Buddmas

Apologies for the stupid title, but I figured this is what you get when Buddhism meets Christmas! Christmas Day was spent in very Buddhist surroundings, and although I am not really a Christian and therefore don’t celebrate Christmas for its religious meaning, it still felt really weird to be wandering around Buddhist temples on December 25th! Not bad weird…just weird! This day was to feature one of things I was most looking forward to seeing in Thailand, the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, and so I was very excited. After a short boat trip up the river, we arrived at Wat Pho, home of glistening gold spires, elaborate décor, and lots and lots of Buddha statues (oops I’ve just described almost every temple in Thailand!). The reclining Buddha here is the 2nd largest in Thailand, and is truly magnificent. I remember seeing it on ‘Holiday’ on BBC1 some years ago (I think someone like Angela Rippon was visiting it!), and being amazed by the scale and beauty of it. Seeing it for myself did not disappoint, although I wish there had been fewer tourists jostling to get photos, and I wish I hadn’t had a snotty, foggy head from my stupid cold that I got on the first day in Bangkok!! But the Buddha itself was great, and I succeeded in getting a few cool photos, and walking around the big gold guy in complete awe.


We spent some time looking around the rest of the temple complex in the glorious sunshine, and then decided to move on to our next hotspot if the day, the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. We took a tuk tuk to this area, which was our first of many, and I enjoyed every second of the bumpy, windy short journey to the palace. Tuk tuks are great fun. As long as you agree a price before you get in (and a very good price if you happen to be lucky enough to have a Thai friend with you!), and know where you’re heading, then you shouldn’t fall into the trap of getting ripped off. This was the day that we took maybe 4 or 5 tuk tuks, and so we renamed the day as ‘Merry Tuk Tuk day.’ This was also the day when we discovered the pitfall that is ‘tuk tuk hair’. Note to potential future Thailand visitors, if you’ve got long hair, tie it up when you ride on a tuk tuk…the wind and pollution as you dart through the streets leaves you with a tangled birds nest at the end of your journey if you leave it down! We arrived at the palace and explored the grounds, temple rooms, took photos, gave offerings, and lit candles. We also sat peacefully in the room that contains the famous emerald Buddha (although it took us a few minutes for Ellen and I to realise that’s what it was! Oops!).

Our Christmas dinner was Pad Thai (Thai noodles), fresh OJ, and chocolate brownie at a cute little café, and our afternoon was spent at a beautiful teak mansion where King Rama the …can’t remember what number he was was…lived. The only Christmassy parts of the day were exchanging prezzies with Ellen in the morning, which was really nice, and then later talking to my family, and hearing that they were happy with the contents of the Christmas box I had sent them. Even the Christmas CD game went down really well, and I’ve had requests for a new version for next year. Yey! It certainly was not a normal Christmas Day, but it was definitely a memorable one, full of new experiences and fun.