Thailand- a journey(last part)

Yes, it is true, we have arrived to the last part of this long journey through a big country and I can say already now, that I will be there one day again, as I could just see a touch of all the things which are there. And thinking about the countries next to Thailand, then we have to make big plans for the future.

But now we are in Bangkok. Big town and best to reach with a Minibus, because otherwise it takes much more time to arrive, as the city has a lot of traffic and many rush hours. Usually most Minibuses arrive at the Victory Monument which is deep inside the town and there is the underground, taxis and other vehicles to come forward to your hotel. Again I can say I choose well in looking up a hotel. Yes, the hotel was in the middle of the town but all the high skyline was not exactly in front of the window. Instead I had trees and a big view and a room in Art Deco. 

Discover Bangkok is not hard, even known the traffic can be tricky but the underground is easy and taxis everywhere. Just make sure you have some clothes to warm you in the underground as it is cold inside. 

Arriving at a weekend means you have to immediately drive to the Chatuchak Market. Right next to the Catuchak Park station. It's a very big market with everything you can imagine to buy. Art, food, corny things, religious things, cloths, china, furnitures, silver, etc. etc. etc... A very big market and easy to get lost inside. Plan a minimum of two hours with your visit. But you sure will find presents there for your beloved one. There is even a Post office to send things home.

Next stop is of course the China town and the Golden Mountain with the Wat Saket. You'll get to see the whole town and all the big bells. You are just next to China Town and step up and down. Then after all go on the street inside a little coffee or sit outside, as you wish and rest. 

Chinatown itself is bigger as you may think and all the houses are build as they had the chance to do and old and new are next to each other that it should feel strange, but no... it felt very relaxed and interesting. Just keep focus where you are! Then take a cap to the hotel to eat at the evening or go to disco. 

a school in China town

Next day was to take a cap to the river at the Saphan Taksin station from the overground. There you go into a boat and take the way to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Chetuphon. 

The Palace is the Emerald Buddha Grand Palace and the most important Wat. Here you are not allow to wear short cloths, leggings and shoulder free shirts. You even have to take your hat of. Be also prepared for a mass of tourist and a different styles of buildings. Also the prices went up again and the entry cost more then last year. But the renovation and restoration is making progress as I heard from a friend and so you will see a lot new and renewed. There is also the best massage school in Thailand and so take the opportunity and book a massage, even thought you have to wait mostly en half hour before it's your turn. Then after the palace go back to the boat, but then just the street and on the other side of the boat dock there is the biggest sleeping Buddha. Surprise here is, that you can't shoot him in one peace. Not looking like on the postcards. But then.. Big. 

Big is also the important Jade Buddha which was once in Ayutthaya. 

After all this it's river time again and back to where you started. Then it will be around four a clock maybe and so taking a cap is not the best idea, as you'll stand in traffic more then drive. So overground or motorbike is it then. 

Around underground station SiLom and Lumphin there are many god restaurants and that's why dinner was there to take. 

Of course Bangkok has much more to offer and so just look up what you like and go there. Shopping is best at King Power Downtown Complex (above from the Chatuchak Market). To buy a traffic ticket for three days by the way won't be the best idea, as it is only underground or overground. So better pay before you drive. And remember caps/taxis are cheap in Bangkok, just make sure they use the Taxameter. 

Now the last pictures and the next Blog will be about Tips and what to know and what to do in Thailand.

long liv the King and he works here

inside he lays the sleeping/laying Buddha

boat dock

in the back the Wat Arun- seems gray, but it is white

some boats look like houses

LOVE & LIGHT

Thailand- a journey(part9)

Now we are heading to the last stops of my stay. Lampang and Ayuthaya. Yes, today I will write about two of the places I have visited and then, the next Blog will be my last station-> Bangkok. 

It's amazing how time flies and it is just two weeks ago that I came back to Berlin and it already feels like from a different time and planet. So typical, isn't it!

Lampang my first station is about two hours from Chiang Mai with the Bus and so you'll be still between the hills and in the North of Thailand. 

The beauty of Lampang is, that it has much less tourists and therefore you don't find anything written in english, except at the Wats. That makes it wonderful to discover a town, which is the second biggest town in the North, and the way people live, when it is not about being part of the tourist business. 

The streets are made for the people and not for us. Thought they do have tourist, backpackers and busses with people coming from China. So the biggest hotels in the middle of the town have in front of their doors one of the main tourist attraction. It's the one horse carriage. Once a very typical way to transport people and things, it is nowadays just left for tourist to drive around town and to the Wats. 

As I mention, I came with a bus. A big one with air conditioning. No need to by the ticket a day before as the Buses go to the South each hour. As I used to look up the hotel in the internet and on the maps to 

know where it is and how to reach my destination, it was easy to just go from the Bus station to the hotel. Just took me 15-20 min walk but I had to ask on the last part of the way after the hotel as all is written in Thai. Lucky thing is, people in Lampang do speak english. 

It was warm, and by the way the nights are also warmer as in Chiang Mai, and I had of course to change clothes first. The Chinese influence is in the North of Thailand quite big and so I found a store near my hotel where the owner was actually not only from China, she also was in Germany last year as she spoke of Frankfurt. Very lovely women and she was very kind too. Gave me a bunch of bananas and I had a long talk with her and also bought some present as it happens there were some things I liked. Then going around the area was easy and relaxing and I could discover little coffee shops and restaurant to go in. I also got an idea how this town is made and how people live. 

Lucky me, as always the Wats never seem so far away from me, so it was always to take a little walk through the streets and then I was there. The first Wat is made in Burma style and as you will see on the pics, very different to what they used to be. Then the second one I visited was in white outside and inside very nice painted. The river was not a place to take a walk as it seems that Thai people have no sense about making nice walks there. Maybe in the future. But eating in little restaurant and getting into the everyday atmosphere was splendid. 

Though I was just two nights there, it was enough as Lampang has not much more to offer yet. The ride in the carriage did I avoid as I prefer to walk, but of course I took pictures.

want to know more about this Wat- read below

click on the pic to make it big

those orange things are monk cloths

made of paper for funerals

the old one are not painted and here are living the souls of the dead to have an own home and not being of the home of the living, food and things are given them everyday to make them happy and have enough to do with them self so they won't make problems

.....lovely wasn't it?

Now you travel with me again with the bus to Ayuthaya. Here I needed to buy the ticket a day before, though you can still risk to buy it the day itself. 

As you will discover on the pics, a monk was with me and he was mostly doing something on his mobile. Yes, they do have such things too. But more interesting was to see how he watched other monks going buy when we stayed on other stations. 

Well, our bus came very late, so not the time as planed and then we had the luck of a lot of traffic and then the bus stayed on several places just to exchange money, things or for the driver to make a short talk with people. Also some people just popped into the bus from the street and yes, we also have been controlled from the police. 

The journey from Lampang to Ayuthaya usually takes about 6 to 7 hours but ours was about 9. So I arrived late and on the bus station on the highway. 5 kilometer still to travel to come into town and to the hotel. Being late also means you have to take a taxi and don't have any chance to make up a god price and simple put- you have to pay what they want. In my case 200 Bath for 5 kilometer. Well, that is the flexibility you need in Thailand with your money. The town Ayuthaya self is much bigger then you may expect, as prospects just show the Island. Yes, the Island is in the middle of it all, as the river surround this part. 

Again I picked the right hotel. Made from an old house, we had to go upstairs to our room without  shoes. But it was also in a short but good street as there are restaurants, coffees, 7-eleven and the mini busses. Nicest thing was actually that it was not far away to the temple, though it is very hot in town as we are back in the South of Thailand. 

Ayuthaya is or was another big centre for the buddhist religious. That's why you can visit many Wats and some Temples and all are likely standing next to each other. If you can, walk alone. The way is not hard to find and you have time to discover which you would not with a group or on a guided tour. You can also hire a bike or take a tuk tuk as you wish. Just go in time to avoid the mass of tourist and the heat. 

You won't for sure visit all the Wats which are to find, as you will also be a bit tire after seeing so many. 

But most interesting for me was not taking the tuk tuk, seeing the Temple from inside, seeing one of the biggest Buddhas or eating Thai food on the market. It was a very little Wat with two different Buddhas. Both sitting- one had a sad face and one a face with a smile. Most tourist will never meet them, but you will, if you go by yourself, searching your way to the sleeping Buddha. 

Why the sad face you may wonder! Right so. It is about the fact that we go through four phases before we reach the real change to happiness. To appreciate joy we have to go through sorrow and anger. If you are sad today, you can be happy tomorrow. But if you stay in anger you get sad at the end. If you are serene you will be happy at the end. So, those both Buddhas remind us that nothing is forever and change is possible. 

What more? Of course you can take a ride on an Elephant, but I did not, thought I saw on TV that just a week before two Elephants went kind of mad and destroyed cars. But then I cannot understand why people stay instead of driving away in time. 

Now again some pictures as I promised you.... Have fun and if you like, make a comment and leave it under this post, link me or search me up on Facebook. Soon you can also find me on Twitter. :-)

But now starting with the Bus, the monk and some pictures from the country...

Mekong river

the door of my room :-)

first you see the Wat Maha That (you have to pay for entry here)

yes - that is the famous face in the roots of a tree- you'll find it here 

they have found out that once there have been standing/ sitting 40 Buddhas in a row..

you see the Phra Ram Park and in the back the Wat Phra Ram

Wat Phra Ram

this is Wat Ratchaburana and it is a grave

the explanation for the Wat Ratchaburana

going alone the way I found this- thought I forgot the name and it is not listed on the tourist maps

same here and this is standing next to the first

followed by this face on a lotus

Ghost and Buddhas and other figures from the upper and under world

This is the Ancient Palace (you also have to pay here)

wonder what is in that house? It's the big, big Buddha below and the Buddha is big as the house is high

The Buddha from the Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit

yes the Buddha is the same, the house is new

here you see Buddha faces with gold put from people on it to get luck and happiness

again the Palace

on my way to the sleeping Buddha I found him and this is also not to find on any map

the sad Buddha

the smiling Buddha

and at last the sleeping Buddha and he is tall as the area is white but then except the tower in the back, all is just little stones and so no one knows how old this Wat is

eating at the market

some old house I passed

a chines temple

LOVE & LIGHT