Garden at M.R. Kukrit Pramoj House

My main task for today was to apply for my Myanmar visa. The Embassy of Myanmar  was only a few Skytrain stops from my hotel, but I had put off going there as I was anticipating long lines and bureaucracy.

I arrived at the embassy around 9:00 a.m. to find a crowd of Thais and foreigners waiting for the doors to open. After two hours of waiting in line I submitted my forms, photos and passport, paid the fee, and left with my voucher in hand for a next-day pickup.

Nearby the embassy was the home of the late M.R. Kukrit Pramoj, a colorful figure in Thai politics, arts and letters. I decided to pay a visit, as I had no other plan for the day.

The son of a princely family, M.R. Kukrit served as Prime Minister in the 1970’s during a turbulent period in Southeast Asia. He was a staunch defender of democracy against a strong military known for frequently intervening in Thai politics, as well as an advocate for traditional Thai culture in the face of increasing Westernization. Until the end of his life he lived in his classical Thai teak house, surrounded by a peaceful garden.

Garden at M.R. Kukrit Pramoj House

M.R. Kukrit Pramoj House

Garden at M.R. Kukrit Pramoj House

The biggest tourist attraction in Bangkok was still on my to-do list. I alloted a full day to see the Grand Palace and the Wat Phra Kaew, where the so-called Emerald Buddha resided.

I again took the Skytrain to the tourist boat on the Chao Phraya, this time getting off one stop further up the river than when I had gone to Wat Pho on Saturday.

The compound was immense, encompassing more than 100 buildings (most of which are not open to the public). I passed through the entrance gates and joined the throngs of tourists. The admission price was steep: 500 baht (over US$15).

Wat Phra Kaew is surrounded by a shaded walkway with walls covered by murals depicting the Hindu epic The Ramayana. Most of the tourists (many of whom were on organized tours in big groups) were crowded around and inside the wat, taking photos of the building and each other. Therefore the area with the murals was virtually empty, except for a few stragglers like myself.

Scene from The Ramayana

Scene from The Ramayana

Scene from The Ramayana

Scene from The Ramayana

Eventually I made my way inside the wat to see the Emerald Buddha, which I learned was not made of emerald but of a greenish mineral called jasper, somewhat similar in appearance to jade. Photography of the Buddha was prohibited, and in any case, the diminutive Buddha was on such a high pedestal that it would have been difficult to get a good shot without a strong telephoto lens.

After viewing the Buddha I strolled around to see some of the other nearby buildings. The entire complex exuded opulence.

Prior to arriving in Thailand I contacted my friend Toi, a Thai native I had met in New York City who was now residing in Bangkok. She offered to be my guide for a day in Bangkok, and I happily accepted.

We took “Bus 166” from this thing called the Victory Monument.

We used “intermodal transport” — Skytrain, taxi, bus — to reach Ko Kret, an island north of Bangkok that was created by dredging a canal in a bend in the Chao Phraya River. After having a peek at a Buddhist wat, we walked the path on the periphery of the island, a route of several kilometers. A portion of the path was lined with vendors selling souvenirs and food. Other than the wat and the market, it seemed the island was mostly a rustic village.

We stopped to have lunch at a small restaurant situated in a wooden structure perched off the canal. As the menu was entirely in Thai and the staff did not speak much English, I relied on Toi to order for both of us.

Ko Kret has a large settlement of Mon people, who have been in Thailand for over a millennium. The Mon create a kind of unglazed pottery known as “kwan arman” and there are many kilns on the island.

Artisan In Action!

I was grateful to Toi for guiding me on an excursion I would not have been able to manage on my own, due to the language barrier and my general unfamiliarity with the geography of Bangkok and its surrounding area.

On the bus with Toi: My Friend & Tour Guide!

The Reclining Buddha’s Toes! At Wat Pho, Bangkok

In addition to visiting the Jim Thompson House Museum yesterday, I also hopped on a boat traveling on the Khlong Saen Saeb, one of the old canals in Bangkok. My goal was to get to the old part of Bangkok called Banglamphu. I got off at an earlier stop than the one I should have taken, so I had to walk a few kilometers to get to my destination. I took a cab back to my hotel since I was not quite sure where to pick up the canal boat on the way back.

Today my plan was to get to the area around the Grand Palace and the nearby temples, and from my travels yesterday I realized I would have difficulty figuring out the local canal boats without being able to read or speak Thai. A woman at my hotel’s reception desk recommended I take the Sky Train to the stop at the Chao Phraya River. There I could catch a “tourist boat” with an English-speaking guide that would stop at all the key tourist spots.

I got off the boat at Wat Pho and spent some time there exploring the complex and taking photos. Then I took a small ferry-boat across the river to get to Wat Arun, “The Temple of Dawn,” where I was able to climb up the tower to take some photos of the Bangkok skyline (see Thurs 6 Nov post).

Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha – Back View

Detail of Toe!

Wat Pho

Wat Pho

Wat Pho

Wat Pho

Wat Arun

Wat Arun

Wat Arun

Today I visited the home of Jim Thompson, an American silk entrepreneur who settled in Thailand after WWII. An architect by training, he developed a great interest in Thai silk textiles and was instrumental in the development of the export market for Thai silk. After he mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia in 1967, his home was turned into a museum.

Unfortunately photography inside of the home was not allowed, so I was only able to take some photos of the garden.

Garden at Jim Thompson House

Garden at Jim Thompson House

Garden at Jim Thompson House

Garden at Jim Thompson House

Bangkok Skyline as seen from Wat Arun

I took a 1:00 a.m. nonstop flight from Bengaluru and arrived in Bangkok around 6:00 a.m. today. The Bangkok airport was not as visually appealing as Bengaluru’s, but it was very convenient in some practical ways. In short order I had withdrawn some Thai Baht from an ATM, purchased a local SIM card for my mobile phone, and boarded the shiny airport train going in the direction of my hotel, Wendy House.

Bangkok SkyTrain

Still recovering from a recent bout with the Common Cold, I had little energy to do any sightseeing. I checked into my hotel, then spent some time wandering around the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre near my hotel, where I saw an exhibit of the work of Japanese artist Chihiro Iwasaki.

Below are some views of Bangkok from the Chao Phraya River (photos taken by me on a boat).

My Aunt Holding Flowers From Her Garden

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru

As I had been busy visiting family and doing no sightseeing per se, I posted no new items on my blog. However I had taken a few random photos here and there during my ramblings in Bengaluru. A few weeks back I went to Lalbagh Gardens with my cousin Raji, her husband Naveen and daughter Siri. I had also accompanied some family members to a few of the upscale malls. I didn’t buy anything but it was interesting to see the Starbucks sign in Kannada.

Bengaluru Shopping Mall

Apparently this says “Starbucks Coffee” in Kannada.

I had fun with my cousin’s son, Vishal. I learned about a product called Butt Paste, apparently very useful for keeping a baby’s bottom Soft as a Baby’s Bottom.

My cousin Sharan, who is a neurosurgeon, gave me a tour of the new rehab center, NewRo, that he and his wife started. I was impressed with their setup and the work they were doing — it was truly a “joint” (pun intended!) effort, with various family members in India and North America contributing (no worries — Sharan managed to noninvasively tap the knowledge in their brains).

It was also a treat to celebrate a number of special events with my family: Diwali; my grandma Jaka Pati’s 91st birthday; and my grandma Venku Ajji’s death anniversary, coincidentally 100 years after her birth.

My Tribal Marking!

A Real South Indian Meal!

During my last few days in Bengaluru, I finally saw a few of the sights I had not seen in previous visits. I went to the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Freedom Park, and the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

Guard Tower at the former Bangalore Central Jail, where Freedom Fighters were held, now part of the Freedom Park.

Outside the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru.

Garden at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru.

Unfortunately I did not have a chance to test out the new Namma Metro train system. Traffic in Bengaluru is worse than ever, and of all the places I have traveled, traffic in India’s large cities is worse than anywhere else in the world. Indian traffic consists of the most modern automobiles and sleek new buses as well as modes of transport in use prior to the invention of the wheel — and everything in between.

It is not clear when Namma Metro will be completed. But Bengaluru will always have auto rickshaws and cows!

Rangoli at Family Home in Malleswaram

I arrived in Bengaluru this evening. Its world-class international airport, now renamed Kempegowda International Airport after the founder of Bengaluru, was much bigger than when I was here three years ago. The landscaping around the airport was very pretty, with well-manicured plants and flowers.

There was a phone from which I could make free local calls, and I availed myself of this and called my cousin Sharan to inform him I had arrived and that I would be taking the airport bus to Mekhri Circle. In about 45 minutes I arrived there and Sharan picked me up and took me to his family’s home in Palace Orchards. For the next three weeks I planned to shuffle around Bengaluru to see various family members, many of whom I had not seen since the last time I was here.

Plant in Yard at Family Home in Malleswaram

Sign at Pokhara, Nepal, South Indian Restaurant. (I decided to pass on this one and have my “Idly Shamber” upon reaching Bangalore — the real South India!)

It was raining when I awoke today and it continued to drizzle throughout the rest of the morning. There was also a chill in the air in Thamel so I did not feel motivated to venture out too far. I had some tea at a cafe with good WiFi, where I reviewed my photos and caught up on my writing.

Periodically I heard gigantic booms of thunder that shook the windows and rattled tourists. All day the sky was a solid canopy of steel grey clouds sending down a steady light rain that ceased for a short time in the afternoon, then began again.

I arrived at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport about two hours early for my 4:30 p.m. flight to Bangalore, India, via Delhi. The airport was much more crowded than the day I arrived about four weeks ago, and it took about a half hour for me to make my way through the initial security screening and join the check-in line.

I was second in line when the Jet Airways check-in clerk suddenly looked up from his computer at the young American couple in front of me, wobbled his head in that uniquely Subcontinental way and said, “Please wait for some time.” With no further explanation he left his post and disappeared into the ether.

A few minutes later it seemed the other check-in staff and baggage handlers had stopped attending to their respective tasks and had begun chatting and sharing out biscuits with each other.

After about twenty minutes the American couple asked another airline staff member if he knew what had become of their check-in agent who had mysteriously disappeared. After being called back and asked by the couple why they had not been checked in, he explained by again doing the Subcontinental head wobble and saying, “Please wait for some time.” They politely pressed for more information, and he responded with, “Bad weather.” With a bit more courteous interrogation they were finally able to elicit from him that air traffic control was not allowing any flights to take off, and arriving flights were being diverted to other airports, due to the weather.

Only a handful of nearby passengers heard this explanation and several hundred others in the terminal apparently had no inkling of the status of their flights since there were no overhead announcements and the video monitors with information on arrivals and departures were equally tight-lipped if you will pardon the expression.

After “some time” (who can say how long we continued our trajectory on this particular warp in the space-time continuum?) a very dapper and smooth-talking Jet Airways employee told us there would be no flights leaving for the rest of the day, gave us a telephone number to call to re-book our flights, and sent us all packing — at least those of us who were close enough to hear him. The rest of the passengers in the terminal may have continued to be in the dark about the airport shutdown, and I do not know whether they are still waiting or whether they finally gave up and went back to wherever in Kathmandu they had come from, prior to arriving at the airport.

Bandipur

Today around 7:00 a.m. I checked out of the Green Hills Lodge in Bandipur to catch the earliest bus going downhill to Dumre. Thankfully the bus was not at all crowded so I was able to stretch out and relax, in stark contrast to my trip uphill a few days ago.

At Dumre I caught the local bus going to Kathmandu, and despite making several stops along the way we made good time on the highway, arriving in Kathmandu mid-afternoon.

Having no other plans for the rest of the day, after I checked into my hotel I hung around Thamel waiting for something interesting to happen. As no such event occurred, I have nothing remarkable to report!