The cultural beauty of Bangkok

The sights of Bangkok are perhaps the most well documented in travel blogs, books and guides. Some of my memories from Bangkok are showcased in the album here. I'd still like to talk about two sights that I recommend for anyone that makes it to the Thai capital.

The Vimanmek Mansion (In the Dusit Palace)
The Dusit Palace is an amazing collection of buildings and monuments that make for a great story about Thailand's rich history and culture through the eyes of its Royalty. There are two throne halls and many residential halls in this complex, which are now used to exhibit various royal possessions, but the one stand out feature is Vimanmek - the world's largest "golden" teakwood mansion. The construction of the garden and the mansion started in the year 1897 under the aegis of the then king Rama V. There's some rich history surrounding this building as it was the residence of the king and symbolizes a strong western influence on Thai architecture. I strongly recommend the 45 minute tour through the mansion that'll give you glimpses of what its like to "live like a king". The elaborate display of the kings silverware, ceramics, crystal ware, ivory and other antique possessions is bound to leave you amazed. You could visit the palace complex to just visit this one mansion. Remember however, that Thais are very particular about the respect paid to their royalty and they expect you to be "decently" clad when you visit these places. I was asked to borrow a pair of pyjamas from the counter (against a deposit of 1000 THB) since I was wearing shorts.

Obviously you could visit all of the other 15 buildings in the complex but if you're short of time or patience, I'll recommend the Anandha Samakhom Throne Hall and the Abhishek Dusit Throne hall which are not just amazing in terms of the collections and royal thrones that they host, but also in terms of the architecture of the the buildings. I'll leave you to Wikipedia both these buildings if you're interested in visiting either.

The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha

The Grand Palace dates back to the 1780's and was built by King Rama I, who had decided to move his capital for some reasons (which I don't understand yet). If you look at the architecture of 218k sq meter complex, you'd be amazed that this isn't one of the wonders of the world. This complex not just houses the erstwhile Royal residence and throne halls, but also a number of government offices as well as the renowned temple of the Emerald Buddha - Wat Phra Khaeow.

The Emerald Buddha which is in fact an image carved out of green jade (where "Emerald" symbolizes only the green colour), is the most revered place of worship for the Thais. Its an extremely small image as opposed to many of the other large Buddha idols that you'll see in the country (hardly 18 inches, I guess) though I must confess its one of the most beautiful. The image is clothed in three seasonal costumes for summer, monsoons and winter and the costume changes are usually presided by the king himself. The monastery itself is exceptional in that it has no residential monks and serves as the monarch's private chapel. Its quite a surreal experience to be in the temple and to admire the amazingly beautiful Buddha image.

Before I sign off on this post, I'd like to throw in a few pieces of advice regarding sightseeing in Bangkok. Most of the sights of Bangkok are located in and around the Ratnakossin area/ district. Which is why I recommend taking residence in Chinatown/ Khaosan. This gives you almost unbridled access to all of the sights which you can choose to access on foot. That's the other thing about touring Bangkok. You'll usually be approached by 2 different kinds of people:

• tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw) drivers who promise to take you to all of the places for free if you promise to visit a certain store with them. Remember that the reassurance of "only look, no buy" is one you shouldn't believe. More than the fact that you'll feel compelled to buy something at these stores, you will also lose precious time by sitting in these tuk-tuks.
  
• "friendly" neighbourhood gents, who ask you where you're from and where you're going and let you know in a matter of fact manner that the place you're going to is closed. These nice people will offer to take you to a really "nice, cheap" market for absolutely no charge. Guess who they are -- tuk-tuk drivers! Chat with them for a while and they'll take over your map and start marking out where they want to take you. The standard thing to do is pay no heed to anyone who tries to stop you -- pretend you don't understand English. If for some reason you do get stopped, say a firm "No!" and walk away.

Remember, most of Bangkok's sights are best explored on foot or by river boat. Stick to those modes of transportation and take the skytrain or the metro for anything else and I guarantee you will be happy. One last piece of advice - if you want to shop in Bangkok especially for jewellery or suits or fabrics, make sure you look around for the best deal. Its quite easy to get conned in Bangkok, especially by people you'll consider to be the friendliest. I can quote an example in Patrick's Fashionway - a tailoring shop that features on the "Official Map of Bangkok" that's distributed in the airport. These people will appear to be quite earnest but could end up charging you 4 times the market rate for a suit, if you were to let them have their way. Remember a suit in Bangkok, from a genuine Thai tailor shouldn't cost you more than 4000 THB. Remember also, not to view every Thai with suspiciousness -- most of them are really nice people. Just be wary of the few shady characters that want to sell you the most touristy deals!