The Little Black Fish Off to See the World

Bangkok River Taxi

26 January, 2009, 10:12 am in "Thailand"

River taxis

Needing to go to Siam Square from Bangalampu but not wanting to deal with traffic, we decided to find the river taxi which whisks riders from Bangalampu to the center and from the look of it, a ways beyond. LP had the stop listed at the wrong fort. We asked several people “Taxi Nam? (utlizing my newly learned Thai word) but they shook their heads and said there wasn't one. We tried the other fort, Maha Kan, and found the river taxi terminal. The taxi was a wooden long boat. Sheets of plastic were suspended from each side and passengers could pull them up using handles attached to ropes. I thought they were sunshades but as the boat started cruising down the canal, I realized they were splash guards.

River taxi ticket seller

Splash guards

The canal, which leads through the newest, most modern part of Bangkok, demonstrates the strange layers of old and new in the city. Beyond the canal, I could see tall shiny office skyscrapers, hotels and condos. The canal itself ran by old wooden houses with clothing hanging outside or people sitting eating. In places, trees shaded the canal sending jungle like tendrils of flowers into the canal. In some parts the old buildings had been cleared away and replaced with newer condos but mostly there was the strange contrast of old near the canal and new rising beyond, oblivious to this hidden pocket of old.

Old buildings

We got off the boat and within a minute were passing by shiny glamorous shopping malls and American chains.

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Chinese New Year in Bangkok

26 January, 2009, 09:12 am in "Thailand"

Happy Year of the Ox

There is a large population of Chinese-Thai people so, since it was Chinese New Year, we decided it would be a good time to visit Chinatown. Chinatown is centered around Charoen Krung and Yaowarat roads. It isn't as visually overloading as many Chinatowns but it has its share of huge signs and lights as well as ornate pagoda arches and buildings with flowers and dragon designs.

Pagoda arch

Though most businesses were closed, the streets were still busy. Yaowarat was closed to most traffic and crowds of people strolled clad in new bright red clothing. All along the street were food stands and vendors selling holiday décor. Our favorite was a paper dragon on a stick with a little plastic drum at the top. You could move the dragon with a string and spin the stick to beat the drum.

Chinese New Year decorations

Bangkok Chinatown

Dragon drums

The several shrines were filled with people praying and burning incense. Judging from the amount of people filling the shrines everywhere, one would think Thais are praying all the time. At the Thianfa foundation, near the center of the New Years festivities, many stood praying at the shrine of the Guan Yin Goddess-- a 400 year old statue carved of sandlewood and believed to perform curative miracles. Women sold cages full of little birds for people to release. It seemed sad to capture them in the first place-- or maybe they were raised in captivity so it was cruel to release them.

Prayers and offerings at the shrine

The New Years festival area had a stage where a group was putting on a martial arts show but most of what was going on was selling, eating food, or lottery related. We were going to try to visit Wat Tramit-- the home of a 5 ton solid gold Buddha image, the largest solid gold Buddha in the world, but it was so crowded we changed our minds.

Entertainers

New red clothing for everyone

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Bangkok: Parks and Prayers

25 January, 2009, 09:12 am in "Thailand"

A monitor lizard checking out the teritory

We've had a hard time getting a good night's sleep. Last night we had loud music from 2 sides-- the usual riverside bar and a party directly in front of the hotel. Then after all had quieted down I woke up attacked by mosquitoes. I don't know how they succeeded in getting under my sheet or if they just bit through it.

We took the bus to Lumbini Park hoping for some relaxation. It was quiet and is reminiscent of Central Park in NYC with skyscrapers rising beyond the lakes and trees. We had been there with John and Tulay when we were here before but we'd gone early in the morning to see all the Tai Chi and group exercises so we hadn't seen any of the huge monitor lizards. The monitor lizards apparently are late risers. Today we saw plenty. They basked by the edges of the ponds-- some almost 6ft and very fat. They seem to live in holes around the ponds' edges. We saw some babies of only a couple feet.

Lumbini Park

A big fat monitor lizard

There were people as well-- jogging, resting on the grass, exercising, a couple practiced ballroom dancing on a stage while another group chanted Hare Krishna on another stage.

Walking back to the center, we stopped by the Erewan shrine. Built in front of a hotel, the gold plated Brahmin statue was crowded with people praying, lighting incense and candles, as well as others who cleaned up the burnt sticks. There was a stage behind the shrine where a group of musicians played for traditional dancers/singers. People stood in a line to make their orders for dances. Rates stated 250 baht for 2 dancers. The dancers would sing a prayer as requested by the person who ordered the dance.

Erewan Shrine

Dancers at the shrine

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