Living the Dream

So Karl is off living his dream (for a few weeks) of taking pictures in exoctic places. Here are some of the pictures that he has sent me.

Dancers at Erawan Shrine, Bangkok Thailand.


Worshipper at Erawan Shrine, Bangkok Thailand.


Royal Barges in front of the Grand Palace, Bangkok Thailand


Grand Palace at night with a passing boat, Bangkok Thailand


Aspara Dancer at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap Cambodia



Aspara Dancer at Bayon, Siem Reap Cambodia


Dancer in Peacock Costume, Siem Reap Cambodia

Frustrations Photographing in Bangkok

Wednesday, May 25 we did some sight-seeing at two of Bangkok’s most famous temples. First, we visited Wat Arun also known as the Temple of the Dawn. We see it from the river every time we take the Chao Phraya Express so it was time to go and see it up close. One reason Karl wanted to come to this temple is because it offered a stunning view of the river and Wat Phra Kaew on the other side of the river. This view was from the upper terrace of the temple and to our dismay tourists were no longer allowed to climb the stairs to the terrace. Karl made the most of the situation and took this picture from the highest point he was able to reach. The roof in this picture belongs to Wat Pho which is just south of Wat Phra Kaew and directly across the river from Wat Arun.


While we were at Wat Arun, I admired the creative use of dinnerware. From a distance, it appears that the temple is covered in colorful mosaic tiles adding texture and interest. A closer look reveals plates cut into flower petals and teacups cut into the flower center.

After our visit to Wat Arun, we crossed the river and went to Wat Phra Kaew. Again we were disappointed because we quickly discovered that the main temple which houses the famous Emerald Buddha was under construction. The temple was still open for people to pay their respects to the Emerald Buddha but the beautiful exterior was covered by scaffolding and blue net. The Emerald Buddha has an interesting story. First, it is a jade sculpture not emerald and for a time it was covered in plaster and gold leaf. This was a common practice to hide valuable artifacts. Apparently, invading armies don’t really care for plaster Buddha images covered in gold leaf. The Emerald Buddha came out of hiding some time in the 15th century when it was dropped during a move to a new location. It was in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand at the time and its history before that time is a bit of a mystery. From Chiang Rai, it went to Chiang Mai and then the Laotians captured it and took it to Luang Prabang. It was moved to Vientiane before the Thai waged war against Laos and took back the Emerald Buddha. It resided in Thonburi before reaching its current location.

I first saw the Emerald Buddha during our trip to Thailand in 2004. What surprised me is how small the Buddha actually is. However, the presentation is quite grand. With tall standing Buddha images on either side, it sits on a pedestal high above everyone’s heads. This Buddha image also has its own wardrobe. He has three suits of golden clothing; one for each season: hot, cool and rainy. At the beginning of each season the King of Thailand changes the clothes. Pictures are not allowed inside the sanctuary but in the picture above you can see the Emerald Buddha behind me through the sanctuary door. With his zoom lens, Karl was able to get this picture from where we were.



Wat Phra Kaew is a compound which contains several temples and stupas so there were other beautiful buildings that we could admire. The exterior walls and pillars are covered with reflective mosaic tiles creating wonderful shimmering patterns. The stupas that were painted gold were surrounded with statues representing characters from the Ramakian legends.

The Ramakian legends were also represented in the murals that lined the interior wall. Following the wall, you can walk around the compound and see the entire Ramakian epic illustrated in meticulous Thai style painting. We particularly liked viewing the murals because they were in the shade. It was a very hot day and the shade was quite pleasant in comparison.





The Grand Palace compound joins Wat Phra Kaew on the south and was included in the admission. Since many of the buildings in the Grand Palace are either not open to tourists or don’t allow photographs, there wasn’t much for us to do there. As you might have guessed the Royal Family doesn’t live in this Palace. I’m sure with the number of tourists that go through it would be quite impractical. We did get to witness the changing of the guards which was interesting. Particularly because after the guards changed places the guard who was leaving straightened out the uniform of the guard who was staying. The leaving guard spent quite a bit of time making sure everything looked just right. Once the changing of the guards was finished, we decided it was time for dinner.



We continued our sight-seeing on the following day by visiting the Royal Barges Museum. It was quite a journey to get there. The Chao Phraya Express didn’t stop at the pier closest to the Museum so we tried to get a taxi to take us the rest of the way. Only the taxi drivers we asked didn’t know where the Royal Barges Museum was. We gave up on getting a taxi ride and started walking. We walked quite a way before reaching the bridge we had to cross. While on the bridge we could see the Museum down the canal a short ways. Once on the other side we couldn’t figure out how to get to the museum. After stopping to ask directions at least twice, we found a sign pointing us down an alley way. The alley zigzagged through a compact neighborhood with occasional signs pointing the way to the museum. As we went along the alley way got rather narrow but that didn’t stop the residents from driving motorcycles through the passages.

When we finally reached the museum, Karl was once again frustrated to find that we would have to pay an extra fee to take pictures. After being told so often that he couldn’t take pictures, Karl protested by not paying the fee and not taking pictures. The picture you see here is one that Karl took 20 years ago when there was no fee. The bows of these boats are elaborately carved into mystical creatures from Thai mythology. While in storage, the boats don’t have all the decorations they would have when part of a procession down the Chao Phraya River. The museum displayed some of the decorations including beautifully embroidered silk canopies and five tiered umbrellas.

When we grew tired of walking around, we made our way back through the neighborhood maze, across the bridge and to the nearest pier. It was late afternoon and the only boat we could catch from this pier was a ferry. We took it to the other side of the river where we could wait for the Chao Phraya Express. We hadn’t been there long when it started raining. It was a torrential downpour! We slipped into a nearby restaurant before the rain got too bad and we were soon joined by many tourists trying to escape the rain. It was so bad that rain was coming through the windows and a large puddle developed on the floor. We waited until the worst of it was gone and then ventured out to catch a boat before service was halted for the night. I was happy to get back to our hotel. As hot as it had been during the day, getting wet and riding on a boat really chilled me!

Friday and Saturday we had to get serious about souvenir shopping. On Friday, we first went to Jim Thompson’s house to have a look around. As soon as we saw the no photography sign we decided not to go on the house tour. We did visit the gift shop (a little pricey) and the art exhibit (a little weird). Jim Thompson assembled his house from traditional Thai houses that he purchased and relocated to Bangkok and you can see some of the architecture represented in the picture. We were allowed to take pictures in the entry area where the gift shop and art exhibit are located.

There are so many places to shop in Bangkok, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out where is the best place to go to find everything that you are looking for. We decided to go to the Silom area partly because it was near our hotel and because we had wondered through there on an earlier excursion and saw some interesting things. In Bangkok just walking around is an adventure, particularly when it comes to crossing a street. We quickly learned to imitate wildlife and move as a herd. The more people who were crossing the street with you, the more likely the traffic would stop for you.

That evening we were back at Wat Phra Kaew taking more nighttime pictures. Karl was trying the pictures from different angles to see what he could get. He talked a few more tuk-tuk drivers into posing for a picture and even got the guards at the temple entrance to let him take a picture of the Grand Palace through the gateway. With only one more day left in Thailand, Karl was trying to make the most of the remaining time.



Saturday we returned to Jatujak to finish our souvenir shopping. We tackled the market with a strategy this time. We went directly to the area where handicrafts were sold and we systematically went through each aisle. Even with that “time saving” plan we were there most of the day. We were successful in purchasing all of the souvenirs we thought we would need. The temperature was milder than our previous visit and that made things easier. Even so, I often wanted to stop at the stores with air conditioning and pretend to be interested in what they were selling. Regarding the statement that you can find anything at Jatujak, you will be happy to know that they have several places where you can buy a figurine of your favorite science-fiction monster made from spare parts and scrap metal. Do you recognize this famous monster?

We finished our day with a trip to our favorite riverside restaurant; S&P Bakery and Restaurant. We enjoyed a relaxing meal watching the sun set and talking about all the wonderful experiences we’d had on our trip. There was definitely some sadness to be leaving Thailand and so we also talked about when we could make our next trip. It may take us a few years to save up enough vacation time and money but we’ll come back.

There was one item we wanted but hadn’t been able to find. That was a famous picture of the King of Thailand with an old woman. We like the picture because of the compassion that it shows. On our way to our hotel, we passed a lady selling pictures. We described the picture and she said she had it but not with her. We arranged to meet her in an hour and we would buy the picture from her. We were so happy to have found it!

Experience Bangkok

There is a lot to experience in Bangkok and but it was so hot that we decided not to fill our days too full. On Thursday, April 19th we wandered around some tailor shops in the Silom area of Bangkok. We were really disappointed in what we saw as far as the tailors went. Most of the shops offered an entire “suit of clothes” in 24 hours for too much money. We knew there had to be a catch. The more legitimate tailor shops needed two weeks to finish a complete suit and cost even more money. We didn’t have two weeks so we gave up on the tailor-made clothes idea.

Friday we got to spend some time with Due. He is staying with his cousin Ying in a suburb of Bangkok and working to earn a bit of money before he starts college. Due had the day off so we met him and Ying at the Vimanmek Teak Mansion which was built for one of Thailand’s past kings. It is full of various items that have historical significance and many were possessions of past kings or queens. We took the tour of the mansion but were a bit disappointed that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. So, the only picture we have from Vimanmek is of a monitor lizard crossing the street! For dinner, we went to a fun restaurant near the Victory Monument. You order various ingredients and then add them to a pot of boiling stock. When everything is cooked, you scoop out what you want into your bowl. Due helped us order and he made sure that none of us went home hungry. It was good to see Due again and we really had a great time.




During our entire trip we’ve passed up buying some souvenirs because we didn’t want to carry them all over Thailand. We have heard about the Jatujak (also spelled Chatuchak) market and that you can find anything there. So, Saturday we went to Jatujak market to do some shopping. It is a huge outdoor market and with out a map of the place you will get lost. We focused on one particular area of the market and even that took almost the entire day. We didn’t find everything we wanted so we are planning on going back next Saturday. The market is only open on weekends and weekday mornings so that will be our next opportunity. You may be wondering why I chose this picture to put on my blog. Well, for one it’s the only picture I took at Jatujak and I only took the picture because my sister, Ruth who is currently house-sitting for us is going to be moving to St. Louis Missouri. At the time, it seemed like a good reason to take a picture! By the way, Ruth recently set up a blog of her own at us4palmers.blogspot.com. Many of the stores at Jatujak are named after American cities or movies. The “Dances with Wolves” store was a bit amusing with all the Native American paraphernalia.

Our reason for not returning to Jatujak on Sunday was the Khohn performance at the National Museum. Karl has wanted to get pictures of a Khohn performance since his first visit to Thailand over 20 years ago. When we visited 3 years ago we attended a performance and his camera wouldn’t work! So, this performance was not to be missed. The cheapest and easiest way to get to the National Museum actually requires a bit of back-tracking. We took the Sky Train from its northern terminal to the southern terminal then got on the Chao Phraya Express to go back north along the river to the pier closest to the National Museum. We walked the rest of the way through an Amulet market that is set up on the sidewalks. At this market they sell a variety of amulets that will provide you with specific kinds of protection. As we walk by we see people scrutinizing amulets to determine their authenticity.

Upon reaching the National Museum we stopped to buy some snacks and started talking to another customer. It turned out that Ubon was also going to the performance and to our surprise he treated us to some cold water and paid our entrance fee to the performance. The performance wasn’t strictly a Khohn performance. There were several dance troupes performing and it started with a group of kids playing traditional Thai instruments. The evening progressed through a variety of traditional Thai dances; some performed by young ladies and others by young girls. They mixed in a few Khohn and Lakhon performances. One was quite fun as it was a story that involved some monkeys causing mischief. The monkeys were played by four young boys who did a wonderful job acting like monkeys! Karl took a lot of pictures and I even tried to get a few short video clips. My little camera can take video clips but I hadn’t really thought of doing it before. I don’t know why because it would have been a great way to capture things like the train in Samut Songkram. I guess we are just going to have to come to Thailand again!

After the performance, Karl and I walked the short distance to Wat Phra Kaew. The temple was closed but Karl wanted to get some night pictures. I really like taking night pictures. Well, Karl takes the pictures and I watch. What makes night pictures interesting is that when you use a long shutter speed, only some things are actually in the picture. Karl purposefully took pictures while cars were passing and yet all that shows up in the picture are the headlights or taillights. If Karl uses the flash and a long shutter speed, there is a ghost image of whatever was there when the flash went off. I think you can see what I mean from some of the pictures here. What was fun for me was watching what was happening in the street as the picture was being taken and then seeing how it showed up.

At Victory Monument, Karl setup his tripod again and we took some pictures of the monument from the pedestrian walk that is around the traffic circle.



On Monday we tried to return to Jatujak but when we arrived we found it closed for the day, we then decided to take the Sky Train down to Jim Thompson’s house. Apparently, Jim Thompson was responsible for making Thai Silk world famous in the 1950s. He disappeared in 1967 and now his house is a museum with an attached store which sells Thai silk. When we got there the house was closed and the store was open but everything looked closed so we didn’t even go into the store. We wondered to the end of the alley and watched some commuter boats go up and down the canal there. Bangkok really has an impressive public transportation system. There is the Sky Train, the subway and the Chao Phraya Express. They all interconnect at different places but service different areas of Metropolitan Bangkok. If the place you need to go isn’t within walking distance of one of the stations, there are buses, tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis and regular taxis. Finally, if you need to get some where that is along one of the many canals, there are a variety of boats that will take you there. All of this doesn’t exactly make getting around Bangkok easy but that is because the area is so huge! It is a lot easier than it would be getting around Florida if you didn’t have a car. When we took the Sky Train back to the terminal station we saw that there was a huge traffic jam and we didn’t want to try taking a taxi back to our hotel. So, we boarded the subway to a station that was closer to our hotel and out of the traffic jam.

We didn’t do very much on Tuesday. We did get a visit from our friend Wick and his family. They were in Bangkok to pick up Wick’s wife from the airport. She was returning from an extended trip to Chicago where Wick’s sister lives. We got to chat with them for a few minutes before they had to leave for Nang Rong. Wick commented on how much traffic there is in Bangkok and we had to agree. Sometimes it takes over an hour for us to get from the main tourist attractions to our hotel.

That afternoon and evening we walked around the area and did some shopping at a local market. Besides finding a cute pair of shoes, we also watched a man who was making elaborate designs with hard candy. He had created beautiful butterflies, weird-looking beetles and many different kinds of animals. While we were there he made a turtle. I purchased a monkey who wore a hat and was fishing; I thought it was really cute. We also found an Italian restaurant and stopped there for dinner. Their pizza was pretty good. Karl says it was the best pizza he’s had since we came to Thailand ... it's the only pizza we've had since we came to Thailand!

From Undefeatable to Unpronounceable

Our final days in Ayuthaya were quite productive from Karl’s point of view because he got to take the pictures he had come to Ayuthaya for. It all started with a trip to Wat Phra Si Sanphet Monday evening for the sunset. By the time we got there the sun was gone but in the dusk with the temple stupas lit from below it was an impressive sight. As we arrived there were two other photographers setting up their tripods as well. Karl out lasted them all, taking pictures for almost an hour! After exhausting the photo opportunities at Wat Phra Si Sanphet, we moved across the street to Wat Phra Ram. This temple was quite imposing with the towers and stupas dramatically lit but not as photogenic because many large trees blocked the view of the temple structures. We walked around and tried photographing from several angles. At night, the temples are closed so we were limited to what we could photograph from the outer walls. Since we were using a tripod, we were able to get a picture of ourselves at Wat Phra Ram. You’ll notice Karl is sporting some new attire that he received after a trip to the doctor. We went to have Karl’s shoulder checked out because it still ached a week after our little mishap and we learned that shoulders just take a while to heal. The doctor said Karl had to rest his shoulder and gave him the sling.

Before returning to our hotel we made a stop at Wat Mahathat and found that the park attendants were unofficially giving tours inside the temple. We took them up on the offer and walked around the inside of the temple. The huge spotlights created deep shadows that made the whole place a little spooky.

The next morning as we were leaving the little restaurant in the middle of the market, I spotted some ladies dressed in the traditional Thai theater costumes and they were rehearsing. A tent was set up and some monks and other men were setting up the area under the tent for a ceremony. We went to watch them rehearse and took a few pictures. They seemed to be having a lot of fun and giggled quite a bit as they were mock fighting. After the rehearsal, we talked to a lady who turned out to be their dance instructor and Karl was able to arrange to take pictures of a couple of the young ladies at the temples. The rehearsal was for a performance the next day and I think the type of performance is called Li-Keh which is a less formal type of play with lots of melodrama
and clowning around.

With models lined up, Karl set out to pick the perfect location. We headed to Wat Phra Ram and I was the stand in model as Karl did test shots. It was the middle of the day and really hot so I carried around an umbrella to keep the sun off. I felt a bit like Mary Poppins with my umbrella and a shoulder bag full of stuff (water, guide book, etc.) but I wasn’t about to give up either. While we wandered around the temple, I noticed there were elephants taking tourists around the temples. I felt a bit sorry for those elephants; out in the heat walking back and forth between the temples. Before we left, we walked around the outside of the temple and admired the large pond full of lotus blossoms.



We returned to the temple in the late afternoon and met up with the dance instructor, the two young ladies and several members of their family. The dance instructor helped the girls pose and the family members sat back and commented on how beautiful and lovely the girls looked. Sometimes they would take a peek at the display screen on Karl’s camera to make sure he was doing a good job. The girls were very lovely and very good at holding the poses while Karl took the picture. Most of the poses are difficult and some involved balancing on one foot. Karl took the pictures at one location in Wat Phra Ram because it provided the best background and lighting. The crumbling brick wall, the stupa with a broken point and the girls’ costumes from the Ayuthaya period are all reminders of the city’s previous grandeur. Ayuthaya was named after Ayodhya the home Rama in the Ramayana story and ironically it means undefeatable in Sanskrit. The Burmese may have done their best to wipe out Ayuthaya but today the ruins have made the city very popular with tourists. As the sun was setting, we went to the pond of lotus blossoms and got some pictures there. With both memory cards nearly full and the sun almost gone, Karl took one final picture of us, the dance instructor, the two girls and their parents. We added more of the pictures to our online photo album at: Ayuthaya



The family gave us a ride back to our hotel and told us about the shootings at Virginia Tech that day. As we talked about what they had heard on the news and what was still unknown at that time, everyone said how sad it was that things like this happened. Over the last week, we’ve met other people who expressed their sympathy. Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the families who have lost loved ones.

Wednesday morning we made a quick trip to the market where the dance troupe was performing for a ceremony. We took a CD of the pictures we had taken to the dance instructor. In the market there is a statue of the Hindu god Shiva and for this ceremony they were painting and dressing the statue. Buddha was an Indian prince which may explain why Hindu gods are still given reverence by Buddhists.

That same morning we boarded a bus for Bangkok and that evening we were off to the National Museum to see a Khohn performance. Karl had called a Bangkok tourist information number recommended by our guide book to find out when the performance would be. When we arrived at the museum, we learned that it wasn’t Wednesday night after all but Sunday night. By this time all the tourist attractions in the area had closed so we went to a restaurant that we remembered from our last trip to Thailand. We had some really good curry while we enjoyed the view of Chao Phraya River. After dinner we took the Chao Phraya Express down the river to catch Bangkok’s Sky Train back to our hotel.

While we’ve been in Thailand we’ve heard and read many places about the real name of the capital city. Bangkok was the name of a small town where the capital of Thailand was for a short time before it was moved across the river to its current location. The real name is: Krungthep Mahanakhon Amonratanakosin Mahintara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Popnopparat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniset Mahasathan Amonpiman Avatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukamprasit. People in Thailand just call it Krungthep. So, it is easy to see why the Westerners preferred to continue calling the city Bangkok, it’s easier to pronounce. In case you are curious the name means: Great City of Angels, Repository of Divine Gems, Great Land Unconquerable, Grand and Prominent Realm, Royal and Delightful Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems, Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, Divine Shelter and Living Place of Reincarnated Spirits. Either way it’s a mouthful!