The start of another bicycle trip. We had tickets from İstanbul (IST) to Bangkok via New Delhi on indigo. This turned out to be my fourth winter in row in the tropics (after Sri Lanka, Raja Ampat, and the Philippines). At some point I’ll have to get used to cold weather again… I guess, maybe (?).
But first, how to get to IST? The bus from Antalya (via Esenler) was, of course, an option, but airfares were reasonable to SAW (Sahiba Gökçen) so we flew to SAW and took the bus from there. All this meant that we had time in IST to visit the airport archaeology museum. It also meant that it ended up being a 31-hour trip from our house in Antalya to a hotel in Bangkok.
Our guide in Luxor had talked about the world’s first peace treaty between the Hittites and the (Egyptian) New Kingdom after the battle of Kadesh. The İstanbul airport archaeology museum is not big, but here’s the Kadesh Treaty:
At the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg I went out of my way to find the Urartu collection, complaining about how I’ve hardly seen any Urartu artefacts in Turkey. Well, here’s a portion of an Urartu (bronze) belt:
And what about this marble statue of Caracalla after seeing him carved in a wall at Kom Ombo?
In spite of these fun coincidental finds, I can hardly recommend this museum. The information (all (?) in English) for each set of displays rotates through electronically on a glaring screen. You have to wait for the cycle to read about the piece you’re interested in, and then the information is gone before you’ve had time to read all of it (and I’m a native English speaker; the majority of visitors are probably jet-lagged non-native English speakers). It’s overpriced (13 euros) considering how small it is and that few people at an airport are in the proper mindset for a museum. I read later that all pieces are replicas, copies of stuff in other museums in Turkey (I figured they were on loan from other museums). Really?
Enough of that, let’s go to Bangkok.
Isn’t the food the reason we should come to Thailand?
Maybe not! We didn’t try the scorpions — and I don’t want to — but I’m not sure why we didn’t try the (farmed) crocodile.
Ferda and I found Jack at a hotel on Khao San Road and headed over to the river the next day to get a boat to Wat Arun. Both Jack and I had visited Bangkok before. He remembered walking through this temple area
to get to a pleasant quiet neighborhood near the Phra Arthit Ferry Terminal. It didn’t seem familiar to me, maybe ’cause we were happy staying on Khao San Road itself 30 years ago. Now it’s turned into something like Revolución in Tijuana, but there are plenty of other nearby streets that are still nice (maybe try Ram Buttri or Soi Chana Songkhram or the area north of Phra Sumen Fort?).
Of course both Jack and I remember seeing Wat Arun (short for Wat Arun Ratchawararam) from the river, but as we were touring the site, neither of us were sure if we’d actually been inside the complex before.
We got back on the river for dinner in Chinatown, not knowing it was the first day of Chinese New Year. People were gathering for some sort of celebration but, still too tired and jet-lagged to deal with the crowds, we didn’t stick around.
After a decent sleep and a typical breakfast, we joined the crowds again in the morning, this time at Wat Phra Kaew.
I definitely remember visiting Wat Phra Kaew before. I think I’ve said hi to these guys every time I’ve come to Bangkok (three now).
In the same complex (through a metal detector?) is the Grand Palace.
After lunch it was onto also-very-crowded Wat Pho (short for Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan).
Jack and I both clearly remember seeing the huge reclining golden Buddha before.
Check out these two guardians.
Wat Pho is definitely worth a visit.
We found some calm streets on the way back to our hotel
and another good meal.
In the morning around the corner from our hotel I took a quick look at Wat Bowon Niwet Ratchaworawihan
near Mahamakut Buddhist University.
A bit further on on the other side of a canal is the more famous (for tourists) Golden Mount (aka Wat Saket Ratchaworamahawihan?). It’s from the Ayuthaya Period (most of what we see in Bangkok is from the Bangkok Period).
Across a canal again I enjoyed seeing Wat Thep Thidaram Worawihan and the 52 Buddhas.
My favorite temple of this short morning excursion was Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan. There used to be similar temples in India and Sri Lanka, but this is the only one left.
I met up with Ferda and Jack for a late breakfast.
We walked over to Phra Sumen Fort
which looks a lot like Mahakan Fort
and from there took a taxi to Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. The theatre was just about full, probably ’cause tickets are included as part of the Grand Palace entrance. The costumes were beautiful.
Jack and Ferda headed off in different directions (a flower market and a shopping mall), and I spent the afternoon visiting three more temples. Wat Suthat (short for Wat Suthat Thep Wararam Ratchaworamahawihan) is a stunning complex, perhaps my favorite in Bangkok.
What’s up with the torii gate?
A bit to the west is Wat Ratchabophit (short for Ratchabophit Sathit Maha Simaram Ratchaworawihan).
The highlight here was the golden ceiling. Is this decorative squinch architecture?!
Adjacent is a cemetery with many stupa and chedi reminding me of the elaborate tombs I recently visited in Cairo.
And a Gothic cathedral?!
Continuing west again I reached Wat Ratchapradit Sathit Maha Simaram Ratchaworawihan (Wat Ratchapradit for short?)
with a Chinese pagoda in the garden?!
For our last morning in Bangkok both Ferda and Jack wanted to visit a floating market. I agreed to join them. We went Taling Chan Floating Market which got as exciting as this.
Jack bought eels (or something) to release into the canal for good karma (or something).
Maybe dumping animals into a polluted canal is bad luck? Later that day we bicycled to Dusit Palace and were told it was closed. At the bus station we were told they can’t take our bicycles. And at the train station, well, the next train (at 17:30) wouldn’t take our bikes. Finally we left Bangkok at 20:30 on the single daily departure with a cargo wagon from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal to Cha-Am.
Of course we could have ridden out of Bangkok (I’ve done it before), but Jack was somewhat limited on time, and this seemed like a good section to skip.
Wat a post! Wat great pictures!