What Do The Pope and The Thai King Have in Common?
After three aggravating days planning our travel around Thailand, which required a dozen phone calls, two people on the internet, two failed reservations, and four headaches, we were more in need of a Thai massage than a hot trek to our first tourist destination, Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
As diligent and paranoid as ever, I followed the Lonely Planet’s tip of covered knees, shoulders and toes. Unfortunately, Janet, with capri pants and a scarf covering her shoulders, was turned back to borrow a long skirt and a blue shirt two sizes too big for her. Oddly, we saw several Thai girls wearing black mini-skirts wandering the grounds, suggesting the issue is not knees, but the casual pants, which reminds me that the Vatican requires women to cover their shoulders in St. Peter’s Basilica while they may feel free to reveal cleavage short of the nipple.
Upon entering the temple we were immediately besot by the splendor of gold tiles covering buildings with shapes I had never imagined, and statues of monstrous figures. Each building was unique, with little to tie it visually to the next, except for the gold tiles.
The most unusual for me was the gold bell-shaped temple, though I have seen many similar shapes since.
Most space for walking was occupied by a plethora of older Thai ladies in yellow shirts, the color of the Thai royal family,who were waiting to see the princess visit the Temple of The Emerald Buddha later in the afternoon. The women who arrived early held the prime viewing locations by placing their open umbrellas on the ground while they sheltered from the blazing sun.
The adjoining palace made me think of Disneyland, not in a clichéd way, but as if the grounds were too perfect, as if closer examination would reveal the hedges to be pâpier maché and the stones to be plaster.
