In the summer of 2019 I had the opportunity to travel to Thailand to join 5000 teacher unionists from around the planet at the Education International World Congress. It was a brilliant experience.
When you travel that far for a big meeting you build in some vacation time.
Here are some shots from tours I took.
Time to post a few more of my shots from Bangkok.
These were taken at the Royal Palace.
I have lots of great pictures from our camping weekend away but I have not had time to pull them off of my camera so I'll return to Thailand for this edition of Travel Tuesday.
A few more shots from my recent stay in Bangkok for this week's Travel Tuesday post.
It is had to believe that two weeks ago I was in Bangkok. The Congress Opening Ceremonies started at 4 and I had the day free. I booked a cooking class figuring 'when in Thailand . . .' I've taken a few Thai cooking classes but was looking froward to trying the real thing.
The instructions were pretty good - I knew that the class fronted on to a main street but you entered the building off of a back alley.
Now normally I'd not venture down a dark alley like that but the lure of a cooking class was great.
Once everyone arrived we headed out on a Tuk Tuk to the market.
The market was authentic - this was a place for locals to shop . . . not tourists. Our instructor took us around and showed us various things. We all had market baskets to carry and soon they were full of the ingredients for the class.
Back at the studio we were ushered up to the air conditioned eating area and left with iced tea to recover from the heat, humidity, sights, smells, and sounds of the market.
Our assistant came and got us about 15 minutes later and brought us to the cooking studio. We each had a cooking station. All of the ingredients we needed for the first recipe - Green Curry Paste were measured and prepped. The instructor showed us the technique and then we were off.
When our curry paste was finished we were shown how to use it to make a green curry chicken with Thai eggplant.
The second dish was tom yum gai soup.
Once our soup was finished the instructor showed us how to make Coconut Sticky Rice which we would eat for dessert with mango.
Then we were shown how to make the classic Thai street food - Pad Thai.
Finally we went back up to the eating area (mercifully cool) and all of our dishes were brought to us to enjoy.
What a feast!
I've said it to a few people - the worst meal I ate in Thailand was better than the best Thai food I have had in North America and the food we made in the cooking class was truly amazing.
I haven't posted much about my time in Bangkok - I was just too bloody busy with the Congress. Nonetheless, I did manage to find the time to take a photo or two. This should keep me set for the next few Travel Tuesday posts.
Last Saturday I had a free day in Bangkok. I booked a half day tour that took in some of the main sights in the old city. The tour visited the Temple of the Golden Buddha, or Wat Traimit, and Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, then explored the grounds that once housed the royal Siamese court.
Located at the end of Chinatown's Yaowarat Road, near Hualampong Railway Station, Wat Traimit houses the world's largest massive gold seated Buddha measuring nearly five metres in height and weighing five and a half tons. In the past, artisans crafted the Buddhas in gold and disguised them from invading armies by a covering of stucco and plaster.
The Buddha at Wat Traimit was discovered by accident when it was accidentally dropped as it was being moved, revealing, under a casing of plaster, a beautiful solid gold Sukhothai style Buddha. Pieces of the plaster are still kept on display.
Our next stop was the former Royal Palace. Built in 1782 - and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government - the Grand Palace of Bangkok is a grand old dame indeed, that continues to have visitors in awe with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail, all of which is a proud salute to the creativity and craftsmanship of Thai people. Within its walls were also the Thai war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Today, the complex remains the spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom.
Within the palace complex are several impressive buildings including Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. The robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by HM The King of Thailand, and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace complex is still used to mark all kinds of other ceremonial and auspicious happenings.
Our last stop was a temple known as Wat Pho - the temple of the reclining Buddha. It's one of the largest temple complexes in the city and famed for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 metres long and is covered in gold leaf. Wat Pho serves as home to the massive 46-meter long reclining Buddha image, the size of which must be experienced in person as it is simply breathtaking. The amazing feeling of taking in the sight of the enormous golden figure of the ‘enlightened one’ cannot be explained with words, and even more rarely captured in photos due to its massive size.
The temple grounds were beautiful and the tranquil setting almost manage to convince me that it was not a million degrees and humid as heck outside. :-)
Yes, I arrived in Bangkok in one piece. Exhausted, but in one piece.
In fairness, I was less exhausted than I would have been had I been seated in coach. Thank goodness there were points to be sued to fly first class. What a difference it made to be able to lay down and sleep. In the end I slept 8 hours on the journey from Toronto to Taiwan.
We arrived early in Taiwan so I was first in the lounge - and first in line to have a shower.
They had all of the amenities you'd need and soft music playing. . . . talk about making you feel normal again.
The flight to Bangkok wasn't eventful or anything.
Well, not completely. We flew on the famous Hello Kitty plane.
When it pulled up to the gate people screamed and ran to the window to take a pic so I knew it was a big deal.
Arriving in Bangkok was eye opening. It was hot and humid. Immigration was a treat. There were thousands of people.
Fun wow.
I was supposed to see someone with my name on a sign at the exit - that would be my driver to the hotel. Of course I didn't see anyone. I called the number of assistance and eventually worked out that I needed to go to door 6. Apparently I was just supposed to figure that out by using my psychic abilities.
Whatever, soon I was racing into the city.
OK, not racing. Bangkok traffic doesn't seem to allow for racing . . . ever. It took 90 minutes to go about 15 km. Thank goodness I was sitting in the back of an air conditioned car.
When I got to the hotel I immediately ran into some folks I knew from the Canadian delegation.
Check in was smooth. As soon as I got into my room I hopped into the shower to erase the remaining travel grime.
Now to have some adventures in Bangkok!
Here I go off on another adventure.
Every four years Education International holds a World Congress. The World Congress determines the policies, principles of action, program and budget of the organization, and elects the President, Vice Presidents and General Secretary as well as other members of EI’s Executive Board. The World Congress is composed of delegates nominated by and representing its member organizations.
This year I will be one of the Canadian delegates gathering fro World Congress in Bangkok.
This should be an adventure.
The 19 hours in the air should be an adventure.
Luckily I was able to utilize points to travel first class but it means an odd assortment of flights. By the time I return on the 28th I will have circumnavigated the globe.
I leave today at 1:45 in the morning - to be honest I didn't even know flights left that early. ARGH
I'll chat from Bangkok . . .