Our Fantastic Trip to Thailand Day One+

The plus is on the title because I'm going to start with Friday night.  Because we needed to stay at the airport by 6AM we decided to stay at the Best Western Plus Airport.  We found out that they had a parking program there that was very reasonable so we were dropped off at the airport and brought right back to our car in their parking lot.  We will definitely do that again--- no waiting for the pick up bus, no finding where you parked your car, just get in the van at the hotel and back out again.

As we sat in the airport waiting to load there was a most beautiful sunrise.  It was a gorgeous pink when I saw it but had turned more yellow by the time I got my camera out and over to the window.

We flew first to San Francisco then on to Tokyo and  finally on to Bangkok arriving around midnight.

 The planes of others who had purchased our same program weren't arriving for another few hours so the five of us that had arrived got a taxi to our hotel.  For some strange reason our driver took us to the wrong hotel so it was well after 1 AM there when we got to the hotel.

The hotel was wonderful. 

The breakfast buffet was the nicest we have ever enjoyed.  There was a cook station for omelets, French toast and noodles, a bread section with sweet rolls, croissants of several varieties  and Chinese buns. There was lots of fresh fruit and about 10 covered dishes that varied each day.  This was all included in our $799 per person with the flights and hotel.

The one trip that the tour company provided was over to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  It is the oldest and largest temple in the city with a giant Buddha that is lying down and is over 150 feet long and almost 40 feet high.   My picture is only of his head.

I enjoyed visiting with the tour guide a bit about all of the tile work in the area.  He told me that the Chinese people sent in tiles that broke and the Thai people began using the bits and pieces to decorate.  He pointed out that they patch broken areas and rotate through about every 50 years.  When you look you can see that patched pieces are not necessarily the same color but that truly adds to the beauty.

               

   One of the most interesting things on our trip was the story of King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was the king of Thailand for the past 70 years.  He has been the only king that many of the citizens of Thailand have ever known.  He was dearly loved by the people and his pictures hang almost everywhere in the country.  There are overpasses above roads with his picture, monuments built beside roads, the stores, hotels and other buildings have a variety of pictures of him and all of the historical sites have many tributes to him.  He died in October but the mourning for his loss will continue for months and probably years to come.

            He was the 9th king in the present system and has truly been a unifying force in the country.  He was born in 1927 in the USA when his father was in Cambridge studying.

            He was studying in Switzerland at the time he was made king.  His brother, the king in 1946 died of a gunshot wound and he put into office.  At that time he was studying sciences but changed his major to law and political science when he was made king. 

            He was a man of many talents.  He loved photography and music.  He played the saxophone, clarinet, trumpet guitar and piano.  He composed 49 compositions. 

            He was in an accident in Switzerland in 1948 that left him with a hurt back and he was blinded in his right eye.  

            He was married to the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France in 1950 just one week before his coronation.  They chose to move out of the mammoth palace and into a place of their own.

            I write all of this history for my own remembrance as well as the interest of any readers.  We were so impressed by the things that we heard about his love of the people and all that he did for them.  He served as a constitutional monarch with little real power but he used his moral force to influence the government for the well being of his people.

            One of the touching stories that we heard was of a trip that he made to the summer palace.  He drove his own car and arrived earlier than he was scheduled to arrive.  As he drove onto the property he noticed a worker on a ladder fixing a light and there was no one holding the ladder.  He stopped his car, hopped out and ran over to hold the ladder for the man.  The worker was so surprised to see the king helping him that he hopped down because everyone is to be lower than the king.  He hurt his ankle in the fall and the king gave him his personal Buddha as a gift. 

            When we visited a very impressive set of buildings that housed classrooms and galleries for training those without skills to better themselves we were told that the queen, who had set this program up, chose to let that area be flooded in the huge flood rather than have the poor people in the area lose their houses.  We were truly impressed.  

Bell tower and another picture of the king.

We drove past their Chinatown which looked much like the others that we have seen around the world.  Here are a few pictures taken from the bus of the temples. Notice the red lanterns which are Chinese and that the points on the tops of things don't have the curves that the Thai ones do.

We had lunch at the hotel after we got back and then my student Supreeda came and got us and took us to the Church office building.

Mike taught Wanee (Aoy)

 And I taught Supreeda and Wisan

After seeing the lovely location that they are in (which could possibly become the site of the Bangkok Temple) Supreeda took us out to see a Buddhist Temple on the way to Wisan's house for dinner.  

Every temple has 8 giants who protect the temple, two at each door.   I particularly enjoyed some of these.

All of the different colors are pieces of glass.  We saw a workman building many of these stands.  Supreeda asked him what they would be used for and he said that Buddah's would be placed on them.  It was fascinating to watch him work.

After we left the temple we drove to Wisan's home where we joined his wife Noi (who we had met in Utah) and his daughter Wi.

  Noi had obviously been cooking all day because the spread of food was amazing.  I forgot to take pictures until after we had eaten but it still gives you an idea what she had done.

We took some group pictures and then headed back to our hotel.

Supreeda, Raff (our tour guide), Wi, Noi , and Wisan.   Raff is part Filipino and part Greek and is from Australia.  He came on a mission to Thailand and after his mission met Wi who had just returned from BYU-HI and they have been married about two years.  She teaches school and he is looking for regular work but doesn't have all of the permits so does English camps for schools whenever he gets the chance.  They were all such a joy to spend time with.