Journey to the Grand Palace

Day 3 & 4 – October 21

I had a terrible sleep the previous night. I kept walking up and eventually was unable to fall back to sleep. This appears to be the same case for many of the participants – likely the effects of jet lag. So I was exhausted all day, and I ate something that didn’t agree with me for lunch, to top it all off. Oh well, part of the process I guess.

October 22 – Trip to Grand Palace

I had a much better sleep last night. Partly because I went to bed around 9:30PM, so even though I had to get up around 5:30am, I was quite well rested. The reason we had to get up so early was that today, we took a day trip to the Grand Palace in downtown Bangkok. The Grand Palace was built in 1782 and used to house the King (The King now has a different residence) and contains Wat Phra Kaew, where the Emerald Buddha is kept. 

We started the day with a bus ride into Bangkok, which allowed us good views of the city. Some parts look just like back home, except that the trees are tropical. There are some condo buildings being belt that look identical to many I’ve seen in Toronto. Then, of course, there are parts that look very different.

The Grand Palace is one of the busiest tourist destinations in Thailand. We were competing for space with tour groups from all over: China, Japan, Russia, Brazil, and more I’m sure. The Place was just gorgeous. One of the things I’ve noticed in Thailand is everything is much more colourful – things in Ottawa seem pretty bland in comparison – and the Grand Palace was no exception. The buildings are painted beautifully in reds, blues, greens, gold... basically any colour you could imagine. Everything was very ornate and exquisite. The walls of the buildings were adorned with detailed murals and sculptures. I really can’t do it justice in my descriptions... But it was great to finally see some of Bangkok and Thai history.

After the tour of the Palace, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant on the Chao Phraya River, the main river that runs through the city. They served us a set menu of fried chicken, calamari, soup, soft-shell crab curry, vegetables, and, finally – la piece de resistance – a whole fish (head, tail, and all). For those who know me, you know I hate cooked fish and most seafoods... So you will be shocked to find out that I ate a bit of everything and even LIKED it, even the fish. It was very tasty. I worried for a minute that maybe I would have some sort of allergic reaction because I haven’t really eaten seafood before. Then I remembered I eat sushi all the time. Win. 

In the afternoon, we returned to the hotel for more teacher training. We prepared our first lesson plan and presented it to the other group, and I think it went fairly well. At the end of the class, our instructor was wrapping some stuff up, and called me up to the front to teach a class on “the proponents of nuclear energy”. I did the first thing that came to mind: I mimed an atom by making a fist with one had, and moving my other than around it (like an electron), and got the “students” to repeat after me. Good times.

In the evening, we went to dinner and a show at Siam Nakriat – basically the Thai version of a tourist trap. You get pay to get your picture taken with people in old Thai costume, buy souvenirs, see elephants, and buy more stuff. The show was a dance/music re-telling of Thai history and culture. It was spectacular, except I kept dozing off... I was exhausted!

Today (being Oct 23), we are heading to Kachanaburi to see more Elephants and the historic Birdge on the River Kwai. I’m quite excited. I’ll post pictures of the Grand Palace a bit later – now I need to finish getting ready!