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| I tried a bit of night shooting at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. |
Mystery
The 2500 year old carved stone jars in the Plain of Jars near Phonsavan, Laos. The purpose of the jars is not known.
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
May 9, 2012
May 8, 2012
Temple fatigue - its a real thing.
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| Buddha statues at Wat Pho, Bangkok. |
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| Monks mix with tourist at The Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew), Bangkok |
After my time in Thailand I think I will have seen enough Buddha's to last me a lifetime (and well into the next).
I kind of understand what people say now about how sick they get of seeing Wats (temples) and statues of Buddha that they just don't visit them anymore. Many temples look just like the last one you came from and for non-Buddhists (like myself) the significance of Buddha may be lost. All their western eyes see are rows upon rows of differently sized statues in myriad poses. One is made of emerald (actually green jade) and in a state of meditation. Another is giant, covered in gold leaf and lying down stretched out with a hand behind its head.
Granted, I've only been to two temples so far, but there is potential to see more. A lot more.
I suppose you'd call it Wat or Temple Fatigue. (Did I just make up a syndrome?)
Granted, I've only been to two temples so far, but there is potential to see more. A lot more.
A friend and I visited two major beacons for tourists in the centre of Bangkok in one day and my enthusiasm for them dwindled after the first one. Perhaps it was just the heat of the day, but by the time we left the second temple Wat Pho, the home of the reclining buddha, I just wanted to go back to the hostel.
Sure, the glistening, colourful and towering spires spread throughout the temple grounds are impressive, but what are they for?
And sure, you can't help but stand in awe at the work that went into creating the insanely large 15 metre high, 43 metre long gold leaf covered, tightly curled haired, reclining Buddha with its hand supporting its head. But what does it mean?
Sure, the glistening, colourful and towering spires spread throughout the temple grounds are impressive, but what are they for?
And sure, you can't help but stand in awe at the work that went into creating the insanely large 15 metre high, 43 metre long gold leaf covered, tightly curled haired, reclining Buddha with its hand supporting its head. But what does it mean?
Don't get me wrong though, the workmanship that has gone into the buildings and statues is immense and I appreciate that, but without a cultural context all I'm looking at is a statue of giant gold-leaf coated buddha sitting in a comfortable position chilling out. The other thing I'm spending my time looking at are big bunches of tourists who probably are thinking the same thing and care little for the meaning and history of the places.
Our first stop was The Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew) which is the biggest tourist attraction in Bangkok and has been the official residence of the kings of Siam and Thailand since 1782. We got to the palace just before it opened at 8.30am and got some breakfast from the market down the street. Dressed in jeans and shoes I was sweating like crazy already, but that's the price you pay to get into the palace (along with 400B = $16NZD). Dress code for both sexes is quite conservative - most of the body has to be covered before they let you in, although I did see some who were not clothed according to the dress code. However, they do have an area once inside, but before the main entrance, where you can borrow shirts and pants to satisfy Buddha's dress code.
This place is huge. Huge and full of intricately detailed and painted statues of mythical creatures and warriors who guard the various temples and libraries within the palace walls. Full of history, a scale model of Cambodia's Angkor Wat and tourists. Even in the early part of the day it is difficult to find much personal space in the mish mash of tour groups. To give us an educated view on what we were looking at (that was the theory anyway), we hired an audio tour guide (200B for two hours - as opposed to the 800B tour some guy was going to charge us to show us around and the free tours which you can sign up for once you get inside the palace walls). I didn't really pay much attention to what the voice was telling me about all the different places, perhaps that's why I don't appreciate the significance of Buddha and the roles the kings-of-old played in Thai history. Its just difficult to care when its 30C and sunny and you're sweating like crazy.
The second stop, after a short ride down river, was Wat Pho, the (for some reason) less touristed home of the reclining buddha (entry is 100B and you get a free small bottle of water). He is actually really impressive, but again, no cultural context. Although the internet tells me the reclining buddha is also the largest in the entire universe. Wat Pho is also the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok, measuring 80,000sqm, and is home to more than a thousand buddha images.
No wonder I feel all buddha'd out.
Our first stop was The Grand Palace (Wat Phra Kaew) which is the biggest tourist attraction in Bangkok and has been the official residence of the kings of Siam and Thailand since 1782. We got to the palace just before it opened at 8.30am and got some breakfast from the market down the street. Dressed in jeans and shoes I was sweating like crazy already, but that's the price you pay to get into the palace (along with 400B = $16NZD). Dress code for both sexes is quite conservative - most of the body has to be covered before they let you in, although I did see some who were not clothed according to the dress code. However, they do have an area once inside, but before the main entrance, where you can borrow shirts and pants to satisfy Buddha's dress code.
This place is huge. Huge and full of intricately detailed and painted statues of mythical creatures and warriors who guard the various temples and libraries within the palace walls. Full of history, a scale model of Cambodia's Angkor Wat and tourists. Even in the early part of the day it is difficult to find much personal space in the mish mash of tour groups. To give us an educated view on what we were looking at (that was the theory anyway), we hired an audio tour guide (200B for two hours - as opposed to the 800B tour some guy was going to charge us to show us around and the free tours which you can sign up for once you get inside the palace walls). I didn't really pay much attention to what the voice was telling me about all the different places, perhaps that's why I don't appreciate the significance of Buddha and the roles the kings-of-old played in Thai history. Its just difficult to care when its 30C and sunny and you're sweating like crazy.
The second stop, after a short ride down river, was Wat Pho, the (for some reason) less touristed home of the reclining buddha (entry is 100B and you get a free small bottle of water). He is actually really impressive, but again, no cultural context. Although the internet tells me the reclining buddha is also the largest in the entire universe. Wat Pho is also the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok, measuring 80,000sqm, and is home to more than a thousand buddha images.
No wonder I feel all buddha'd out.
May 6, 2012
Who said sleeping wasn’t an experience?
My new favourite thing is sleeper cars on trains. They bring
together my two greatest loves – sleeping and trains. As I am writing this I am
on my way in a second class air-conditioned sleeper carriage train from Surat
Thani in southern Thailand to the capital Bangkok (Approx 698B = $28NZD). About 12 hours total on a train which,
really is nothing considering I was on a train for three days straight this one
time (from Vancouver to Toronto). But it wasn’t this awesome. You probably think
I’m weird but I don’t care. As soon as I stepped into the carriage I was trying
to figure out how the beds came together and pretty much everyone sitting near
me – mostly Thais - were looking at a wide-eyed me like I hadn’t been on a
train before.
The top bunk, where I’m sleeping folds down from the roof and
contains the bedding, sheets and pillows for both beds. The bottom bunk is made
by converting the two seats, which face each other, into a bed – sort of like a
fold out couch. You pay a bit less for being on the top bunk, I think mostly
because of the perceived inconvenience. You don’t get to see anything out the
window either, but it doesn’t really matter because its night time (duh). I
guess that’s also the downside of the night train is that you don’t see any of
the countryside which is the whole reason I take trains whenever I can. The
night train however, does take care of one night’s (amazing) accommodation and
you get to your destination quite early so you pretty much have that entire day
to do stuff. I’m scheduled to get in about 5.30am or something which is not
ideal, but its ok, I guess.
I’ll also be taking a train probably from Bangkok to Chiang
Mai in northern Thailand too – I can’t wait!
Both beds are single and the mattress is thin, but still
quite soft. The top bunk also has two leather straps which stop you from
rolling out (I don’t really want to test them out, though) and there’s a tiny
ladder which you climb up. Its easily long enough for a 5”5 or so me to stretch
out fully, but I’ve put my bags at the end of the bed so I can get to them
easily – and mitigates the whole theft thing. You can also sit cross-legged and
do things like write and change without hitting your head – although the roof
does slope downward because that’s how the carriage roof is shaped.
I just took photos of one of the guys putting the beds
across from me together. Totally not weird.
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| Setting up the beds on the sleeper train from Surat Thani to Bangkok. |
The only really annoying thing is that there are no plugs in
which I can charge my things – including my iPod which I used during the five
hour mini-van journey from Phuket to Surat Thani (450B = $18NZD). There was a
lot of waiting around today. I was meant to leave Phuket about 7.30 in the
morning but the minivan didn’t show up till about 8ish (I was really tired and
not feeling too hot. We’d been out that night to Bangla Rd, the main strip in
Phuket, to celebrate my birthday, see.) We got to Surat Thani bus transfer
point for everyone else who was heading to either Koh Pha-nang for the full
moon party or to Koh Samui. I had to wait to take another minivan – which
turned out to be the same driver who took us from Phuket – for about 40 minutes
to get to the train station (600B = $24NZD) where I waited for about 4 hours
for my train. I thought the train station would have a plug somewhere where I
could charge things, but it was not to be. So I sat, feeling a bit sick and
eating some snacks I bought the night before which I didn’t feel like eating
that morning.
Turns out the wait was worth it though. At least until this
point – we’ll see how the sleeping bit goes.
Twelve hours later and we get to Bangkok about 7am, kind of still tired and cold from the air con. The sleeping turned out alright, but I kept getting woken up during the night which must have been people selling food as they came through the carriages at each stop. Seriously you guys? It must be like, 2 in the morning. No one wants your steamed buns.
Here's a video of the beds being set up (not on the train I was on, but same same).
