Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

At one point on my tour we arrived at a large gate where many tourists were peering through. To my happy surprise my guides opened the gate and took me through, and we were on the private grounds of The Grand Palace. There is a serenity here, apart from the many thousands of tourists and visitors, and I felt as though I was suddenly transported to a truly royal seat of power. While the King does not live here any longer, the Royal Guest House is regularly used for State visitors. Across the huge park square I could see Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

The highlight of the tour was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Although photos are not allowed inside, I was able to take a long-zoom photo of the Emerald Buddha from just outside the main entrance. You can see it below. After leaving the Temple, I joined in the Buddhist tradition of dipping a white lotus in holy water and dripping it on my head, which will undoubtedly bring me good fortune and make my wishes come true.

My next post will be later this weekend about the river house. It’s simply one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever stayed.

The Emerald Buddha (really made out of jade)

Some of the 112 Garudas protecting the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

In front of the Royal Guest House

The first two things you notice about the Chaisri River are 1) it is filled with floating water hyacinth, and 2) the direction of the current changes through the day coinciding with the tides. The river cuts through the the area of Thailand that was historically the center of Buddhism. As we traveled by motorboat, we saw many of the 100+ Temples lining both sides of the river, as well as many boats filled with Thai tourists there to connect with their Buddhist roots. Motor boats must slow to no wake as they pass temples, so our two hour trip was a constant shift from high to low speeds. Each morning I noticed boatloads of monks dressed in orange robes boating along the river seeking food donations from those who live along the shore.

There were areas where navigating through the thick patches of water hyacinth required puzzle-solving capability. Most of the homes along the river are not just modest, but often in terrible disrepair. These homes are passed down through generations of poor Thai families, who hold on to the properties rather than sell to wealthier locals and foreigners seeking prime waterfront property. Many of these families sustain themselves by cutting various fruits and vegetables, and transporting them to the numerous restaurants along the river where they sell their goods to the dining patrons right over the rail as they eat.

We boated about 45 minutes and reached one of the largest water markets in Thailand. The market is an expansive combination of docks and boats, some covered some not, filled with many hundreds of small booths selling every fruit, vegetable and food known to man. Clothing, fabrics and even electronics and games were also for sale. We purchased some interesting fruits and cakes for the ride back. On the way back we pulled up to a coconut-ice cream stand which was in reality two boats anchored in the river.

The two hour boat ride was fascinating, and a nice glimpse into traditional life along a Thai river. I couldn’t help but think that this is the type of place that Rambo spent his later years.

One of the the 100+ Buddhist Temples lining the river

Water hyacinth is thick in the river at points

Lek and Lucky

Modest and decaying homes line the river

Locals harvest fruits and vegetables to sell along the river

The water market goes on for many blocks, selling everything imaginable

The locals sell their harvest over the railings of restaurant-boats

I beat my alarm and woke up at 4:15, already packed for my early morning flight to Chang Mai, almost as far north as you can get in Thailand (near the Burmese and Laotion borders). A short flight later I found myself looking for my ride to the hotel. I’ve made a bad habit this trip of having too little information when I need it, and in this case I had no idea what hotel I was staying at, or who was picking me up.

Over the last few days, I’ve heard Lek on the phone speaking Thai, and every once in a while I heard my name. I’d ask her what it was about and all she’d say was the she was calling some people she knew in Chang Mai.

After about 20 minutes and several phone calls I finally met up with my ride, and saw the the van was property of the Dusit D2 hotel. So while we drove, I looked it up in my travel guide. It was going to be a very nice hotel stay. It seems that Lek’s old friend owns the hotel. Lek arranged for me to have a room. It’s spectacular.

Unfortunately I only had 45 minutes to enjoy it before meeting my guide, Marut, in the lobby (another piece of Lek’s planning — Marut was an old family friend of Lek’s). The plan was for Marut to spend a couple days with me and show me around Chang Mai. But he told me he couldn’t spend today with me due to work responsibilities, and said instead that he was leaving me with the driver, Mr. T. Normally I would instantly think that such a name was a takeoff on the real star, but in this case it seemed in the realm of possibility that the real Mr. T. was a van driver in Chang Mai. To my momentary dismay I discovered that I was spending my day with Mr. Tee, a gentleman who spoke zero English. 5 minutes with him and we were on the same page. I did have to come up with some interesting hand gestures for items such as “I need to go to the bathroom” but ultimately we got past the language barrier.

Marut had planned out my day, so off I went with Mr. Tee to the Maetaman Elephant Camp, about one hour outside Chang Mai. The plan was to take an elephant ride, then an oxen ride, have lunch, watch a show (elephant tricks) and end with a bamboo raft tour down the river. With the exception of the oxen ride, the day was an absolute blast. Elephants are somehow the ugliest and the cutest of animals both at the same time! These are huge animals, but they have no problem negotiating narrow turns with rocks and ruts peppering steep inclines and declines. At one point my elephant driver pulled over, put me on the neck of the beast, and took photos of me. I’m not quite sure how I felt about the elephant show — an elephant kicking a soccer ball just doesn’t seem natural.

Now I’m not an expert on elephants, but I do know that my elephant was the best elephant that ever was. His name was Be Po, but if you went by the comments of everyone we passed along the route, you’d call him Ferrari. He was incredibly fast. At points we were overtaking a dozen other elephants in incredibly narrow paths within minutes.

The raft ride, with two Thai drivers fore and aft, had a hint of Heart of Darkness. The river cuts right through the jungle. There is animal life everywhere creating “expected” sounds.

After the elephant camp we headed back, but stopped at an umbrella factory. The talent of the ladies and men creating umbrellas, scarves, etc. was impressive. I handed one woman my wallet and she painted a dragon on it within 2 minutes. I gave her 3 dollars for the effort and she was really very happy. I hope the design lasts until I get home.

When we returned to the hotel there was time for a quick workout and shower, then I was off to the Chang Mai Cultural Center for dinner and a display of traditional Thai/Chang Mai dance. To my pleasant surprise Marut showed up, and I enjoyed his company for several hours. He’s a very interesting guy. He looks 33, but in fact is half a year older than me. He is married with 3 girls. When I asked if he would still try for a boy, he replied “every night.” He is the Administrator for a technical school for over 500 people. I didn’t take my camera to the dancing, I just wanted to relax and enjoy it.

This very long day has left me exhausted and ready for bed. I have an early morning — Mr. Tee is taking me to the tallest mountain in Thailand for a climb, and afterwards I will meet up with Marut.

Some of the people my speedy elephant passed!!!

Taming the beast!

Lie down. Play dead.

Ronoldo!

Mr. Tee

The horror! The horror!

The art of umbrella making

Today was a day trip with the Flying Kikkerts to the last capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is an interesting conradiction — the history that is represented by magnificent temple and palace ruins is almost completely encased within the lowest standard of living I have experienced. The word slum came to mind. We started the day with an elephant tour, and while I had experienced this already in Chang Mai, the Kikkerts had not. This one was different, and the tour took us on the city streets and through the rundown neighborhoods on the way to trample through the ruins. There were cockfights on the elephant tour company’s property, as well as various tigers which are bred for food export to China.

After the elephants we took a small flat boat around the city/island through the river and canals. I took some photos on this trip, but the story they tell is of the decay and lack of any wealth. Fishermen are looking for prawn, families are bathing in the river water, people are sleeping on mattresses under any overhang they can find. Garbage and even dead dogs litter the river. After I returned to Bangkok and described this to Mike, he told me that so many areas of the world are worse off than this, I just haven’t traveled to them yet.

We had a short lunch then walked around the ruins of The Grand Palace, built almost 600 years ago. The ruins were magnificent.

We returned to Bangkok, and I’m in the kitchen with a bunch of the guys while Lek hosts a dinner party for 17 friends.

A young tiger at the elephant complex

One of the nicer homes along the river

Every boat is customized. If it can float, it's on the river

Huge monitor lizards live in the river

A local child beats the heat in the river

Prawning in the river

Standing in the ruins of the Grand Palace

Ruins of the Grand Palace