New Years Eve- We had set aside Monday to head to the other side of town and visit the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. We quickly discovered that most of Bangkok does not wake up and begin their days until after noon. So we adjusted our schedule to wake up earlier than the Thais and late night party goers. There was still considerable traffic and it took quick some time to get across Bangkok. Our Taxi driver explained that there are 3 major holidays in Thailand and New Years is one of them. Many Buddhists were headed to the temples in anticipation of the New Year. Once we arrived in the vicinity of the Grand Palace we hopped out of the taxi, wound our way through the admission lines, and almost made it through security before we were turned away. Well, really Allison was turned away. There is a strict dress code at the Grand Palace; all shoulders and knees must be covered. Apparently leggings are not pants in Thailand either. The Palace guard said we could rent a sarong at the front gates, but the lines were MASSIVE. Mom and Allison headed back outside the Palace gates, walked across the street, and proceed to purchase a sarong for 150 Baht ($5 usd).
Melinda and I goofing off in the out courtyard
After our outfits were approved we headed inside the courtyard. It was AMAZING. The Grand Palace was easily my favorite part of the trip thus far. After entering the gate, we quickly turned right because I spotted a filter water station where I could top off my water bottle with cool, clean drinking water. While I was finagling with the machine, mom noticed a little sign that read "Free English Tours." The department of tourism provided free English tours hosted by the funniest Thai guard ever, Jeffrey.
We learned SO MUCH about Thai Buddhism, the Grand Palace, and Thai history in general. First is that much of Thai Buddhism in drawn from India, so there are many deities and statues that look Indian. The second, is that originally the capital of Siam (Thailand's name before 1949) was further north. King Rama I relocated the Palace to Bangkok. It took 3 years to build in its entirety. Jeffrey also told us that the current capital, Bangkok was almost exclusively Chinese. The Siamese government relocated all of the Chinese to China Town, which is still a vibrant portion of the city. When the Chinese were uprooted, many of their possessions were left behind, including large amounts of tea cups. All of the pagodas in the inner courtyard of the Palace are made from bits of the the left behind tea cups. Also, Jeffrey mentioned that many of the statues in the gardens looked like chinese art because it was. The Thai people often recycled all aspects of ones life. We also lucked out, according to Jeffrey because the Emerald Buddha was open for tourists. The Emerald Buddha is in Wat Phra Kaew which is considered the most holy temple in all of Thailand. The Emerald Buddha is emerald in color but is actually made from a solid piece of jade stone.
Here is Mom and Allison touching a solid gold pagoda which houses ancient relics
The wat which holds the Emerald Buddha
Tea cup pagodas
Our next stop on our self guided tour, was Wat Pho or the Golden Reclining Buddha. Again, the Buddha was busy because of the new year, but it was well worth it. The Reclining Buddha is 95 feet long cast in iron and then coated in gold and inlaid with gems. The Wat Pho is also the birthplace of Thai massage and has the royal thai massage school on its grounds.
Buddha head
small shrine with little reclining Buddha
Buddha feet. Made of mother of pearl inlay
Gong for good luck
Check out the little girl in bottom right hand corner
After Wat Pho we hopped into a tuk-tuk and headed to Khao San Road, or touristy back packers paradise. We stopped for lunch at a little hole in the wall and enjoyed some pad see ew, panang curry, thai basil and beef, and beers all around. Then we walked up and back checking out all the shops. We purchased all kinds of tank tops, mini purses, and most importantly rotee. Melinda's favorite dessert/street food in Thailand. It is a crepe that had banana in the middle and is topped with chocolate, nutella, peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, or any combination there of. It was AMAZING! Around 4 pm we were exhausted from our hot day of walking around the temples and khao san road, so we hopped into a taxi and headed back to the hotel for a nap.
Rotee- YUM
As I previously stated, New Years is a BIG holiday in Thailand, and Bangkok had plenty to offer from river cruises to rooftop parties with DJs and open bar to Central World which is Southeast Asia's Time Square. We opted for the free fireworks in downtown Bangkok. Luckily for us, our hotel was in walking distance of the sky train, which has a stop right by the Central World building and adjacent is 2 of the biggest shopping malls with tons of food options. We chose to eat at MK in Siam Paragon the 7 story shopping mall complete with aquarium, movie theatre, and luxury auto dealership. According to Melinda, MK is one of the only chain restaurants in Thailand. It is basically make your own soup. In the middle of the table is a big pot of water, and you order what types of meats and vegetables you would like in your soup. It was great!
After dinner we hung around the mall until 11 pm when we decided to find a place to stand on the street. We walked 20 feet outside the mall and found a great open space with less than 100 people standing by. By midnight there were a few hundred, but nothing compared to the almost 1 million expected on the other side of the building. We bought hats from street vendors and made friends with people in the crowd. It was amazing to countdown in with so many different languages around you. The fireworks did not disappoint either. After the show we hopped into a tuk tuk and it took over 45 minutes to travel back to our hotel. We ended up going out for drinks and returning to our hotel close to 2 am. It was a great night.
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