The morning seemed to have passed by the time we reached the river ferry, the three of us stood looking at the boats bouncing on the choppy waters, it didn’t look anything like the serene crossing we had envisaged.
Woolly says – Just getting onto the boat was tricky as it rocked and swayed in the Chao Phraya river, as long boats blasted past and huge barges forced the water onto the dock. Luckily it was only a short trip across to the other side and it did give us a brilliant view of Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan known as Wat Arun for short. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Although the temple had existed since at least the seventeenth century, its distinctive prang (spires) were built in the early nineteenth century during the reign of King Rama II. It looked so white compared to the other Wat’s we had seen. Having lurched across the river and helped Zoe to the stationary platform we found ourselves in an outer part of the complex with a large and wonderfully decorated temple. The gates were guarded by two colourful demons and as the clouds dispersed the ornate decorations glinted in the sunlight, a large stunningly beautiful temple was surrounded by open verandas with lots of sitting Buddha’s whilst inside the temple sat a huge one who had large chandeliers above him. The walls were delicately painted with tales of Buddha’s life and as we sat down to admire and take it all in I watched a monk blessing one person after another, I’d like to be blessed but as part of the process involves having water shaken over you I didn’t want to risk my allergy erupting!
Having collected our footwear we wandered through some lovely gardens with old ceramic spires that had faded in their beauty over the years until we found ourselves in front of the centre piece of the site.
Woolly says – Wat Arun’s reconstruction had only been completed a year ago and I have to say they had done an excellent job, I loved the porcelain patterns that had been created, for the first time we could get right up close to the prangs, the bases had moulded statues to protect from the spirits some looked very fierce and I moved quickly past them. The work was incredible, and I paused to consider how many tiles and mosaics must have been used, millions and millions given the size and the fact that every inch was covered. They had even managed to use some full sized plates in the work! Statues were everywhere all in grey featuring Chinese men, animals and what appeared to be rabid dogs lined the surrounding courtyard, they were a treat. Having taken every shot possible and with sweat running in rivers off us all we retreated to a small tent for refreshment and to plan our next port of call.
Having checked the maps, we decided to head to something a little different, it would mean going back onto the choppy water but hopefully worth it.
Woolly says – The tourist ferry wasn’t as bumpy as expected and as we climbed onto the sky train I pulled out my ‘Mammoth Guide to Everywhere in the World’ to fill the women in on our next destination. The Jim Thomson House had once been home to James Harrison Wilson Thompson who was born in Greenville, Delaware in 1906. He attended public schools and studied at Princeton University where he became an architect. Having been stationed in Bangkok during the second world war he had fallen in love with the country and returned once he had been discharged. He found that the silk industry was a dying craft and set about resurrecting it and finding buyers for the wonderful work that was created, following a photo shoot with Vogue the Thai silk gained worldwide recognition and started to thrive. Jim bought some land by the river and started building a home for himself using six traditional Thai dwellings and joining them all together, in 1967 on a trip to the Cameroon Highlands he disappeared and has never been seen since. Strange hey! The girls looked most excited and as we made our way out of the train station and towards his former home I just hoped it wold live up to the expectations. As we turned through a gate, we found ourselves in a courtyard filled with palms, tropical plants and ponds it looked very calming and having left the bags in the required cupboards I sat watching a mammoth koi carp swimming along as the ladies went to organise the compulsory guided tour.
Were not great fans of tours but having no choice in the matter we sat and waited to begin.
Woolly says – The first room was on the ground floor and was a hallway, the lady guide told us how unusual this is as due to flooding the Thai people all live on the upper floor leaving the lower levels for the livestock. Up the wooden stairs we went admiring the silk paintings and teak walls, floors and fittings, no photography was allowed inside which was a shame as the doorways were works of carved art. The former kitchen come pantry displayed a range of 18th century china which was rather lovely and something that I knew was very much to Jo’s taste. Next door was a wonderful dining room which the guide thought was quite amusing as it had a beautiful ebony table, she explained that her country was known for eating on the floor and that a table seemed a very odd place to eat, I don’t mind where I sit as long as I get fed! We continued down a lovely corridor which held some rather fetching pictures and into an open living room which was wonderful, with huge doors that led onto a terrace it was light, and just the sort of place to relax after a long day of looking after your humans. The second bedroom had a very short bed although a standard size for Thailand it also gave the lady a chance to explain why each doorway had a step which was taller than me, apparently the large step between rooms was to keep the babies and money in and keep bad spirits out, which made me chuckle, at the thought of the money escaping and making a run for it with the baby crawling behind.
The last room was Mr Thompson’s bedroom which displayed the usual European sized bed and had a lovely veranda for him to sit on in the shade.
Woolly says – The tour had been great with a most informative and amusing guide, having taken some snaps of the ponds we headed back towards the sky train, tired, hot and sweaty but delighted with our day.