Thailand Adventure--Day 2

sa watdee, hello from Thailand

Leslie needed to be up at 6:00 to get ready for her day with the choir at the International School she had been invited to work with. I know she was exhausted but she is a trooper and she was looking forward to it. So after a good breakfast, she was whisked off by a driver who had been sent to pick her up at 7.

I decided to get up, have breakfast with her and see her off. I am sitting here at breakfast now waiting for the 10:00 orientation meeting and then I will step outside into the street for the first time here in Bangkok. This afternoon we visit Wot Po, site of a temple and the Golden and Reclining Buddhas.

I went to the eighth floor of the hotel where I found a beautiful swimming pool, gym, spa and bar with techno-music thudding loudly out of the speakers. I wonder which demographic they are aiming for? It is all outdoors with towering skyscrapers looking down from all around. Definitely a destination later in the day.

The sky is cloudy, not with clouds but with smog. It is warm already at 9:30 in the morning and a bit muggy. Aside from the smoggy smell that stings your nose, there is also a distinctively tropical smell in the air. Sort of a cross between sandalwood and jasmine flower?

Leslie returned from her time working with Anthony Giles's choir at the ISB, a very ritzy, top-drawer international school here in Bangkok. Just in time to get on the bus for our afternoon tour of Wot Po.

The drive across town was tedious due to the near constant bumper to bumper traffic in Bangkok. It is maddeningly slow and yet, according to our courier, Anil,pronounced Ah-nil, no one seems to have a solution for it.

Wot Po is amazing! Stunning, breath-taking, a masterpiece. Spires tower over this World Heritage site that are covered with colorful ceramics or gold leaf. In one of the buildings a giant reclining

Buddha lying on his side fills the entire room. Taking a photograph that gave you any sense of the size was impossible. I tried. The Buddha was some 75-100 feet in length and 30 feet high, nearly completely covered in gold leaf.

In another building sat the Golden Buddha. This Buddha sat in the more familiar cross-legged style.

His beatific smile beamed down at theconstantly moving crowds that circulated through the room. The statue is a good 30 feet tall and weighs some 5 tons including a great deal of gold.

Some people sat on the floor before the Buddha and meditated a while before moving on. The removal of shoes is a must in these shrines and racks are provided so that the faithful and the curious can adhere to this rule.

Next door, an open-air school was filled with saffron-robed Buddhist monks who concentrated on their studies despite the near constant snapping of camera shutters. We continued on our way through the Wat Po complex of temples and shrines. Wat Po is also a well-known training center for Thai message.

The long bus ride back to the hotel was frustrating but can't be helped. So it became an opportunity to take a lot of photos through the windshield of the bus. They aren't great photos but do gather a lot of the day to day of busy Bangkok.