Mar 7 - Work in the morning, then out for lunch on Maha Chai Road.
Our hostel is on a street that produces a lot of large Buddha statues, as well as fancy temple offerings.
Janet’s knee not doing so well today, so Odette and I go off to the south part of town. This area is part of the old ‘Chinatown’
The gate to ‘Chinatown’. A plaque here commemorates the 1999 when Jiang Zemin, then President of China, visited Thailand. Said he of Sino-Thai relations: “It is like fine porcelain, it just become more valuable with time.”
From here we walk to Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan, home of the famous Golden Buddha.
The Golden Buddha was made sometime in the 13-14th century (Sukhothai era), and moved around over the next few hundred years. At some point it was plastered over, undoubtedly to hide its value during time of crisis, and its metal value was forgotten. It rested in a minor pagoda in Bangkok until 1955, when, in the process of moving it, some plaster chipped off and the gold was revealed. The temple it was in immediately became a focus of attention, and today it is a pilgrimage site. The statue weighs 5.5 tons.
The view from the roof of the Golden Buddha temple.
One of the other Buddhas on site, in a well-kept flower garden. The Thais really make a great effort to create green spaces wherever possible.
Take a long walk through parts of Chinatown, mostly by businesses repairing engines and motorcycles. Then north along some canals and what appears to be a minor Indian district, and back to the hostel. Odette gets more pool time.
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)