Bangkok

By the time I settled into my room and checked out the swimming pool...I could actually use this one...Duncan had finished his days work and so we met up for dinner. He seems to have settled into his 3 month stay quite comfortably.
As he had to work the next day I used the book I had bought to wander around the Kho San area. I felt quite comfortable here as I had stayed in this area twice before. I visited the area around Phra Sumen Fort, built in 1783 to defend against potential naval invasions. There were 14 watchtowers around the city and this is one of the two which remain today. There is a small garden area around it where I saw a pied fantail doing its thing.

After lunch at the Green House, another previously visited spot, I moved on to Wat Bowen Niwet, a major Buddhist temple, where many royal princes have studied and served their monkhood. Apparently the black substance around the mouths on the doors is due to opium being rubbed as an offering to the gods.

After returning to the hotel for a cool down I wandered through the back lanes for a while eventually finding my way home. Before Duncan came over for a swim I had a relaxing pedicure...I felt I deserved it after all that walking. When we headed out for drinks/dinner we saw a Thai cultural performance with some very official looking people in the front row. This was one ladyboy past his/her prime! Dinner was a very authentic pad thai in a back lane eatery that I would have been reluctant to eat at without Duncan's ínsider' knowledge.

 We had breakfast of mango sticky rice at one of Duncan's favourite spots on Saturday morning. The little boy there is very interested in the games on the phone and happy to have his photo taken. We began a trip to Chatachuk Market with a walk along the canal to the other remaining watchtower, where we boarded a canal boat for a trip to meet the above ground train. One of the bridges we passed under is known as The Crying Bridge. It was built in remembrance of King Chulalongkorn following his passing in 1910. It features two main sculptures depicting a couple of crying women carrying children to illustrate the people’s grief at the loss of their beloved king. 

Beside the market area is Queen Sirikit Park, built in 1992  to celebrate her 60th birthday. It contains many fountains and pools where lotus flowers bloom so we spent an hour wandering around it. We saw quite a few birds including magpie robins, zebra doves and tailorbirds, and were inevitably approached by the ever-present group of students doing a survey... this time it was Duncan's turn.
Then we took a deep breath and entered the labyrinth market area. Remarkably the vendors were not at all pushy and it was not a bad experience although we weren't really interested in buying much.

After a cooling swim and a bit of a rest we ventured out to dinner to a place, called Steve's, (very Thai sounding?) Duncan had visited for a farewell dinner. It wasn't a place you would ever find without assistance as the entry was past a temple, then along an alley, finally ending hanging out over the water with a view towards the bridge. It was a very pleasant spot as we could see the lit up party boats cruising by and the food was delicious...highly recommended.

On Sunday morning we decided to vaguely follow one of the walks along the second moat. This took us past a number of old bridges, each of which seems to have been built by one King or another to honour birthdays. We also passed the  Pig Shrine, a memorial, which was built in 1913 by three members of the Siamese royal family to honour Queen Sri Phatcharinthra’s 50th birthday. It might seem like an unusual idea for a sculpture, but the queen was born in the Year of the Pig as were the three people who sponsored the memorial including the man who designed the cast metal sculpture, Prince Narissara Nuwattiwong.

 We continued on to Saranrom Park which was originally a royal garden in the Saranrom Palace. At the south end of the park is a marble monument dedicated to HM Queen Sunantha Kumareerat.  The queen and her daughter drowned when the royal boat capsized while on the way to the Summer palace. Despite the presence of many onlookers, they were forbidden on pain of death to touch the queen – not even to save her life. Her grief-stricken husband, Chulalongkorn, later erected a memorial to them and his unborn child, a son.

Despite the sadness associated with the park it is a lovely space with quite a few birds, including magpie robins, tailorbirds, wagtail and olive backed sunbird. I have just discovered it also a gay haunt!

Wildlife of Saranrom Park

By this time we were both ready for a rest but as we were just across the road from Duncan insisted that I should see it. He had visited it before and told me how impressive the soles of the feet of the reclining buddha were. Imagine my disappointment when we discovered they were surrounded by fences, undergoing renovation. The rest of the complex was amazing and I am sure one could spend hours there but a couple were enough. It was my turn for the student survey here!

We continued along the moat walk, passing the original flower markets, reaching the river at a newly opened, refurbished shopping area where we found a nice air-conditioned spot for lunch.  

After a tuk tuk ride back to the hotel we had a leisurely afternoon swim before dinner at another small back lane eatery.

After breakfast on Monday, and farewells to Duncan, I taxied over to Siam Square for a look around...not really my thing but there were a couple of interesting sculptures. 

After queuing in the taxi rank to return to the hotel my driver wouldn't turn the meter on and wanted to charge me more than double what I had paid on the forward trip. After a very short discussion I got out and returned to the rank where the queue organiser got me another taxi which returned me to the hotel for the same cost as the outward journey!

While filling in time in the foyer the good news came through that there was to be a leadership challenge for the Australian Primeministership...by the time I boarded my flight it was done and dusted and hallelujah...Tony was gone!