Ancient Siam

Sorry it's been so long since the last blog post, I enjoyed Phuket too much to blog and decided to just have some R&R... and then it was time for the dreaded seemingly 2-day travel trek home to Hawaii... but I'm back!

In Bangkok, we had the opportunity to visit The Ancient City - or Ancient Siam, as it is now called.  From my understanding, it is a re-creation of how life (history, culture, religion, art, and customs) of the Thai people used to be in the ancient days.  It is a park (more like a giant outdoor museum) that covers over 200 acres of land and is formed in the shape of Thailand.  

I have not gotten to study the map we received at the park in great detail yet... So, again, I'm going to let my pictures do most of my talking.  I will say this, it was a very interesting and peaceful place, and I really enjoyed the visit.  One of my highlights of Bangkok.  Although, it felt like it was about 120° F, so my mom and aunts mostly stayed in the air-conditioned car for the three hours we were there... My job was, "Meredith - go out there and tell us what we saw, and take pictures!!" 

The gate near the beginning

View of a typical street - lined with shops

Opium Den -- I was very enamored with this place... HAHAHAHA!

A form of chess?

View of the floating market

Detail shot of the wood carvings

Stretched squid - apparently Andrew Zimmerman (of Bizarre Foods) 

LOVES this, and as such James was very excited to try it...

The dried squid hangs there until you order one, then the woman grills it to make it hot, and then finally stretches (and therefore softens) it back and forth in a very old looking machine.

It tasted like cuttlefish, but fishier and more flavorful! 

Hello! ;)

According to Wikipedia (so take this with a grain of salt - LOL!), the park/city "features 116 structures of Thailand's famous monuments and architectural attractions. The grounds of Ancient Siam correspond roughly to the shape of the Kingdom, with each of the monuments lying at their correct places geographically. Some of the buildings are life-size replicas of existing or former sites, while others are scaled down."

Truly an amazing place to visit.  Coming up on the blog: Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands!

- Meredith ♡
["Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken." – Frank Herbert]

The Grand Palace + Wat Pho

Our second full day in Bangkok was spent visiting The Grand Palace and Wat Pho (temple of the Reclining Buddha).  These two places were absolutely breathtaking, they both have so much history and such intricate detailing on every building.  It would be an understatement to say I was overwhelmed while visiting.  We were lucky and had GORGEOUS weather that day!!  I could not possibly describe everything we saw, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

View of part of the complex

This one reminded me of my puppy, Emma!! LOL :)

Gorgeous mural paintings along the side of the wall

Detail of the mural

Such beautiful and intricate detailing

Looking UP

Detail shot of the outside Temple of the Emerald Buddha

(couldn't take pictures inside this temple)

Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat - The Throne Hall

Wat Po - The Terrible Towel has been all over Thailand! 

Outside the temple

The Reclining Buddha - about 49 ft. high and 141 ft. long

Good luck coins to drop into 108 bronze bowls

There are 108 broze bowls representing the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha

For some reason or another, these two historical and spiritual places really calmed me down.  There was something so amazing about these places that just made me feel so calm inside, almost as if I could forget about what lay outside the temple walls... the crazy crazy city of Bangkok!

Up next on the blog: The Ancient City!

-Meredith ♡

["There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting." - Buddha]

Bangkok

Our first night in Bangkok found us wandering the street for some tasty Thai food.  We settled on a street "restaurant" which had tables on one half of the street, and tables on the other side of the street.  The waitress had to keep crossing the street (which was always busy with cars/motorbikes/tuk tuks) to serve all the customers.  We had pad thai and "spicy soup with beef" ... questionable name, but DELISH!

The next day, our first full day in Bangkok, we got to meet up with my momma, two aunties, and my cousin's wife, Purita, who is originally from Bangkok.  It was nice to see family, talk to people who understood us, and have a knowledgable, personal tour guide.  We took a scenic long neck boat ride on the Chao Phraya River for about 45 min. and ended up at Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, which is probably the most photographed temple in Bangkok.

Our private boat driver 

The temple in the middle of the picture is Wat Arun

The long neck boats cruise the river all day

On the boat tour, you can stop and feed the catfish bread (for good luck).  The fish are crazy!!  There are sooooo many of them and they all flap about and splash water into your boat.  

Hungry hungry catfish

Pulling up to the dock for the temple

Wat Arun - GORGEOUS

James and I climbed the incredibly steep stairs to the top

After visiting Wat Arun, we went through a street market.  I felt like a sardine, packed into a tiny space.  It was claustrophobic, chaotic, and incredibly HOT.  The street food was good, though!

  The packed street

Peanut and pork in two different kinds of jelly-wrapping things

Exotic and tasty!

We found Bangkok to be so incredibly different from Chiang Mai, and it was a little hard to adjust to.  The air is much more polluted, it's definitely more crowded, and people in general are not as friendly or helpful.  But, we are trying to stay positive and are grateful to be broadening our horizons and gaining wonderful travel experience!! New adventures await us daily!

Up next on the blog: the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (the reclining Buddha) - probably my favorite two sights in Bangkok.

- Meredith ♡

["Wake up and live." - Bob Marley (James chose this one for me! :D)]

Baanchang Elephant Park

Our last full day in Chiang Mai was spent at Baanchang Elephant Park.  I really wanted to go to a place where the elephants were treated well and not exploited in any way.  Of course, there really was no way for me to know for sure what happens when the tourists leave... but reviews of Baanchang were good and it was recommended to us by the owner our guesthouse.  

On our way to the elephant park, we made a brief stop at an orchid farm to pick up more passengers for the tour.

As soon as we arrived at the park, I was in awe...  Elephants are such gorgeous and intriguing creatures.  Our tour guide told us a lot about the elephants at the park - 21 in all.  The owners have made the park a sanctuary for the elephants.  They adopt and rescue elephants who have been treated poorly or exploited for money.

Elephants love to scratch themselves up against trees - it's like a self massage!

We had to wear these hideous clothes so the elephants think 

we are their mahouts (trainers) - then they will listen to and respect us

We got to feed the elephants their favorite treat: bananas!

We learned how to command the elephants to go

forward, turn left/right, stop, and lay down (to mount/dismount)

Then it was time for a bareback ride through the jungle!

Finally, we got to bathe the elephants, which is their 

other favorite activity (besides eating bananas)

Such a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience!!

I will definitely post more pictures of these amazing animals when I return home to Hawaii (I must have taken about 100!).  There were two elephants at the park that were a "couple" (we rode the male) - and the female was pregnant!  They were so adorable, they went off and ate together and they stayed together in the water. Tugged at my heartstrings a little :) 

We had one more morning in Chiang Mai, where we visit the oldest temple in the city... then, it was onward to Bangkok!  When all was said and done, Chiang Mai was by far one of the most exciting, interesting, and awesome places I've ever visited.

- Meredith ♡

["Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind." - Seneca]