hello sunshine: belated adventures in bangkok

i finally arrived at the marco polo (they claim to be not only right in the heart of the action, but right next to and above the action, too!) around noon, and after a shower i decided to go for a stroll around the area. i met a very friendly thai man who offered me advice on where to go. it turned out he wanted to drive me to all of those places. he seemed nice, i accepted, and i was off on my first tuk tuk ride in thailand.

we went to some of the temples around the area, and he dropped me off in chinatown. i took a boat back up the river, but it didn't stop at the right pier. i disembarked at my first opportunity and followed the white people on board, hoping they would lead me back to khao san. they did. i passed out by eight o'clock. whoo hoo jet lag. one more day in bangkok...

i woke at seven the next morning and went out for a morning walk. i ended up on a very charming little soi that branched off one of the larger streets. early in the morning, the heat is just starting to build itself up and a breeze floats along the sidewalks. i found a cafe filled with thai people and had fresh mango and orange juice. we were far away from the sounds of traffic along khao san and it was the most delightful morning i've had in a long time.

by noon, i had made my way to the grand palace. most of it is not used anymore except for special ceremonies. i think it may have been the heat, but i was cranky and unimpressed. women are not allowed to wear capris (though they can wear skirts at the same length), so i had to borrow a wrap around which i brilliantly threw on over my clothes. by the end, i was so hot i barely managed to walk out of the compound.

the big attraction is this little jade buddha they have hidden way up on an incredibly opulent two story pedestal completely covered in diamonds and emeralds and everything shiny. it had been covered in plaster for decades, but one day it was knocked over and the plaster cracked, revealing the jade core. neat story. it reminded me a bit of the mona lisa, though: huge crowds and an itty bitty little thing that's pretty cool but maybe not worth that whole big wait. i waddled (i had done my skirt too tightly) around the rest of the grounds and headed out for a watermelon fruit shake. wonderfully refreshing.

i almost didn't make it to wat pho because i was so tired and hot and cranky. i'm glad i went, though, because it was definitely my favorite part of the short time i spent in bangkok. the main temple features an enormous (we are talking huge) golden reclining buddha. it was so incredible i went around twice. there were far fewer people at this wat, probably because they were all in line at the grand palace, and fewer still beyond the main temple. most of the grounds were under renovation, but one could still maneuver around the scaffolding to go inside some of the other temples. they were more simply decorated than the grand palace but conveyed a much more spiritual meaning. my favorite was a tiny room with a sitting buddha made of gold. outside, the walls were lined with glass cases of buddhas made out of gold, bronze, marble, stone...

after wat pho, i decided it was time for my first thai massage. i retraced my morning's steps to shewa spa, a wonderful little place hidden down a soi near khao san. okay, so nobody bothered to tell me that thai massage is hard. it requires moving and twisting and stretching and is nothing like a massage you might get in the states. nonetheless, i left feeling light as a feather and am confident that a few more could knock me into fair shape.