Bangkok City Tour, Wat Po, and Siam Niramit Show

Tour Group Route Map

My Gate 1 tour group met this morning for an orientation. There are about 32 on the tour from different states. Gate 1 is an American tour operator, hence, most people on their tours are Americans. All this time. There was a California contingent of 8, a New Jersey one of 9, and others from Seattle, Denver, Boston, Washington, DC, Texas, and some other states. It turned out to be a very good group to travel with.

We followed the route on this map but we also went to the infamous Golden Triangle (for younger readers, why it is infamous will be explained later) to make short visits to Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. About half of the group continued on to Cambodia to see the Angkor temples in Siem Reap. I didn’t as I had been there two years ago.

I had two friends, Joyce and Dave, on the tour that I had met on the Russian river cruise that I took in 2012. This was the first time that I knew anyone on an escorted tour beforehand. It was a fun experience.

Tour Group Route Map

Our Great Tour Manager Nu

We got to spend the next 9 1/2 (or more) enjoyable days with Nu. He took good care of us and answered all our numerous questions. He was quite knowledgeable and always in a good mood. We were lucky to have him as our tour manager.

The rest of the Gate 1 crew consisted of our bus driver and also a bus boy. Excellent driving and also excellent bus boy. We were also treated to a very comfortable Volvo bus.

Our Great Tour Manager Nu

Bangkok City Tour

After orientation, we took a city tour on our bus. This photo shows one of Bangkok’s remaining canals. It originally had many more of them but many have been paved over for infrastructure such as for the sky train. You can see modern Bangkok in the distance. We didn’t see much of it as the tourist sites were located in the older sections.

Bangkok City Tour

Almost everywhere you go in Bangkok and also in all of Thailand, there are numerous street vendors selling fruit, cooked food, clothing, etc. I don’t know how the street vending system works but what is very impressive is that there was only 0.07 percent unemployment in Thailand in 2013, with almost 60% of the people being self–employed. As Nu said, “everyone works.” A very good example of very free enterprise. I imagine, with the right location, a very good cook could gain enough of a following to make a decent living. Nu said that the Thais eat most of their meals out. There is also little difference between the food eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner by the Thais, so a vendor could make just one or a few dishes.

This photo was taken in Chinatown.

Bangkok City Tour

Also on the city tour was the Old City where many beautiful old buildings remain.

Bangkok City Tour

We ran into several protest areas on a drive around the city. Here is one in the photo. We weren’t affected by the protests except by the traffic congestion that they caused.

Bangkok City Tour

In front of the king’s palace. I have put my photos of the city tour on a slideshow: Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/bangkok–city–tour/

or to Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand, “Bangkok: City Tour.”

Bangkok City Tour

Wat Po–the Temple with the Reclining Buddha

Wat Po is a very large Buddhist temple, one of the largest in Bangkok. We went here to view the golden reclining Buddha and also other parts of the temple. You could spend many hours here as everywhere you looked there was something new to see. The temple has 91 stupas and 394 Buddha statues. There are also comical Chinese statues that were once used for ballasts on ships.

Wat Po was the first public university in Thailand, specializing in religion, science, and literature. It has added traditional massage and medicine as subjects and is the leading school of massage in Thailand and you can get a massage here.

Wat Po–the Temple with the Reclining Buddha

The Golden Reclining Buddha

The golden reclining Buddha is 151 feet long (40 m) and 49 feet tall (15 m).

The Golden Reclining Buddha

The Golden Reclining Buddha–Movie

The reclining Buddha is too long and also blocked by posts to take a full photo of it. So I took a movie of it instead.

I have put my photos of Wat Po on a slideshow: Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/bangkok–wat–po/

or to Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand, “Bangkok: Wat Po.”

The Golden Reclining Buddha–Movie

Siam Niramit Show & Dinner

I went on an optional tour this evening to the Siam Niramit Show & Dinner. The show portrays the Thai cultural heritage in three acts: Journey Back into History, Journey Beyond Imagination, and Journey Through Joyous Festivals. The dancers wore elaborate costumes and the show is entertaining.