Tuesday, February 5, 2013
After a hardy breakfast and camera in hand, we headed to the National Stadium train station outside the mall and boarded a sky train to the river area of old Bangkok. This area houses the museums and large ornate Buddhist Temples. We bought from the Tourist Information Center a day pass on the hop on - hop off ferry which would take us on a circle tour and back to the start for 150 baht = $5.00.Our first hop off point was at the pier that leads to Wat Pho (wat means temple), Museums, and Wat Arun across the river. We did a a quick jump off the back of the ferry as it chopped up and down against the pier. The boat traffic on the river keeps the water in perpetual wake chop. Safety and littering is not a big concern here In Thailand. Just like in Kuala Lumpur, one needs to watch for unexpected bumps, surface change and potholes, and traffic. Vehicles assume the right of way. There are three types of pedestrians here...the careful, the quick, and the dead.
When we exited the pier area, we found ourselves in a market area that not only catered to tourists but locals as well. As we pondered over the array of dried fish in this one stall, a well dressed man told us the types of fish displayed.
Because many Thais do not have refrigeration, they can take the fish home and use it in cooking. We thought this man worked in the market until he started to chat us up. Where were we from? How long have we been here, etc. The antennae popped up, and especially so when he told us his father was a policeman and that we should be wary of pick pockets as we wonder through the market. We have now met two sons of policemen who have advised us to be wary of pick pockets. This must be a popular confidence building story.
When we told him we were not shopping, but headed to the museum, he said, "Too bad the museums are closed today, you should take a little site seeing tour with a tuk-tuk from here."
We said we were going to the Museum of Siam which we knew was open. "Oh yes," he said, "That one is open today, but not until afternoon. You still have time to go site seeing first. Take you to see sleeping Buddha."
"Thank you, but no" we responded. We started to walk away. He came after us, saying, "Tuk-tuk is here now. You take. "
"No, thank you." We hurried off without looking back. The Museum of Siam was only a couple of streets away from where we were standing. With map in hand we headed in that direction.
Wat ta Nah Siam
Siam (means land of gold) and is what Thailand (means free land) was called prior to 1949 and the change over from an absolute monarchy to a democracy. The word Siam brought back memories of my childhood. We used to initiate people at campfire settings by playing two games. One was called cheeky-cheeky whereby the unsuspecting player wound up with charcoal on his/her chinny chinny and cheeky cheeky.The second game was called Wat ta Nah. The one who suggested the game, pronounced her/him self King of Siam. Those who had never played the game were his subjects and had to kneel and bow down to Siam three times with with arms straight overhead their heads and heads touching the floor. With each bow, the subjects had to say Wat ta Nah Siam. Usually after the first bow, everyone watching and listening would start to chuckle. By the second or third bow the subjects realized what they were saying. Everyone got a good laugh. To this day, this is the first thing I think of when I hear Siam.
We wondered toward the museum past markets, apartments, congested streets festooned in a tangle of telephone and electric lines.
As we approached the back gate of the museum (it had a chain lock on It), a man approached us. "Are you here to go to the museum," he enquired?
"Yes," we responded.
"I work here," he said. "The museum is closed this morning. We are changing exhibits."
This was a second person confirming either the first truth or the first lie of the first man we had met at the market. Maybe the museum was closed....then again maybe not. "But there is a Tuktuk here that can take you to some nice places and bring you back after lunch," he says.
"No thank you," we say now with finality and walk away toward the front entrance around the block at the next street. The gates,are open. A security guard welcomes us and points to the museum.
"Is it open this morning?" we ask.
"Yes," he says pointing us in the right direction. And indeed it was.
The museum was a well done and helped us to understand more about the origins of Thailand. One of the interesting facts we learned is that Buddhism came to Siam when most of the people were already practicing Hindu. The people readily adopted the tranquil and peaceful aspects of Buddhism, but maintained many of the cultural rituals of Hinduism. Buddhism is now the predominant religion here, but it is fused with a spirit world and superstitions. In front of every Buddhist home there are spirit houses where good spirits are enticed to share their good blessings in return for gifts of flowers, food, prayer, incense, and beverages. We got a kick out of one offering, two sodas with straws. Guess those are pretty hip spirits.
The architecture and craftsmanship of the temples are beautiful and often sit in stark contrast with the modern day, ill kept city streets, smog and litter.
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From Wat Pho, we walked back to the river and took a public ferry across to Wat Arun. A former Capital surrounded water ways, The river was crowded with barges, ferries, and long tailed boats.
Wat Arun means temple of dawn and was the third capital city of Thailand, but only for a short time as the king died and his successor moved the capital across the river to Bangkok where there would be room to grow and expand. Photos are best at dawn or dusk as the low sun angle plays on the tiles and they twinkle and shine. We arrived late in the day, but not quite dusk. This temple looked quite different from the more traditional style of Wat Pho.
We finished our day by completing the circle tour of the river and enjoying the variety of shoreside dwellings and sites before returning by skytrain to the hotel. Our morning breakfast had lasted us all day, but now we were hungry. We had just enough time to take a shower and grab a snack before meeting one of my former fifth and sixth grade students, Dylan Schneider who is currently in Bangkok completing his PhD dissertation in musical composition, a one act opera. Twenty years ago, I never imagined I would be sitting in Thailand or anywhere in the world having a glass of wine with a former student, but how fun! Each and everyone of these young people are are on such wonderful and unexpected paths.
Dylan led us to a nice little Thai restaurant where we had a great meal and caught up on the last two decades. Dylan will be returning to the states in May to the University of Chicago to produce his opera for his dissertation defense. Meeting up with him here was a special treat. We look forward to hearing his music in the future.
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