Needlework cruise: Bangkok

Our second stop on the needlework cruise was Bangkok, where we had two days. We docked at a port about two hours away from Bangkok. Apparently the ship is too big to dock in Bangkok itself.

For the first day we signed up to take a bus into and out of town. The Husband and I spent the day exploring on our own. We had about 5 hours in the city, to race around and see what we could see.

As you can imagine, it was extremely hot and humid in Bangkok. Our guide on the bus said that they have three seasons there: hot, hotter and hotter again. We were there in the hotter again season, so we dripped our way around town.

We were dropped off in town and caught the Skytrain and then a boat up the river to the Grand Palace complex, including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Catching a boat up the river to the Grand Palace.

We visited the Grand Palace complex including Queen Sirikit’s Museum of Textiles, which was wonderful with so many exquisite outfits. Over the years, the Queen has done a wonderful job of promoting Thai fashion and culture by wearing beautiful clothing while attending state functions etc. She has also set up a foundation called Support Foundation, which doesn’t have a website, but I found a good explanation of what it does and why, on the Singaporean Thai Embassy webpage.

I would have taken photos inside the museum, but unfortunately it was not permitted. The museum’s website has a great selection of images though.

As this was really our first time in Asia (apart from Singapore), we had not previously experienced Asian architecture. The buildings around the Temple of the Emerald Buddha were therefore spectacular and amazing.
I think you could say we were unprepared for the pattern and ornamentation.

We also visited the Pahurat Textile Markets in Little India, where we saw beautiful fabrics. Some of them came home with me as souvenirs for me and the girls. There was probably much more that we could have seen in this area, but the shops were closing at 4pm and we needed to get back to our bus to take us back to the ship!

Yes, that’s me saying “Oh, wow!” as I walk in the door.

On the second day in Bangkok we visited Ayutthaya north of Bangkok to see World Heritage Listed ruined temples. Ayutthaya was the Thai capital before Bangkok, and therefore it was a very important place. The temples were simply amazing, and dotted everywhere throughout the landscape of the town.

Buddha head enclosed by tree roots