A Quick Turnaround

Just a few days after saying goodbye to my daughter, my good friend Russell arrived. I had confidently predicted endless blue skies and sunshine for his first visit to The Land of Smiles but he was greeted by some unseasonal rain when he stepped off his plane. Nevertheless, we decided to press on with a bit of Bangkok sightseeing before moving south to Hua Hin

Being in the construction business himself, Russell was fascinated but some of the intricate designs in the Grand Palace – possibly the most famous tourist attraction in the whole of Thailand built at the end of the 18 century not only as a royal residence but to house many government offices.

Close by the the Grand Palace is Wat Pho, one of Bangkok’s oldest temples, built toward the end of the 17th century and which houses more than one thousand Buddha images, the most famous of which is the enormous 46 metre long image of a reclining Buddha which left Russell wondering whether such a statue was constructed inside the temple after it had been built or if, somehow, it had been placed inside the temple after its construction.. Either way, it is an impressive piece of engineering!

Equally impressive and housed in another smaller temple also close to the Grand Palace is the 700 year old Buddha image weighing 5.5 tons and made out of pure gold. It’s true worth was only discovered in 1955 as up until then it had been covered in plaster to conceal its value from the prying eyes of invaders!

Throughout Thailand, you are never far away from images of Buddha and new ones are popping up everywhere.

So, after some initially damp sightseeing and a serious bout of Buddhas, it was off to Hua Hin and some more exploring. We were not sure why these monkeys were so keen to get into this abandoned toilet but we found another one for Russell – just in time!

Visiting a temple just west of Hua Hin, it soon became clear that Russell has some Thai ancestry! This temple complex houses the biggest statue of his famous monk ‘great grandfather’ who, it is said performed many miracles way back in the 17th century.

I have yet to discover exactly why images of chickens, cockerels and roosters are so popular in Thailand but they are everywhere. Some say that it’s a religious thing but I am told by others that it started back in the 16 century when the then Crown Price was obsessed with cock fighting – a sport that is still very much alive here.

Our final temple visit took us south of Hua Hin where an extraordinary religious complex has been carved out of the sea front rocks and is full of statues and other images of some of the more famous of Russell’s ‘relatives’!

And further up the side of this steep hill there are some fine views of the coastline back to Hua Hin.

In between the odd day of ‘chilling’ by our pool and catching the rays, our final trip was to the wetlands in a national park a bit further south of Hua Hin. The backdrop is stunning and a boat trip through the acres of water lilies is an absolute ‘must’

A short stop at a beach side market on the way back home for a snack and it was time for Russell to pack his bags for an early start the next day back to a chillier UK.

It was good to have you with us, Russ!

Until the next time.

R