. It is now a welcoming dance. Twenty
girls wearing traditional Thai costumes of blue and gold and their long gold
fingernails moved slowly around the performance area to the accompaniment of
the orchestra. All this was done with the pervading smell of elephant dung.
Following this was the Thai boxing exhibition. This type of boxing
is always done with music. The rounds are each of one minute, with one and a
half minutes rest. The ring was set up in the middle of the floor of concrete
and a mat laid out. Red, white and blue ropes. Before the fight started, the
two boxers were wearing what I think are called kongkorns – charms for luck.
The boxers kick high, prance about and take exaggerated falls. During the
breaks, the trainers splashed a lot of water around. The whole thing was
well-choreographed and meant to amuse. It ended up with the referee being
“accidentally” kicked in the head.
Next was the hill-tribe dance. The dancers wore light black suits or
dresses and the men wore kind of tam-o-shanter hats with red pom-poms. The
dancers held in each hand a bouquet that consisted of green leaves (sort of
like casuarina pine leaves) and, in the centre, flowers of red for men and
yellow for the women.
Cockfighting then. Men wearing wrap-around sarong-type things. The
rounds were timed by the length of time it took for a ball to sink in a bowl of
water. The cocks would stare each other in the beak and then jump up in the
air, not fighting each other to the death. Only two rounds of this.
Next – the bamboo dance. Two couples sitting on the floor holding
the ends of bamboo poles. A choir of eighteen – ten girls and eight men – sang
while four couples dressed in very brightly-coloured costumes. It was quite a
while before they did the jumping-between-the-moving-poles bit. At first the
poles were arranged diagonally \\// but later they were crossed X. The clapping
together of the poles became faster as the dance went on.
Not finally was Thai self-defence martial art. There was a man and a
woman, each with a short sword, coloured silver but made of bamboo; a man with
a longish short bamboo pole and a man with two flat planks of wood with two
injurious-looking pegs. These pegs were actually handles and the planks laid
flat against the forearms. The elbow end was tied around the upper arm.
Before any fighting was done, prayers were said to Buddha.
The first fight was between a short pole and a shield with a bamboo
sword. These swords have a tendency to split. The fights never lasted long.
Then a fight between a long pole and two forearm planks. This represented a
fight between a giant and a monkey. The monkey, who was a bit of a clown,
naturally won.
Then a man and a woman fought with short swords. The man won. Six
short bamboo poles and the forearm planks came on and it was a free-for-all.
A wedding ceremony. The bride and groom lay on a table – on their
hands were placed two halo cords connected with string; this signified unity. A procession of gifts was brought to them, including sugar cane and
bananas for happiness. I don't know what the other things were for.
Finally on the stage was what I think was called a Uri dance. There
were men drumming and four couples dancing with tall (long) drums; and men and
women with single-coloured scarves. The men had theirs tied around their
waists; the women around their necks. A singer sang. Members if the audience
were asked to dance with the girls – going around in a circle.
Then we went outside to see the elephants perform. Seven-year old
Rose. They could pick up one baht coins with their trunks and give them to
their riders. And they could push logs in the water and get them out again.
Then we went over to one of the beautifully manicured lawns to watch
twenty or so girls perform the Basket dance. The baskets were little wicker
pots with a long strap over the shoulder.
That was the end of the cultural activities.
In one of the courtyards of the place were twiny trees which seemed
to have different coloured flowers – white, purple, orange, pink – on the one
tree. But they were intertwined.
It took about an hour to get back to the hotel. Rested and wrote.
Had dinner of yucky hamburger, 106.5 Bt. Including tax and service. There was
an ad on TV for Arsenal Butter Cookies. And it's so much better with
air-conditioning on in the room. The corridors are still hot and damp (humid).
Changed $20 – 410 Baht. [Australian
dollars, of course]
