What Wat?

March 16:

Not too much sleep was had by the parents last night as we were constantly awakened by the sound of partying outside on the street, voices screaming at each other in the stairwell, doors slamming at 3am and too many other nuisances to mention.  We awaken not feeling very refreshed, but eager to get going.  We head down to the hotel breakfast area for an outstanding meal along with much needed coffee.  We stop by the reception desk to inquire whether we can have two adjoining rooms and the very nice hotel man says that they have a family room available if we would like to take a look at it.  We do and we decide it is a much better configuration for our family to all be together in one room.  We quickly pack up our things and relocate to the second floor where I suspect we will sleep much better tonight. 

We ready ourselves and prepare to go off to an amulet market and Wat Mahathat and then to wander through some street markets to the Wat Pho.  We walk to our water taxi station and get on board for a wild ride through the waterways of Bangkok.  Once we disembark, we are in the midst of another food extravaganza and people selling all kinds of pretty much anything there is – some smells are nice and some are horrid.  We make our way to a very narrow sidewalk where the vendors have placed their tables displaying all of their relics and goods for sale.  This market is especially for the sale of Buddha Relics,  prayer beads and all things holy. It makes for some very interesting shopping as we browse through the trinkets, most of which we have no idea what they are or what they are used for.  We happen upon the Wat Mahathat shortly afterward and enter into the the very quiet and serene temple.  We remove our shoes, as is the custom, and are amazed at all of the mosaic works and glittering gold.  Paulie explains the meaning of many of the symbols and postures of the Buddha to those of us who are unaware.  We find the very large sitting Buddha and seat ourselves at his feet to rest and contemplate.  Afterward, we find the Really Big sitting Buddha and walk around the large hall where many people are making offerings and lighting incense in his honor.  Afterward, we return to the sweltering, busy streets to and browse down some side streets where we see some men sculpting clay figures and we watch them very adeptly carve the faces onto the very large sculptures.  We continue on our way to find the Wat Pho and encounter a street palm reader/soothsayer along the way.  I decide to have my fortune read.  It takes much longer than I think as the reader writes down many details into his book.  As he reads my palm, he says very nice things about good luck with money and work.  I barely understand many of the things he says, but nod appreciatively at him.  He then asks me to select Tarot cards which he again reads to me, but I don’t really understand that either.  After what seems a very long time, we continue on our way to Wat Pho.  At this point, we have lost a bucket of water through sweat and we are all starting to wither.  We press on and enter into a very impressive enclosure, taking a moment to cool off at a nearby waterfall that is shaded by a huge tree.  After our cooling down, we take time to walk through the various temples and find ourselves at the threshold of the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand.  We are amazed at the shear immensity of the figure, all covered in gold and shining brightly under the lights.  We spend a while in contemplation here before returning to the street to debate about the best way to get home:  water taxi, tuk-tuk or taxi.  Many tuk-tuk drivers are offering their services to the point of harassment which we decline as politely as we can muster.  Finally, we offer to ride for 100Baht ($3.25) and we have a taker.  We all five cram into the back of the tuk-tuk which is meant to be a two person vehicle and we are off.  We all laugh at the absurdity of the sight of us being hurled through the streets of Bangkok curled up into a tight little ball in the back of a tuk-tuk.  I had no idea I could perspire this much!!!  We finally make it back to Khao San Road where we promptly purchase a Kebab wrap from our new favorite street vendor and into the coolness of our hotel room.  After a shower and a short rest period, we head off for dinner down a nearby alley way where we find the perfect restaurant with live music.  We eat a lovely meal and return to the hotel to sleep.  What a day!