Downstairs for breakfast, and T joins me at about 9:15. After I finish eating we walk to the river boat dock, and we are soon heading west towards town center. We are sitting in the front of the boat, so it is more comofrtable and not as noisy as yesterday, when we were standing near the engine compartment. We take the first boat to the end of its line, and then transfer to another boat which takes us near the center of town (and the end of its line).
From there were take a tuk-tuk to Dusit Palace. The ride takes about 15 minutes, and costs 60B. These tuk-tuks are fun to look at, but there are not much fun to ride. You can't see where you are going--the roof is very low and slopes down towards the front, obstructing vour view forward--and you are exposed to the exhaust of all of the other vehicles, especially the buses. Ugh! The advantage is there are lots of tuk-tuks, and the cost is a but less than a regular taxi. For a very short run tuk-tuks are OK, but for this ride a regular taxi would have been a better choice.
Dusit Palace is a collection of about 20 buildings, most prominent among them being Vimarnmek, the world's largest teak building (81 rooms), and the Royal Throne Hall, a large marble structure used for state functions. There are also buildings that were previously used as residences for parts of the royal family. Unfortunately for you, photos are not permitted in any of the buildings, and thus it is difficult to share with you what I saw. Now if you are asking yourself why no photos are allowed, especailly in a building such as the Royal Throne Hall where there are state functions with the press and photographers and TV video, well then I am afraid I do not have any answer.
After buying your ticket you enter the main grounds through a building that also houses the main gift shop. As you enter the propriety of your clothing is reviewed. Men must be wearing long pants, or socks, or a sarong. Women must also wear pants or long skirts, and must cover their shoulders. T was required to "borrow" a shawl, and many men were required to "borrow" a sarong. I almost wished that I had been wearing shorts. Ths sarong seemed so appropriate for the environment!
We started at Vimarnmek. There was an english language tour starting in about 10 minutes so we waited. T had not been to V before, and so she waited for a Thai language tour group. The tour took about an hour, and slowly went thru most parts of the home. There was a color scheme that indicated what areas of the home persons of certain rank could enter. The home was used for only about 5 years, from 1902 to 1907. It was the temporary residence of the royal family while anther more permanent home was being built! Yep, 81 rooms of temporary living! The home is now filled with artifacts collected by the royal family over the years in their many trips abroad, and also received as gifts.One of the items is a blue topaz stone of over 3000 carats! Vimarnmek is sometimes used for formal state dinners and receptions.
We then walked back to Vimarnmek where were we just in time for the 2:00 PM performance of a Thai dance group. There was a 20 Baht fee for taking photos, which I was happy to pay. The performance was very nice, and included the customary beautiful ladies, and also children and men. There was also a segment where boys pretended to fight "Muay Thai" style--Thai boxing. It was lots of fun, and afterwards I took advantage of the 20 Baht that I had paid.
It was definitely time for lunch so we went to the small caf? on the grounds. It wasn't fancy, but it was a good meal (we had a noodle and veggie soup) and the price was right (25B each). Clearly they had not heard of the practice of museum cafes back home where the fine art of price gouging has been perfected.
The place closed at 4:00 PM, so we did not have much time left. We quickly walked to a couple nearby buildings which contained still more royal artifacts. There was also a very colorful outdoor shrine.
The day before I had spoken with VS, who with her husband CS are good friends of my aunt and uncle who lived in Bangkok for a couple years in the early 1980s. They live in Nonthaburi, and northern suburb. They were happy to hear from me (my aunt had written them a letter telling them I was coming), and they suggested that we might want to meet for dinner Saturday. We agreed to call each other on the phone at about 5:00 PM. So, I had about an hour before I was to speak with VS.
T and I took a bus west across the Chao Praya river, and then walked to the river boat dock that was just north of the bridge. I wanted to ride the boat as far north as it went, which just happened to beNonthaburi! There are 3 different boats--a white flag express boat that makes few stops; a yellow flag boat that makes a few more stops, and a no flag boat that makes all stops. We got a yellow flag boat. The cost was 10B each. It was a 30 minute ride, and about 5 minutes before we got there VS called me and I told her where we were heading and she said that she and her husband would drive to the Nonthburi dock and pick us up in about 30 minutes or so. T and I sat on a bench and watched the people go by, and at about 5:40 V and C found us.
While walking to their car we decided to go to dinner at a restaurant near where they live. The drive took about 20 minutes, and we arrived at the Gaorong (?) Restaurant, which had both indoor and outdoor seating. We sat outdoors--the evening was quite pleasant and the sun had just gone down. In conference with T they ordered some appetizers and beer. We sat and nibbled and talked about my aunt and uncle, and about BK and Thailand. I don’t really know the food that we ate--there was some fried pork; some shrimp pastries; etc. But the names are not important--it was all very tasty!
After dinner we drove to their home and had coffee and carrott cake and V pulled out some photo albums that had photos of my aunt and uncle. V last visited my aunt a couple years ago. It was getting late and so T and I took a taxi back to our side of town. I had the taxi drop-off T and then I went back to the hotel. The ride back from Nonthaburi took about an hour. Yes, BK is a very big place!
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