The Beauty of Bangkok
I only had a half day yesterday in my favorite city, Bangkok, but I made the most of it. I was headed to Wat Arun which is a really stunning temple on the “other side” of the river. I have looked across the river at this temple numerous times and now I was determined to get there. Boarding the ultra-modern sky train to take me to the river’s edge, I thought it fitting that it would take me backwards in time. The train was full of people headed to work although by time the train gets to the river it is almost empty having emptied most of the cargo a couple of stops before. As I left the train, I was swimming upstream against the surge of people coming from the river taxi boats who were headed to the train for the center of the work district. Busy Bangkok, but I knew I was headed for tranquility.
The workers were entertaining enough. I swear there are two women in this city for every man. And half of those women are in tiny skirts and high heels. Bangkok has the world’s greatest legs and I am positive that high heels are much more dangerous for men than for women. One woman was wearing a pair of shorts so small that I was thinking it may have just been paint. She was shorter than me, propped up in six-inch heels and her legs were up to my chest leaving only about a foot within which her torso and head fit. God never had a better day when HE came up with that design. And I really do mean HE because no woman could have ever thought that one up 🙂 I followed that perfect set of legs right onto the boat – what a beautiful, sun-shiny morning! Unfortunately, and this is the dangerous part, I got on the wrong boat and it took me straight across the river rather than up the river.
Not a problem… I took it back and then changed to the right one. I proceeded to the stop across from the temple and then took the taxi across the river to Wat Arun. This wat is bascially a steep chedi (pyramid-shaped tower) in the center of the compound surrounded by four other smaller chedi as well as many other buildings. The chedi are covered by amazingly beautiful pottery pieces of brilliant colors. One of the temples with a huge gold Buddha was full of monks chanting. To go from the bustle of the commute hour to the peacefulness of Buddhist chants was quite pleasing. The morning was very sunny with clear blue skies and it was almost coolish in this hottest of cities. I was in photography heaven.
I climbed the main chedi laughing all the way. It has the steepest stairs I have been on since Tikal, Guatemala. The place is an accident waiting to happen. Anyone doing the climb up or worse, the climb down, had a death grip on the rail. At least there is a rail – the Mayans never installed one on their temples. The views from the top were amazing. Looking across the wat grounds, the river glided by with all of its boat traffic and the immense city spread from horizon to horizon. Now I was back in time looking forward. I used to be impressed with Tower of London and other ancient sites in modern European cities, but they cannot hold a candle to Bangkok and its flawless mix of ancient and modern.
Tags: thailand
vagabondrick
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