Thailand Trail Friday Friday 20th January. On the road to Siem Reap

 Time to move south east to Cambodia. It's a 9 hour journey by coach with the Cambodian border roughly half way. The coach departure is at 7-45 am,  but the departure point is some distance from our hotel. We need to make a 45 minute taxi ride to get there, moreover the morning rush hour in Bangkok is horrendous. 

The night before departure I speak to the hotel staff to arrange for them to organise a taxi to be at the hotel for a 6-15 leave. This should give us plenty of time to get the coach. What can go wrong?..........

Well, when we come down to the lobby no-one had arranged the taxi. The staff seemed to think that it was a bit of a joke! They phoned for a "grab" taxi (like Uber) which appears to be 10 minutes away.  Fifteen minutes later the taxi is still 10 minutes away and we are getting very concerned. 6-45 we decide to walk to the main street and hail a taxi ourselves. This we do successfully three times,  but each time the driver either doesn't understand the address in English or just doesn't fancy it. 

Back at the hotel now 7 o'clock and our chances looking slim, I get the hotel to phone the coach company to say we may be late. They allow us 10 minutes grace and will then leave. 

We have a taxi and it's 7-15. This is going to be touch and (probably not) go! We have been here before, remember Bartumi to catch the only train to Tbilisi? A nail biting journey with a thousand red traffic lights. You daren't look at your watch. We reached the bus station at two minutes to 8am, 13 minutes after the coach should have left. The coach is still there!! What a nice coach! What a beautiful coach! It's the best coach we've ever seen.

They have saved us the front seats and have croissants and cold coffee for us. We are going to get to Siem Reap.

The beautiful coach with the flexible leaving time and below we are actually on the road. 

Border crossing time and we must get out of the coach and walk over, previously we stopped at the Cambodian embassy to pay our tourist tax, ie $35 for a visa. 

The Cambodian border control had six desks available to check immigration but today only two were manned. There were, of course at least six more uniformed officials keeping an eye on things but not apparently working. It took more than an hour to get through and back to the bus. Then we waited another half hour for a couple who seemed to get further delayed at the crossing. Below probably the most modern services that we stopped at. This was still in Thailand and part of the Amazon Cafe group. 

Romantic, but much more primitive this was the stopping place in Cambodia, halfway to Siem Reap. 

The hotel in Siem Reap was quite modern with a heavy teak wood influence. 

.....and a rather inviting swimming pool. Tomorrow we  have the Angkor Wat tour organised. 

Thailand Trail Wednesday 18th January A day on the river

 There is an overhead metro line about 5 minutes walk from our hotel which gives us access to the southern most pier which the hop on hop off tourist boat calls at. A £1.50 day pass ticket gives us use of the system until the early evening. There are at least four different lines of boats, each colour coded according to price, frequency and which piers they call at. Add to this the little ferries that just cross in lieu of a bridge and the private hire long tailed boats The results of all this is one very busy river, especially around the piers. The boats are in and out of the piers within a few seconds. Don't forget the commercial traffic, like the huge barges you can see in one of the photographs later which add the dumplings to soup of floaters. 

One of the first eye-catching buildings we see is the Catholic Church of the Holy Rosary. 

The next very striking building is the Bangkok River Park Condominium. Who dumped the White House on the top of this skyscraper? I'm not sure that this mix of architectural styles really works for me. 

The Wichai Prasit Fort. This was one of the first defence points constructed around 1780, though much altered. It was to defend the first site of the capital at Thornburi on the west side of the river. Now it's owned by the Thai Navy and is the equivalent of our Dartmouth Royal Naval College. 

One of Bangkok's classic sites, the Buddhist temple of Arun Wat. Built initially in the mid C16 it is dedicated to the Hindu god Aruna who is god of dawn. The central spire was built in the mid C19. It is very busy with tourists, pilgrims and local visitors. There are many girls here dressed in traditional silk embroidered kimono type dresses who look quite stunning whilst posing for their selfies. 

The external murals make the strongest impression. They are constructed from broken pieces of porcelain from China which was dumped by the Chinese junks having served its purpose as ballast. 

Have a closer look. This shot involved climbing up a couple of very steep sets of stairs which I found pretty daunting but was out of the question for Helen. The whole enterprise is a splendid example of recycling twice over. 

What I have named the clock temple. This side temple at Arun Wat contains six longcase clocks and two wall clocks. They are all late C19 but more or less telling the right time. This is also the Ordination Hall where monks are ordained. In the background you can see the beautiful murals and a painting of the Niramitr Buddha. 

Back across the river heading for a Amulet Market. This sells all sorts of religious ornaments and jewellery. Most of it is modern, reproduction and low quality. Buddhists tend to be very fatalistic and all these charms are important to them. Some of the stalls do sell genuine antiques. We bought a marble pig and a metal Buddha to cover all bases. 

Some huge barges being towed up river with a tug front and rear. 

Alongside the Amulet Market are the traditional medicine stalls which thrive despite or maybe because of modern science based medicines. 

Here we are at a UNESCO World Heritage temple complex called Wat Pho. It is first on the list of six temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of first class Royal temples. It contains the largest collection of Buddha images in the country including this 42 metre long reclining Buddha. I knew that it was going to be big, but I was staggered by the sheer size. The Buddha is reclining because he has reached the state of Nirvana. We could do with a bit of nirvana, so at least we know where to come. 

It really is very difficult to photograph this statue and succeed in capturing the true scale it.

These are the bottom of his feet, or perhaps I should say the soles of his flip-flops. 

The temple was particularly dressed up today because of the imminent Chinese New Year. Watch out for rabbits. 

That was the last landing of our river trip apart from back to the pier and train for home. We still had time for an early evening walk out to the park and as the Lumphini Park, Bangkok's green lung is close to our hotel, it was the obvious choice. Named after the birth place of Buddha, the park is a great place for exercise. There are masses of park runners as well as more organised dance aerobics classes 

Swan Lake?

The park is also home to these Asian water monitor lizards. This chap is about 4 feet long but they can grow up to a couple of metres. The are completely wild but have not as far as I can gather been known to have attacked a human being. 

You certainly should be okay if you have left some of your lunch for the Buddha under the banyan tree.

A final good night from the park and skyline. 

Thailand Trail Monday 15th January Along the death railway to the Bridge on the River Kwai

 

Here we at Thornburi station. This is were you depart for Kanchanburi the destination where you can get out to see the Bridge on the River Kwai. It's a 3 hour journey that costs 100 bahts each (remember 40 odd to the pound). Quite a lot of Europeans make this journey with the Allies involvement of WW ll and the notoriety of the war crimes committed. 

We boarded the train at 7-45am after a 6am taxi from the hotel. The train was single 3rd class although some of the carriages had been 2nd, note the slightly padded seats and fans in the ceiling. The windows remain fully open throughout the journey. 

In the first few kilometers out of Bangkok we passed very closely to the oh so common shanty dwellings that seem to follow railway lines the world over. We next travelled through a largely agricultural landscape with lots of different arable crops and a good variety of livestock. In the picture below you can see the ubiquitous paddy fields.

Here we are looking at the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai. Not what you thought, I imagine. It is not a kind of bamboo Forth Bridge but a proper steel girder and concrete pier construction. The Japanese had an arrangement with Thailand to build the railway through Thailand as a supply line to support their troops who were invading British held Burma. The so called "death railway" was started in 1942 and despite terrible abuse of the slave labour, completed ahead of schedule. The bridge was bombed by the  Allies in 1944 so the taller, square sections are replacements from Japan. What you see in the next two pictures are original parts. Kanchanburi station is immediately before the bridge and arguably we should have got off here, but we wanted to cross the bridge on the train. So we stayed on the train naively thinking that it would stop once the bridge had been crossed. It didn't. 

Plan A was to get off and get a tuc-tuc back to the bridge but when we discovered that the next stop was over an hour up the line, we needed Plan B. It transpired that the train went on up the line for a further hour, then turned round and came back again. So we decided to get out at Krasae cave Station. This was one of the most difficult and dangerous points of the railway, but more of this later. 

Here we are now crossing the bridge and on our way into oblivion, The bridge at this point is original.  

The Allies bombed the bridge several times in 1944/45 and for a while it was out of commission. This is one of the spans to replace the bomb damaged sections. 

Now on the west side of the river. Thailand did decide to join the Axis powers during WW ll and told their ambassador in the USA to declare war. Fortunately for Thailand he refused to do so thereby saving the country from masses of debts for reparations and sanctions. What a hero.

We have been following the west side of the river and are now nearing our destination. Remember that I said this was one of the most difficult and dangerous parts to build. We are tight on a limestone cliff with the river vertiginously below us.

 The bend of the river now serves as the site for a holiday destination and the views are stunning. What would those workers of 1942/45 have thought?

Walking on the Death Railway. Now some serious thoughts about the scale and tragedy of what occurred here. Up to 250,000 local civilians and 60,000 prisoners of war worked as slaves on the line. About 90,000 civilians and 12,000 prisoners died of malnutrition, illnesses and maltreatment. It is calculated that one worker died for every wooden sleeper laid. After the war 111 Japanese officials were charged with war crimes and 32 executed. It is thought that there are still mass graves out here undiscovered. 

Here we are inside the Krasae cave where the prisoners were able to find brief respite to and now is home to another Buddha and all his presents. Although we never really intended to come to this place, we were so pleased that we did. By the time we had lunch and explored what was here, the train arrived chugging it's way back. 

Part of the museum of remembrance Kanchanburi is this WW ll steam engine which we passed on our way back to Bangkok. 

There is some serious development going on with this line from about 50 kms into Bangkok. Massive amounts of concrete poured into road bridges and new platforms but most of the work appears to have stopped some time ago. Buddha knows when this lot is going to be finished. 

Thailand Trail Sunday 15th January

 Today did not start well. The plan was, take a tuc-tuc to Chang pier on the riverside, then follow the Lonely Planet city walking tour. However the tuc-tuc driver had other plans for us. He decided to take us to a private pier another pier altogether in order that his mate could try to sell us a trip in his long tailed boat.  He was offering an hour on the river for 2000 baht (£50). To put things in perspective the tourist hop on hop off boat is 200 bahts for an all day ticket. We declined the offer and walked to another public pier and were eventually back on track. 

The large river flowing through the middle of Bangkok is called Chao Phraya. It is a little less busy than the roads, but not a lot. In front of us you can see a blue tourist boat, a private long tailed boat and an orange flag ferry.  The boats are in and out of the piers like bees round a beehive. 

You can't miss this ziggurat of a Buddhist temple called Wat Arun. The 82 metre high tower was constructed in the first half of the C19, remember Bangkok was only built here at the end of the C18 after the Burmese had sacked the old capital at Ayuthaya. This is also the only Buddhist temple you can climb up. I digress however because we will be back here later. 

 

Now we're off the boat and inside the grounds of the Grand Palace built by King Rama l from 1782. Remember they had lost the old capital and thousands of citizens to the marauding Burmese in the north. After initial construction on the west side of the river they moved across and started this complex. Not just a Palace but also an administrative centre and a religious temple of the first water. The so-called Emerald Buddha, Thailand's most venerable relic was given a home here. 

It is the building to the right with the tall columns called Wat Phra Kaew that now houses the Emerald Buddha and is what all the fuss is really about. People,like us, queue barefoot (no fun on baking hot marble) around the parapet to gain entry and gaze on the figure. Photographs, of course are not allowed. To be honest I found it to be a little disappointing. Yes, there was a splendid shiny gold leaf array  of figures and imagery filling the entire end wall, surmounted by the Buddha figure who is only 66cms high. It was a bit like that scene in the Wizard of Oz when Toto the dog pulls back the curtain to reveal behind it is an old man pulling levers and using a microphone. Come to think of it, that was the Emerald  City wasn't it? However for most people he very clearly really was the wizard of Buddha. The Buddha has three sets of clothes made for him, one for each season. No, there's no fur coat just three varieties of gold and jewellery. 

Although the buildings in this complex are mainly a couple of hundred years old,  many of the artifacts are much older and come from a variety of locations. Here you can see the incredible attention to detail on the decoration of the building itself. Be careful, the lions bite. I guess this shot is bit of a cliche. 

We are now entering the Royal and administration area of buildings, most of which there is no access. A kind visitor offered to take our pictures and as he was a photographic buff with an impressive camera, this shot should be a really good one. 

The next range of buildings are where the King used to live. Like us, he has sensibly downsized now. They were built in the latter part of the C19 and the architect was Italian. They look like they have been dressed in two sets of clothes. Oriental above the waist and European below. The white stone part is inspired by classical Greek whereas above we have archetypal Thai Buddhist. In fact the columns to the left of the front door are Doric order and those to the right are Corinthian.

This place has definite parallels with the Forbidden City in Beijing a huge walled-in  compound containing massive wealth and the results of immense unrewarded labour, many of whose contents, to this day are excluded to the hoi polloi. Come to think of it President Ceausescu did much the same thing as a building project in Bucharest only his was me, me, me and left out the god bit. 

 I must say that the landscaping and gardens were hugely impressive with bougainvillea, hibiscus, gardenia, jasmine etc giving colour to the evergreen bonsais and topiary. After our false start, that about concluded out sightseeing for the day. 

  

Thailand Trail Sat 14th January

Catherine kindly gave us a lift from home to Spalding railway station. Four trains later we found ourselves at Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 with over four hours to spare before we had to board this EVA plane. The security at Heathrow are experimenting with a new system whereby you can leave everything in your hand luggage. However their signage still tells you to separate out your liquids and electronic items in the old way. Nice if they told you. I don't know what happens if the experiment goes wrong. 

EVA is the national carrier for Taiwan, Our flight lasted 11 hours and was direct to Bangkok. Bangkok International Airport is a biggie. Opened in 2006 it has the world's tallest free standing control tower and at over 6 million square feet, the world's sixth largest building.

Helen managed to photograph Bangkok Airport's only three snow ploughs whilst they were having their blades sharpened.

Well, OK a bit on the brown side, but capricious and very well appointed. I didn't photograph the fridge, opting to focus on the toilet instead. 

Good desk, where I'm sitting right now. Through the curtains, you can see the pool. 

My favourite place in most hotels, here we have a simple example of the Japanese style toilet. The controls give you squirt or spay with a power accelerator. Sadly no music option on this model. If only we'd paid more for our rooms.