Chinatown Facial--Bangkok II

I sat on a stool, along a busy sidewalk in Chinatown, with my face painted white and one of the last practitioners in Bangkok of traditional Chinese facials scraping my face with a string.  "Much hair," she commented to Tod.  Today's tour of Bangkok was "up close and personal"--no car and driver, but much hopping on and off of tuk-tuks (taxis pulled by scooters), boats, and monorails, as well as walking for seven miles (per my Bodybugg) with our creative guide, Tod.  We marveled at the traffic in this city of 13 million.

We started the morning by visiting a monastery.

We arrived too late to see the hundreds of monks lined up for breakfast with their begging bowls, but we did see one monk returning from successful foraging and a group of novices working on their chanting.

Near the monastery was a woman surrounded by dogs.  Buddhists believe in protecting all life, so the stray dogs roam freely without fear of dog catchers or worse fates.  "This woman feeds the dogs," Tod said. We gave a bit to subsidize her efforts.

We enjoyed our tuk-tuk ride through the churning streets to Chinatown.

Bangkok has one of the largest Chinatowns in Asia.  The high point of our visit was my facial, but we also checked out the colorful signs and market.

"Who is that man?" I asked Tod, pointing to a billboard.  "I'm sure I've seen him before."  "That's the king," Tod informed me, "and you have seen him everywhere.  This is an important anniversary year for his reign."

The highlight of our day was a tour of the Jim Thompson House.  Thompson started the modern silk industry in Thailand following World War II.  He built a lovely home reflecting the best of Eastern and Western architecture and design, and he was a socialite in the Bangkok ex pat community.  Then, during a vacation trip to Northern Thailand, he wandered down a path at his hotel and disappeared forever. 

We paused to buy elegant "Jim Thompson" brand placemats and tablerunners, and shared a relaxing moment with Tod, thanking him for another great day.  We then plunged back into Bangkok traffic as we headed to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.