Bangkok- Wat Pho

From Sydney, Dave and I flew to Bangkok, Thailand, and were greeted at the airport by my sister, Liza, who was living in Bangkok at the time. She had been there for two years, teaching biology and science to middle and high school students at the American School of Bangkok. We planned our time in Thailand to spend weekends with her, while she wasn't working, and weekdays on our own.

Liza (who has now completed her 2 year contract in Bangkok and is now teaching at an International School in Germany- check out her new blog.) lived in a tall white Corbusier-style tower in a park on the outskirts of Bangkok. It was an air-conditioned palace with a pool which overlooked an irrigation ditch and the squat rag-tag houses that popped up alongside it. A rickety concrete sidewalk practically floated on air above the wide ditch, and this served as main thoroughfare through the slums- Dave and I took a walk along it one day and repeatedly had to dodge scooters (or motorcycles as they're called here). People were very friendly.

This theme- clash of rich and poor, clean and dirty, modern and ancient, vernacular and international, sweet and sour smells- pervaded our wanderings through Bangkok. Definitely a worldly city!


downtown Bangkok- tall apartment blocks and invisible slums

Dave and I would take a taxi and then the skytrain in to the heart of Bangkok to do some exploring most days while Liza was teaching the first few days we were there. One of my favorite sites was Wat Pho. The bustling city surrounds the Wat, but a sense of calm heat smothers the Wat. We spent some time wandering around, checking out the enormous Reclining Buddha and I did some sketching. Here are a couple of photos from our time there!


Wat Pho, a gated community?


old technology- check out that broom!


Chinese warriors protect the gates


standing at one of many interior gates


many chedis


golden Buddhas


gigantic reclining Buddha- how serene!


Buddha's toes, inlaid with mother of pearl

One of the most interesting traditions we came across in Wat Pho was the dropping of coins into a line of hammered copper urns. Dropping a coin into each one of the urns brought good luck. Of course there was a long line of people dropping coins, and the repetitive tingle bounced off the walls and columns squeezing and barely containing the reclining Buddha. Magical! It must have worked, because Dave and I had good luck throughout the rest of our travels!