We woke up this morning and had a quick breakfast at none other than McDonalds! While we never really have McDonalds back home, it’s convenience and little reminder of home is nice when abroad.
After breakfast, we started our morning with an amazing tour of Jim Thompson’s House. For those of you that aren’t familiar with his work in Thailand, or his infamous disappearance, it’s incredibly interesting and his former residence delivers an informative exhibition of it all. Jim Thompson was a WWII veteran who was stationed in Southeast Asia, but arrived after the war had ended. After spending time in Thailand, he fell in love and decided to return after his official discharge from the military.
He was an architect by trade, but after an unsuccessful attempt to renovate the famous Oriental Hotel, he sold his shares and fell in love with the Thai silk industry. Some say he single handedly revitalized a historic industry that may have completely ended without his assistance. His apex of success is said to have come when Roger and Hammerstein used his garments for Broadway’s The King and I. Throughout his time in Thailand, he was an avid collector of early Buddha figures and other collectable items that now are worth millions of dollars.
Once he achieved more financial success, he continued his passion for architecture and his love of Thai culture. He had six traditional Thai houses deconstructed and transported to a location in Bangkok, right along the river. He then reconstructed the six houses to form one major complex that he would call home until his mysterious disappearance. This magnificent home is now called the “Jim Thompson House” and provides informational tours of his home, garden, and cultural artifact (some dating over 1,000 years). There is an entry fee of 150 baht per person (about $5 USD), but it comes with an English-speaking guide who is loaded with knowledge about Mr. Thompson and everything in the home.
After spending some time in and around the Jim Thompson House, and purchasing some silk souvenirs, it was time to head off to the Grand Palace! We had gone a few days earlier only to find out that all visitors must wear pants (not the usual female only policy). They do sell pants for men, but they were 200 baht and Joey didn’t want to buy something only to throw/give them away…we don’t have any more room in our backpacks.
The Grand Palace is a truly amazing site to see, especially now and for the next two months or so. The king died last October, and for one full year after his death (late October 2017), thousands of loyal citizens line the nearby streets to pay respects to his remains within the palace walls. We were told that tourists could not participate in the viewing, but seeing the masses line the streets and proceed one by one into a roped off location within the temple was a sight to behold. If you aren’t into massive daily funeral processions (not really our cup of tea either), the architecture and detailed reliefs are enough to keep you engaged for hours, if not days.
Besides the amazing buildings and stonework, this is also the beloved home of the incredibly famous Emerald Buddha. This Buddha statue has its own temple, Wat Phra Kaew, but has called other places home over its multi-century life. The Buddha is actually thought to be made of solid jadestone (not emerald as many think), as the name emerald just denotes green in color. Its history is rich with traveling and folklores that have gone beyond the lives of some of its temples.
It is said that a stucco covered Buddha was discovered in Chiang Rai in the 1400s after lightning struck the Bamboo Forest Monastery. A monk later noticed a piece of stucco from its nose had flaked off and revealed the emerald color. The monk decided to remove the rest of the stucco covering and found a solid emerald colored Buddha. This temple’s name was changed to Wat Phra Kaew, which means Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha has called many different temples home, but it now resides in the Wat Phra Kaew of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and is considered the most important Buddha symbol in all of Thailand.
After spending some time in and around Wat Phra Kaew, we witnessed local school children performing right outside the temple. There were about six pavilions around the temple and each was being occupied by a different school’s choir (choir probably isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean). As soon as one group finished, the next would begin and the more we listened to, the more we realized the slight differences in verse and intonation…they were all so beautiful, yet so unique!
After walking around the Grand Palace complex for about two hours, we headed out to go to AMA, a trendy local place that has a limited menu, but a delicious one nonetheless. It sits between Wat Pho and the Grand Palace, so it was close by, but on our short walk there we passed numerous street vendors selling trinkets, textiles, and food…one of which was selling sweet banana cooked over hot charcoals, so we couldn’t say no (and for only 10 baht each…about $0.25 USD)!
After a delicious meal of pad Thai, spring rolls, and mango with sticky rice for a little dessert, we took a cab back to the hotel. By this time, I was pretty exhausted, so I napped for a bit while Joey caught us up on the blog and by the time I woke up it was dinnertime! We really enjoyed the burgers from Daniel Thaiger we had on Day 29, so Joey decided to surprise me by bringing an order back to our hotel!
It’s crazy, but tomorrow is actually our final day here in Southeast Asia, but we still have a full day of adventure planned, so stay posted!