Dusit Palace

Last day of outings in Thailand... we're packing tomorrow and preparing for the long journey back home.

Today, Tang and I went with Papa D to the Dusit Palace complex.  This is a place that is often over-looked by Western tourists, which is unfortunate.  This place is full of history and beauty and really cool handicrafts.

First, this palace complex is the primary residence of the kings of Thailand since Rama V (so for the last 100 years or so).  There are three major attractions within the grounds - Wat Benchamabophit (also known as the Marble Temple), the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (also knows as the Marble Palace) and the Vimanmek Mansion (aka the Teak Palace).  This complex is also located near the current parliament house and prime minister offices and several military institutions.  We visited the Marble and Teak Palaces but didn't get a chance to visit the Marble Temple.

Second, I would have loved for this post to be less words and more pictures.  Unfortunately, the Dusit Palace complex is very restrictive on photographs.  All I have pictures of are the exteriors of the buildings.  I had to check my purse with my camera and cell phone, then I was patted down to make sure I wasn't trying to sneak anything in.  There are a few pictures of the handicrafts on display in the Marble Palace, but I took them from the brochure we were given, so not great quality and definitely doesn't do the pieces justice.  Just sayin'...

Anyway, we went to the Vimanmek Mansion first.  This is the largest golden teak wood house and was a royal palace of King Rama V.  The house is beautiful, and the interior draws very heavily on European designs - Rama V traveled to the Europe and was inspired by much of what he saw.  The construction materials themselves are very precious - teak wood, as I understand, has been over-logged in Thailand.  As a result, the government has made it illegal to cut down any of the teak trees in Thailand.  In current day, if you want teak wood, you have to go to Myanmar to get it.

Next, we went to the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall.  This hall and the Marble Temple are build out of Italian marble and were constructed in the early 1900s.  The throne hall draws from Renaissance architecture with high ceilings and large domes.  Inside, the ceilings are painted like you see on many ceilings of European palaces, but, instead of scenes from the Bible, fat cherub children, and Latin inscriptions, there were kings on elephants and nagas and garudas and Buddhas and Thai inscriptions.

This building used to be the old Parliament building until the 1970s.  Today, it is used for a few state functions but is, primarily, a museum.  And what a museum!  It houses Thai handicrafts made by villagers and farmers around the country. The current queen, Sirikit, gave the opportunity for these people to learn the methods of Thai handicrafts when she saw that that knowledge was going to disappear.  Some of the crafts include nielloware - which involves molding and carving a shape or design into a base of silver or gold, painting over with black niello paint, and using mercury to reveal the etched design in gold under the paint.  There is basket weaving, either with thin bamboo or with yan lipao, a climbing vine from southern Thailand, wood carving, and embroidery.  But our favorite were the beetle wing decorations.  Yes, beetle wing.  There is a beetle in Thailand whose exoskeleton and wings are a beautiful iridescent green.  When the beetles die (naturally, so as to retain the color), their wings are prepared and worked into embroideries, baskets and wood works.

Teak Palace exterior

Teak Palace

Marble Palace

Me being a creeper... It was a graduation day for one of the universities, so there were lots of students and families taking pictures at the Marble Palace.  

Picture from the brochure - everything that is green in this picture is beetle wings.  They're even used on the chandelier. 

Another brochure picture - teak wood carving

These are gold-and-gem miniatures of the Royal Barges

  

Ayutthaya

We made a fun daytrip yesterday to the town of Ayutthaya. Its about a 45 minute drive north of Bangkok and full of temples and ruins.  Ayutthaya was the second capital of Thailand - settled in the 14th century, the kings of Siam ruled there for 200 years or so until the Burmese destroyed the capital.  The modern town has been built around the ruins, so it is something like Rome in that respect.

First, we went to Bang Pa-In, the summer palace of the royal family.  I think it is still used for formal occasions.  Architecturally, it is very interesting.  There is a mixture of European, Thai and Chinese architecture, depending on which king built what.  For example, the main reception building looks straight out of 18th century France, but there is a very Chinese looking throne room building.

Most of the European style buildings were constructed during King Rama V reign. He was the first Thai king to study in the West, and he brought back lots of Western ideas about education, utilities, etc.  The most fascinating building looked like a typical Christian church with the pointed steeple and everything, but it was actually a temple.

For lunch, we stopped at a noodle shop that served a dish called boat noodles (I have no idea how to spell the Thai name in English; it sounds like "kuay tyow").  Super tasty noodle soup with chicken or pork, greens and bean sprouts.  They are called boat noodles because they used to be served out of boats on the canals.

After lunch, we wandered around an old stupa complex that had lots of Buddha statues.  The statues are all dressed in orange robes, like the Buddhist monks.  The robes are orange out of tradition -monks used to dye their robes with turmeric or saffron.

After visiting the temple, we went to the ruins of the palace in Ayutthaya.  You may recognize some of my pictures, as this place often appears when watching shows about Thailand or looking at stock Thai photos.  The Burmese invaded and destroyed the place and cut of the heads and/or smashed most of the Buddha statues around the palace.  It was quite sad to see these statues sitting serenely with their heads tossed in the grass...

European and Thai architecture at Bang Pa-In

Observatory Tower and Chinese Palace

Chinese Palace in Bang Pa-In

Throne room entrance in Chinese Palace

Buddhist temple in style of Christian church

Temple-church interior

Lunch - sen yai (wide noodles) with chicken

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhol - ruins from the Ayutthaya Era

There were Buddha statues all over this temple

Another Buddha

View from the top of the stupa

Partially destroyed Buddha statue in the ruins of the Ayutthaya palace

His head is lying in the grass behind him...

Three stupas that were part of the palace's temple

Songtaews, Waterfalls and Elephants!

Today was our second and last full day in Ko Samui.  Since we did the beach thing yesterday, Tang and I decided to hike up to Na Mueng waterfall on the southern part of the island.

First, to get there, involved hailing a songtaew, which is an alternate mode of transportation you find in Thailand.  Songtaew means "two rows", and it refers to the two rows of seats in the bed of a pick-up truck.  These trucks drive around pre-planned (ish) routes like buses, and people flag them down to get where they need to go.  Our trip took about 30 minutes from the hotel to the entrance of the park area.

Once to the park, we walked up some pretty steep roads to the waterfall area and then hiked through some jungle to the actual waterfall itself.  This waterfall - Na Mueng - has a pool at its base that you can swim in, and it felt wonderful after a sweaty hike.  We also grabbed lunch at a little restaurant next to the waterfall.

Back down at the park entrance, I got to feed an elephant some bananas!  There are several elephants at the park entrance that are used by some adventure companies for treks through the jungle.  While we didn't do an elephant ride, we were able to get close to one and feed him bananas.  I know the trunk is like another appendage and all, but it was weird to watch the elephant pick up food with his nose and toss it in his mouth.
Finally, we came back to our hotel and rested, then went to dinner along the beach.  Many restaurants do seafood specials at dinner where you can pick out your fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, etc and get them cooked up barbecue style.  Very yummy!

Back to Bangkok tomorrow!

View from the back of the songtaew

Elephant!

Coconut trees on the walk to the watefall

Crossing a narrow bridge to the waterfall

Taking a rest at the waterfall

Na Mueng waterfall

Swimming Pool

At the waterfall

Lunch - Clockwise from top left - som tum (green papaya salad), gai yang (Thai grilled chicken), larb (a spicy Isaan-style minced meat) and rice

Feeding bananas to an elephant

Dinner - tiger and king prawns

Grilled barramundi

kluay bod chi - bananas in coconut milk inside a coconut

Paradise

Not much to actually talk about... we're at the beach... in Thailand.  Be jealous. :D

Ok, ok, there are some things to say.  This is the island of Samui.  Sometimes you see it written as Ko/Koh Samui - ko/koh means island.  The sand is white, the water is clear and the days are hot.  And the people are lovely and great.

We're staying in the area of Chaweng Beach, which is the biggest area on Samui.  There are lots of resorts, restaurants and places to shop.  There are also plenty of quieter places, if that is more your speed.  We have walked up and down the beach, sun-bathed, snorkeled a bit and kayaked around the bay to some smaller islands.

Look at our pictures, and start planning your trip.

Hot times in Bangkok

Yesterday (July 29) was yet another amazing day in Bangkok.  We went with Mama and Papa D to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun.  They were some amazing sights!

The Grand Palace is the "official" residence of the kings of Thailand, and the royal family and the government used to be based out of this palace until 1925.  Now, the palace is used for official ceremonies, like weddings and coronations, but the family lives elsewhere.  On the palace grounds is a temple - Wat Phra Kaew.  This is the most sacred temple in Thailand, and the one the king uses for worship.  The temple is also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  The Buddha isn't actually made from emerald but a solid piece of jade.  And each season, the Buddha gets a different costume.  While this is a common practice throughout Thailand, this Buddha's clothes are changed by the king himself.

The Grand Palace complex is beautiful and so colorful.  Most of the decorations were hand-painted - either murals directly on walls or on pieces of porcelain.  And the eaves of the roofs have bells hung on them, so every time a breeze blows, there is a beautiful tinkling noise.

After lunch, we went to Wat Pho, aka the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  This Buddha is 43 meters long and 15 meters high.  It was quite difficult to get the whole Buddha in one picture.

Finally, before the rain, we crossed the Chao Prya River and went to Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn.  This temple is probably one of the most famous silhouettes of Bangkok.  You can climb up to the top of the temple for a view of the area, but we did not since it was about to rain.

The Grand Palace

Mural at the Grand Palace - these are scenes of life of Rama, Haruman and Tosakan

Yaksha - friendly demon guardian of the palace

Wat Phra Kaen

Bells on the eaves of the roof

Emerald Buddha - it is very hard to see the color in the picture 

The palace portion of the Grand Palace - built by Rama V in a mixed Victorian and Thai style

Reclining Buddha - can you see his feet?

Buddha's giant feet

Wat Arun from across the Chao Prya River

Wat Arun

View of Bangkok