Sawasdee

Thursday, January 18, 2011.

Sawasdee. Greetings from Thailand. We arrived here a few days ago. The weather is quite comfortable. We are staying nearing the historic Phra Sumen Fort at the Bhiman Inn. The room is a little on the musky side. A host of mosquitos greeted us with bites in the morning leaving me with a swollen eyelid and Bella with itchy spots. Bring out the calamine and antihistamine. On the brighter side, there's a nice little swimming pool and some tables overlooking the river to set up class. In fact, we can hear the voices of kids in the school complex across the river. Bella did some journaling with me and math with daddy.
Our first morning started with a walk to the Grand Palace also known as The Royal Kingdom to Bella. She put on her fanciest dress for the occasion. She is hoping for a royal encounter with  the King and Queen of this Kingdom. We are greeted many times by the King Rama VI on larger than life posters adorning the streets down to the Palace. Long live the King declared all the signs. We unfortunately are not granted audience with royalty today. We manage to pose with the guards at the palace and visit the weapons room. We also saw the very fancy golden coronation throne. Next door to the Grand Palace resides the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We also entered the palace of the revered Emerald Buddha. Being winter here, this jade buddha was adorn with a golden cloak. The Emerald Buddha sits on top of a golden throne known as a Busabok. The walls are adorn with beautifully painted murals detailing the life of the Buddha. Making sure that we didn't point our feet in its direction, we joined the assembly on the marble floor to show our respect. We then dipped our lotus flower into the blessed brass pot of water and gently tapped one another's heads with a blessing. After leaving the temple grounds, we hail our first tuk tuk for a lift to Khao San Road. Bella was thrilled with the ride and prefered it even over the pink taxis. She is now on the hunt for pink tuk tuks. Khao San Road was quiet at this time of day, lined with shops and toursity wares. We dine on pad thai, banana pancakes and sipped watermelon shakes. The food here appeals to Bella's palette with pancakes, pasta and pizza on the menu. On our walk we discover the Fish Spa, a tank filled with little fish which nibble your dead skin cells, leaving your skin silky smooth. Thai exfoliation at its best. Bella was a little hesitant to dip her hand in for a try and I must admit it felt a little creepy at first as the masses of fins hone in on you. After a minute, it becomes a gentle tickle and then quite soothing. We later dangle in our legs for a fifteen minute spa. Our attempt to book a bed on the sleeper train results in frustration. There are no more tickets on the sleepers to Chang Mai for 5 more days and we do not want to stay in the busy city for that long. We then find out that our hotel is giving us the boot since we only reserved for two days. In the evening Mark goes to scout for a new room in the neighbourhood while I put Bella to bed. He returns with a pamphlet from the Navalai River Resort down the road. It proclaims to be "Oriental Chic...the mantra of thai art and culture, the romantic scenery of the Chao Phraya River, the state of the art colonial influenced architecture..." It also blows our budget 3 fold but upon arrival, we are are giddy with the bathrobes, slippers and the complimentary basket of longans and mandarins. Within minutes, Bella and Mark are dipping into the rooftop pool. We take advantage of the free Wi-fi and send messages home. We sleep soundly without mosquitos buzzing in our ears. We also visit Wat Pho in our time here, home of the largest reclining buddha, resting in its enlightened position. We are warned of pick pocketers as we enter the temple. We stare up at its golden serene smile and walk down the long path to the swirls on its toes. We buy a tin of coins and Bella drops one coin into a long line of pots on the other side of the temple. She slows down the procession of coin droppers but we are impressed with her mediative intention of only dropping one coin in each pot. Later that day, we search for a vegetarian restaurant hidden in the back alley of Khao San Road. There we enjoy potato curry, cashew fried rice and sticky black rice with mango and coconut. The neon lights and street hawkers of Khao San are out in force as we make our way home. Bella enjoys a chocolate covered frozen banana with rainbow sparkles. She desperately wants a massage and her nails painted. She falls sound asleep on the comfy bed in our upgrade. We are now off to the south, catching a night train to Surit Thani and then a bus to Krabi. The north will have to wait for another day. It's time for some beaches and playtime!



upgrade