Bali, Cambodia, and Thailand: September 25, 2009

All material including photographs are ©2009 Ronald Dunlap / Doglight Studios

I woke up this morning in a defiant mood: no more being taken advantage of. I had to be a lot more skeptical of the folks we encountered.

Had another good breakfast and we walked out to the cab stand. There was a new driver there and we had to negotiate a new fare. He wanted THB 200 for the ride to the Royal Palace, but we held out for the 150 price.

We got there early and were near the head of the line when the palace opened at 8:30. We rushed in, trying to get some overall establishing shots before the place was overrun with visitors. I got five or six good angles of the Grand (Royal) Palace's Upper Terrace before the crowds arrived; I then concentrated on shooting details of the building's exterior. Bangkok's skies remind me a lot of the American northwest, always active with fantastic cloud formations. The coloration of the palace's decorations seems to be in a complementary palette, giving the overall visuals a unifying harmony.

When the crowds started to gather around the buildings, I noticed a large group of Indian military officers and their families. They all looked extremely smart, the men in their dress whites and the ladies in their wonderfully colorful saris. I got a nice composition of an officer taking a picture of his wife and her sister. I offered to take a group shot of the three of them. They accepted, and I used their camera to take the shot and then used my own to grab a high-resolution image. They looked fantastic against the building's golden textures, especially the officer in his gleaming white turban and uniform. They gave me their email address and I promised to send along some jpegs.

The Royal Palace is also the destination of a lot of students. Long serpentine lines of school kids ambled through the palace's open areas, the kids breaking formation every now and then to pull out their cell phones and shoot high-tech memories or images of self-promotion on the internet. A lot of them expressed an interest in having their picture taken with me. Sort of like the ladies of the Spanish court who used to have their portraits painted with monkeys so that the viewer would have something to contrast their beauty with. And, since I am the "World's Tenth Most Ugly Man," I'm sure these young people were thinking along the same lines.

Everyone was friendly and having a good time, including the ladies doing some of the palace renovation. We got into a discussion about my mustache, and they kept giggling away as I kept shooting. When we got to the south side of the compound, we witnessed the changing of the guard, near the chamber where the King's coronation ceremony takes place. I found this room to be finely decorated, really intriguing, and even more so because you aren't allowed to take photographs.

Ann and I found some shade and took a rest, then made our way out of the palace.

Outside, Ann thought it was a good idea to visit Chinatown. According to the guidebooks, it was supposed to be picturesque. We hailed a cab and negotiated a fee. The driver dropped us off in what he called the center of the "China district." The place was visually interesting but not spectacular. We got out and started shooting, but the place was so packed there was no viewing space, and the road was even more crowded. You couldn't step out and get a better vantage point. I got one nice shot of a lady who seemed to be the advice-giver for the block. People would come up, pay homage, and then say something (I would guess they were asking a question).

We walked into an area that seemed to be an off-duty bus depot. The coloration of the resting buses against the patina of the surrounding buildings inspired me to keep on shooting. As I was working, I noticed that one of the river ferries was docking right behind us. We were hot and sweaty (or at least I was), and a cruise on the river was a cooling prospect.

Ann spoke with the ticket seller. The deal was that you could buy a day pass for THB 150 and ride the ferries up and down the Chao Phraya all day. They'd run out of passes here, but we could board the next boat and purchase one from the conductor/ticket taker. We looked at each other and decided what the heck. The boat pulled up, and we boarded along with 20 or 30 others. Luck was with us and we found seats along the side of the boat, which allowed us to shoot uninterrupted as we cruised.

After the boat's second stop, the conductor finally got around to us and we told her we wanted to buy day passes. A little annoyed, she took our THB 300 and said she'd be back. At the next docking, we saw her get off the boat and walk over to the ticket window. When the boat pulled out, she appeared and handed us the passes and the tour booklet.

Travel Tip: The tour booklet is really informative. It's a fast way to get your sea legs and to enhance your understanding of how to navigate here in Bangkok.

At the end of the day, we got off the ferry at Sathorn Pier (Central Pier), walked over to the Skytrain station, and climbed up the stairs to the platform. We were trying to understand what to do. A man in a uniform came up and asked where we wanted to go, and then he gave us the lay of the land.

The windows with clerks in them are there just to get change from. Then you have to take the coins over to one of the machines on the wall and insert them until you have as many ride zones as you need, and then click the OK button, and then it spits out a ticket. From there, ticket in hand, you climb another set of stairs to the train platform and wait. The Skytrain is a good system but needs to be expanded to accommodate the crush of people who use the line daily.

We made our change at Siam (Central) Station and then headed east to Nana Station. After disembarking, we stopped by the market, then made the long walk from Sukhumvit Road up to the Aspen Suites. I stopped at the cab stand and arranged for a trip to the floating market tomorrow. We settled on a price and a departure time of 7:30.

Back in the room, we went about our daily camera-cleaning, review of the day's take, and washing-up for dinner. After our spaghetti and chocolate ice cream, we retired to our respective beds to get some rest. 6:00 comes early for me.

Bali, Cambodia, and Thailand: September 24, 2009

All material including photographs are ©2009 Ronald Dunlap / Doglight Studios

We had a good breakfast and were at the cab stand before 9 a.m. Wat Po Temple opened at 8 a.m. and we wanted to get there early. We found the same cab driver and negotiated a price for the ride to the temple, THB 150.

Wat Po Temple is famous for its Reclining Buddha and traditional massage school. The Reclining Buddha is the major attraction and draws thousands of tourists each day. It's 46 meters long, gold-plated with mother-of-pearl eyes. It has very impressive feet, with 108 inlaid good-luck scenes and marvelous toe swirls. The layout of the building is such that it narrows at this point, causing a constant bottleneck of visitors trying to get a good look at the feet while circumnavigating this massive statue. I stood off to the side, waiting for the crowd to abate so I could get an uncluttered shot, but after a half an hour I gave up.

Another annoying thing is that as a sign of respect you have to leave your shoes out front. That's fine, but there's no security and they take no responsiblility for lost or stolen footwear. That means your shoes are vulnerable for at least a good 20 minutes.

Travel Tip: If there's more than one of you, I suggest that one of you goes inside, while the other stays out and guards your possessions; then switch. It might only happen one in a million times, but it's a bummer to have to walk around in your stocking feet looking for a new pair of shoes.

Wat Po's massage school is supposed to be the epicenter of Asian massage, or at least that's what the PR says. It's the place where serious students come to learn and standards are set. The massage studio is on the north side of the east entrance, while the office where you buy tickets for a massage is on the south. We went inside and selected the reflexology treatment for our feet. We then followed two masseuses over to an air-conditioned studio, where we took off our shoes and socks and pulled our pants up over our knees. It took 40 minutes for the whole treatment; I totally zoned out for a good 20 minutes.

On the way out of the temple, we were stopped by an official-looking gentleman dressed in a dark suit. He asked to see our tickets, to verify we had paid the entry fee. We showed our stubs, and then he asked where we were going. We said that we were going on to the Royal Palace. He looked at his watch and said that it was closed for lunch from noon to 3 p.m. While we waited for the palace to reopen, he said, we had time to visit the Lucky Buddha and the Standing Buddha. He waved over his friend, a tuk tuk driver, who could take us to both locations for THB 30. Being extremely gullible, we agreed and climbed aboard.

The ride over to the Lucky Buddha was a fun ride through heavy traffic. He parked and we walked in. The Lucky Buddha temple compound was empty; Ann and I were the only visitors in this wonderfully serene and visually interesting place. I found the temple that housed the Lucky Buddha and peeked in. The attendant saw me and waved for me to come on in. I pointed to my boots, but he said that it didn't matter. The temple walls were a deep red, very similar to images of Himalayan temples I'd seen in books. I found the patina of the walls to be in stark contrast to the very gold surface of the Buddha itself. I loved this place, and being here by ourselves was a real plus.

Out in the tuk tuk the driver told us that because our ride was so cheap, we were obliged to stop at a couple of tourist shops so he could get free gas. We argued for a few minutes, but it became apparent that if we didn't agree he wasn't moving on. Not wanting to be stranded, we gave in and he fired up the machine. It was regrettable to have this happen after just experiencing the Lucky Buddha, which I guess wasn't so lucky for us.

We suffered through getting dropped off at a couple of jewelry stores and a men's custom tailor. Inside they were upset that I didn't wear suits. I asked if they could make a custom scarf. I had always wanted one that I could tie French Foreign Legion style, but because my neck is so big I could never find one long enough. To accommodate the size I wanted, I needed to purchase two meters of silk. The salesman pointed out that the silk was almost a meter wide, so they could make two scarves for almost the same price. Ann said she wouldn't mind getting one of them, so we split the $100 cost. We chose a nice black textured silk and finalized the purchase. They took down my name and hotel information and promised delivery for tomorrow afternoon.

Finally we got to the Standing Buddha of Wat Indrawiharn. Built in the mid-19th century, the somewhat flattened, 32-meter-tall statue was made to house relics from Sri Lanka. Even though the guidebook put this place down for not measuring up to the normal Thai religious statues standards, I found it somewhat inviting. After touring the grounds and photographing the place, I bought one of the birds at the entrance, to be set free in order to secure a blessing. It cost THB 100, and you get the birds in a little wooden cage that you take into the courtyard and liberate. After the bird was released, I noticed that its flight feathers had been clipped, so it had no real chance of sustaining flight. It was just able to scurry around on the ground. I guess that makes it easier for the seller to gather them up again and resell them the next day. I hope the seller gets all the blessings he deserves.

Back at the tuk tuk we told the driver that we wanted to go to the palace with no more stops. He started to argue, but there was a lot of transportation here and I said we'd just grab another taxi if he wasn't going to take us straight back.

We got dropped off at the corner of the palace and had to walk half a block down to the entrance. Halfway there another dark suit approached us, saying that the palace had closed early today, but that the Lucky Buddha and the Standing Buddha were open. We said that we'd just come from there. He just smiled and said that the palace was open for another hour, and then walked away.

Ann and I looked at each other and smiled, thinking we'd almost been screwed again.

Travel Tip: Make sure not to listen to anyone who doesn't have an official laminated ID badge, otherwise there's a good chance they're "shills" for some tourist trap.

We knew that we didn't have time to see the whole palace that day, but we paid our entry fee and went through the combination ticket-taker/security booth gauntlet. They asked lots of questions about our equipment and my photo-vest, wanting to know who made it. It looked more expensive than it was because I was wearing a Cambodian silk scarf to protect my neck from chafing.

I loved the palace. There were storm clouds overhead, giving the place an other-worldly look and feel. We shot for the full hour, then were escorted out as the place was closing. On the way back to the hotel, we decided to come back first thing tomorrow morning and give the place all the time it deserved.

We had a half-hour rest in our room, then suited up again and walked down to the corner mall. Ann needed some things from the pharmacy and I decided to get some more supplies from the market.

Back in the room, we set about reviewing the day's shooting and doing maintenance on our equipment. Thank god I purchased the aqua shield; it was working as good on this trip as it had last year.

Spaghetti dinner at 8:30 and to bed (or sofa) at 9:15.

Bali, Cambodia, and Thailand: September 23, 2009

All material including photographs are ©2009 Ronald Dunlap / Doglight Studios

Woke refreshed this morning, and after showering, I went out into the living room and found that Ann had had a rough night on the sofa. I'd turned off the air conditioning in the bedroom, but Ann had left it on in the living room and had gotten a bit of a chill. She was afraid that she was going to come down with something.

The dining room was crowded. We grabbed the last available table, then set about gathering goodies. I started with bacon, toast, pineapple juice, and a couple of small Danish and put in an order for a couple of eggs over-easy. The waiter came over and asked for our breakfast coupons. I'd forgotten them, so I ran up to our room and found the book of coupons we'd been given at check-in. I gave the waiter the ones with today's date on them and sat down to enjoy my meal.

The cab driver was waiting on us. I showed him the printed address again and re-checked the price. Bangkok is a big city, with a population of over 12 million in the metropolitan area. The traffic here rivals Los Angeles, but isn't as bad as Cairo. We got to the camera store at 10:20 but found it closed. The driver asked some of the locals and found that the store opened at 11. We decided to get out and wait, but first I had the driver write down the hotel's address in Thai script (a large percentage of Bangkok cabbies don't speak English, so we needed a way to get back to the hotel). I had no real idea of where we were, so we didn't wander too far, just walked a snake pattern through the side streets. You have to be careful, because sometimes when you're out shooting you're just being propelled by the visuals you encounter, and before you know it you're lost.

At 11 we were back at the store and found that it was open. They were rearranging stock when we came in, but stopped and went into their sales mode. I walked over to the counter and asked the saleswoman for a Canon 24-70mm lens. She looked towards the back and called out the owner. He walked out smiling, pulled out a new lens off the shelf, and opened it for me to examine. I asked the price and he said 52,200 baht ($1,615 -- I could get it for $250 less on Amazon.com). The problem was he guessed that I needed the lens, so there was no reason for him to bargain.

I bit the bullet and plunked down my Amex card. The paperwork took 20 minutes to fill out, but by 11:30 we were on our way again: "Bangkok here we come." Hailing a tuk-tuk (three-wheeled motor-scooter cab), we wanted to go to Wat Po Temple. The driver turned out to be a shill for a "long boat." The spiel was that the major temples were designed to be approached from the water, so if we wanted the full impact we should hire a boat and do things right. After taking us through a maze of back alleyways, the long-boat dock appeared. The rate was an hour and a half for 1,500 baht ($47). We said what the hell, handed over the cash, and got on board. (In the coming days we learned to use the water ferry system, with the same views for a tenth of the price.)

Ann was in the bow and I was mid-ship as the boat moved out into the channel. What was supposed to happen was that we'd cruise up and down the Chao Phraya River, stopping at points of interest. The boat would then dock and drop us off and wait offshore until we returned. After we'd cruised up and then down, we told them that we wanted to stop at Wat Po (I should have done more research and I would have known that it's not on the river). They dropped us off in front of another temple. We got out and said that we'd be back in 20 minutes, then moved off the dock and into the temple. Buying our tickets, we found that we were at the "Temple of Dawn." Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) was begun in 1809.

The super-structure is made of brick, covered in plaster and decorated with pieces of broken porcelain, originally brought as ballast in the hulls of Chinese ships and then discarded. The place was extremely photogenic, even in the mid-day sun. The twenty minutes passed fast, but when we got back to the dock our boat was nowhere to be seen. I stood there for a while trying to find it, but after a bit we realized we'd been screwed. We re-entered the temple and continued to shoot for a while. You can climb up onto the towers, but the stairs are extremely steep, so you really have to watch your step. I watched as some of the visitors did the butt-step coming down: moving in a sitting position from step to step, almost comical.

It was very warm and we became dehydrated pretty fast. Asking around for somewhere to buy water, we were told about the little shopping area on the side of the temple. Sitting in the shade, we got a couple of bottles of cold water and rested for a good 15 minutes. Exiting out the back of the temple, we found ourselves walking the unknown streets looking for something interesting to shoot. We must have walked a good three or four miles before the heat and humidity started to take its toll. About 3:30 we hailed a cab and showed him the address that the first cab driver had written out for us, and headed back across the city, which took forever.

When we got back, I was worn out. It had been a rough day, I'd been over-charged $250 on the lens and cheated out of $45 by the buttheads on the boat. I'd learned that tourists are put here to give the Thai people someone to take advantage of. I'd have to do a better job of not getting cheated. At dinner, Ann and I laughed over our plates of spaghetti, at us sophisticated travelers being bamboozled.

When we got back to the room I took the couch and let Ann have the bedroom. I'd rather have sore back than a sick or unhappy traveling companion.