A show with everything but Yul Brynner

The Big Mango, aka Bangkok, felt like the first proper city I've been in for months. It is simply huge, and seething with traffic. Fortunately, it also has a subway, a sky-train, and ferries and buses and taxis to get you around. The excellent public transportation system was a real boon because the streets are just too hot, humid and polluted to make for pleasant strolling. I only had 24 hours for sight-seeing, so I didn't manage to see everything. But what I did see was pretty impressive.

Wat Pho

Bangkok Traffic

Temple details

Monk at market in the morning

A muddy old river...

First stop, the temple of Wat Pho to admire the famously huge (43 meters long, 15 meters tall) reclining Buddha.

...or a reclining Buddha

43 meters of Buddha

4.5 meter tall Buddha feet

Next, I went off to Wat Phra Kaew next door to admire an equally famous, though much MUCH smaller god, the Emerald Buddha. He's actually made of jade and you can't take pictures but here's a photo of him from wikipedia.

Wikipedia: Emerald Buddha

Legend says this 45 cm tall statue was made in India two thousand years ago, then was discovered in Chiang Rai in the 15th century, then was taken to Laos for a couple of centuries before returning to Thailand in the 18th century, thanks to the man who would become King Rama I. Now, three times a year, the current King of Thailand presides over a ceremony to change the Emerald Buddha's gold clothing to correspond with summer season, rainy season, or winter season. (He's wearing winter clothes above).

Emerald Buddha Temple

The Emerald Buddha temple is right next door to the Grand Palace, the center of Thai monarchy even though the current royal family actually lives elsewhere. Just as well, the hordes of tourists would be a seriously unpleasant addition to any home.

Grand Palace

From there, I wandered towards the Chao Phraya river, stopping at the amulet market near Wat Mahathat. There are religious charms for everything, and some of the buyers take the process very seriously, pulling out magnifying glasses to examine each trinket for its properties. I have no idea what any of the amulets I bought for 60 cents a piece actually protect against, but strolling among the stalls was a lovely respite from the tourist circuit.

Monk shopping for amulets

Amulets

Serious amulet shopper

Across the river from the Royal Palace is one of the more beautiful temples in Bangkok, the Khmer-esque Wat Arun. You can climb up the very steep stairs for a lovely view of the city across the river, but just the ceramic decorations and details on the temple itself make the trip worthwhile.

Wat Arun

View from the top

Embarassing tourist disrespecting the temple

Back across the river, through the very busy and mercantile Chinatown, I saw my final Buddha of the day. The world's biggest solid gold statue, the Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit was made during the Sukhothai period. But its true identity was hidden for several hundred years, after monks covered the gold in stucco to protect the statue from Burmese invaders.

Golden Buddha

Near the Silom district, where I was staying, is one of the nicest patches of greenery in this concrete behemoth - Lumphini Park. As well as playing host to joggers and loungers and lovers of fresh air, the park also houses a huge population of crows, and some enormous water monitor lizards - a relative of the komodo dragon. I had no idea such animals were in a Bangkok city park, so spotting them as I strolled through was a real treat.

Murder of Crows in Lumphini Park

Water Monitor Lizard in Lumphini Park

Lizard lazing in Lumphini Park

For evening entertainment, I went to Lumphini Stadium to check out Muay Thai, the martial art of Thailand. Fighters from around the country work their way up to fight in this stadium, to the backdrop of a Thai band and shouts from local men placing dozens of bets during the match.

Muay Thai kickboxing

Audience of gamblers

It was loud, and smelly, and violent and completely awesome. Here's a quick 40 seconds from one of the more exciting bouts that I saw on Tuesday night.


Muay Thai from Tina Cone on Vimeo.

And finally, I visited the famous Patpong night market (where the Vietnam scenes from Deer Hunter were filmed). Every second building offers the opportunity to see women ejecting various foreign objects from their nether regions, and there are plenty of touts handing you "menus" detailing their skills as you walk down the block. I did not sample the wares, as it seemed both grotesque and overpriced. But those two words sum up many people's impression of Bangkok on the whole anyway - so perhaps Patpong, and its ping-pongs, are an appropriate homage to the city.

I'm sure this is where they stockpile cats, right?

Birthplace of a Nation

Billed as the first truly independent Thai kingdom, Sukhothai - which literally means Dawn of Happiness - was founded in the 13th Century. The restored temples are now a UNESCO world heritage site, and feature Khmer style stupas and Buddhas with uniquely Sukhothai features. This ancient city is where both the written Thai language and the framework for the modern Thai state were born, and I spent a very pleasant five hours cycling around what is left of it.

Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai

There are more than 200 structures in the Wat

Including this white Buddha whose tapered fingers are distinctively Thai-style

The tall Lotus Stupa in the middle is said to contain a hair and a back bone from Buddha himself

Standing Buddha; the hand gesture symbolizes fearlessness, protection & peace

Wat Si Sawai

Do you Khmer often?

Wat Tra Phang Ngoen

Oh hi there. Apparently this ladyboy-like Buddha is a typical Thai style statue.

Elephant stupa at Wat Sorasak

I was on a bicycle but there are other means of transportation around the site

Wat Si Chum

The sitting Buddha inside is almost 15 meters high

Slender fingers showcase Sukhothai style again

Wat Phra Pai Luang

I thought these monks were lamenting all the tourists at this holy site...

...turns out they were actually tourists too.

 

Chiang Mai Goodness

How can I say no to that face?

Bollocks to saving the best for last. The most amazing part of my three day/four night sojourn in Chiang Mai, Thailand - was my final day, which I spent at a sanctuary for abused, retired and rescued domestic elephants. There's no riding or mahout-training at the Elephant Nature Park, tourists just get to spent the day taking care of these pachyderms. How? Like this:



Many of the elephants have suffered terrible injuries during their "careers" in logging or tourism. There are female elephants with broken hips from forced mating, or broken ankles from runaway logs, and many are blind from abuse.

One female elephant, who trod on a landmine, brought an unexpected gift to the animal sanctuary. In October, she gave birth to a male calf, who could not be more adorable.

Navann, just months old

And if you're ever feeling slightly sad, this video of little Navann bumping around should help cheer you up.


Baby Elephant from Tina Cone on Vimeo.

Most of the elephants seemed very happy at the sanctuary, though it can't be easy spending your days surrounded by farangs (foreigners). While I recorded several happy squeaks from elephants getting fed, I also recorded one girl whose message to back off was pretty clear, though she calmed down once her handler/elephant whisperer came over.


Elephant Noises from Tina Cone on Vimeo.

That was the one and only briefly scary moment in the sanctuary, the rest of my visit to Elephant Nature Park was really very lovely. Just like its residents.

Chiang Mai has other delights, though they pale in comparison to the elephants. I'm very glad that I did everything else first, so I wasn't ever disappointed. One day, I went mountain-biking on Doi Pui mountain just outside of the city. I took the beginner course, but it was still a steep ride from 5400 ft, through coffee plantations, rutted forest roads and washed out dirt tracks, to a lake that rests at just 1200 ft. It took three hours since I was travelling only slightly faster than your average Loris, but the scenery and the fresh air made all the pain almost worth it. Almost.

Chiang Mai itself, which used to be the capital of its own kingdom in northern Thailand, is replete with temples and massage parlors and markets. It was a pleasure wandering the quiet lanes and wats for a couple of hours when I first got to town, even though after the languor of Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai felt positively buzzing to me.

Wat Phan Tao

Family praying

Creepy waxwork of a monk in a temple

Actual, not waxwork, monk giving blessing to a farang (for a fee of course)

Sacred Elephant Stupa

And speaking of sacred elephants, here's one more picture from Elephant Nature Park at bath time!