After the earthy ox-cart trip with the smell of ox-poo fresh in my nose, having watched the driver shove the end of a stick in the anus of one to speed it up, and dig into the spine of the other with a sharp nail to slow it down, we got off to make use of more conventional and non-abusive transport. We headed off to the less famous of the temples in Siem Reap; the Rolous group. Off National Route 6, around 12 kms east of the town, this group is now named after a nearby village with the same French name. Its ancestral name was the most imposing Hariharalaya, or abode of Hari (Shive) and Hara (Vishnu), the gods of creation and destruction. These consist of the earliest monuments of the Angkor period.
I took out my guide book ‘Ancient Angkor’ by Freeman & Jacques, which Amita got for an absolute bargain from one of the vendors for $4 when book-shops were selling it for $30!! Legend has it that in the 1st century AD, warring tribes forced traders to seek alternative routes to established overland routes between China and India. These sailors landed, sailing along the coast, at Oc Eo, in the state of Funan, on Vietnam, an area populated by the Khmer, a ‘dark-skinned, curly-haired tribe who had migrated from the north’. They were called the Funan by the Chinese, a distortion of the Khmer word bnam, meaning mountain, and Oc Eo was the first capital. Chinese accounts state that the Funan were affluent, Indian-influenced Hindu society, living in wooden, stilted houses thatched with palm, speaking Khmer but writing in Sanskrit. They were able to dig canals using engineering skills learnt from Indian traders, and developed an inland port, Angkor Borei, the second capital. Accompanying the Indian traders were some Brahmins who converted Funanese to Hinduism. BY 5th century AD shrines had been built on Funan hilltops and the king began to add the suffix – varman – protected by; thus Indravarman would mean ‘protected by Indra god’.
By late 6th century AD, a northern Funan territory gained independence and were called Chenla by the Chinese. They traded with the Indonesians and before long battles erupted between the Chenla and people from Java. At this point the history becomes a little fragmented and the there is infighting for the next 200 years until miraculously Jayavarman II appears on the scene. Very little is known as to who he was and what he did but a stella inscription notes that ‘he spent time at court in Java’. In 795 AD, having brought the warring groups together, he declared himself ruler of a kingdom he called Kambujadesh and in 802 settled his capital at Phnom Kulen, north-east of Siem Reap.
Jayavarman took power northwards and the region later came to be known as Angkor. It derives from the Sanskrit word ‘Nagar’ which the Khmer called ‘Nakor’, meaning City. The French spoiled the original name to Angkor as they could not pronounce the word Nakor. Arguably the most notable aspect of Jayavarman’s rule was that the King was no longer a mortal but a devaraja, God-King. He later moved the capital to Hariharalaya from Phnom Kulen, present day Rolous, where he died in 850AD.
There are three temples in Rolous built by Indravarman I, grandson of Jayavarman II and his son Yashovarman I in late 9th century; Preah Ko and Bakong by the former between 977-899AD and Lolei by the latter (899-910AD). These three temples appear to herald a quest for building temples which afflicted all the rulers of Angkor. Every king built his own temple, some for worshipping, others as funerary temples (Angkor Wat), and yet others as royal palaces from which governance took place. There are over 1000 temples in the Angkor complex.
Preah Ko
Built in 879 by Indravarman I to honour the spirits of his ancestors, especially Jayavarman II. Entrance is through a ruined latterite gopura (from the Sanskrit word Gopuram, meaning archway). These temples were built with bricks (one brick kiln remains), while latterite is wet soil with an admixture of iron, zinc and other metals, which can be set when wet, and hardens when it comes in contact with air. It acted like concrete. The structure was covered with stucco upon which various carving were made, which are now in various states of disrepair. The sacred bull Nandi is now vandalized and after the holocaust of war and genocide of khmer rouge, much of these temples were looted and bricks taken away to build houses by the locals and corrupt wesetern art collectors. The lintels are wonderfully carved, one of the finest of Khmer art, into representations of kala, or time, that eats up everything. Most apt.
Bakong
Regarded as first of the state-temples of the Angkor period, the temple is a shrine to Shiva and is built as a pyramid. It has five sections from the outside and the pyramid is built in five levels, where Shiva sits at the top. There are elephants on terraces of each of the levels, and the top level has 12 small sandstone sanctuary towers, now empty, but home to lingas in the past. A most poignant welcome awaits visitors to this shrine. Outside the shring sit a group of physically challenged men and women who play poignant and melodic music on traditional instruments. All of them are victims of landmines left after the Vietnam war.
Lolei
The most recent is also in the worst state of disrepair. It originally stood on an artificial island in the centre of a reservoir called Indratataka (or Indra’pataka’ or Indra’s gate) baray or barrage.Its worth visiting to see the well-preserved Sanskrit inscriptions in the doorways of the rear towers, detailing the work rotas of temple servants. Lolei reveals the prototype of aspsaras, dancers to the Gods and God kings that are found on all Angkor temples. Two features stand out about these figures beautifually sculpted in stucco here that stand in contrast to later Angkor temples, especially the largest one - Angkor Wat. The physical health depicted of men and women on temple walls are much better during this period (800-900AD) than the other bigger temples (built 1100-1200AD), suggesting that there was probably a shortage of food or indeed the men and women were worked harder, probably due to rampant temple building, during the latter stages. The second aspect relates to foot position - in the Rolous group the feet are found pointing outwards,but later temples show the feet pointing in one direction, an influence of Egyptian style, according to our guide. Why, no one knows.
Finally, some of stucco work reveal scenes from Hindu epics and folklore, e.g. Demon king Ravana stealing Sita, Vishnu the sustainer, Shiva in a Nataraj pose, etc. on the pdiments above the lintens of Bakong.
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Siem Reap
We were flying over Siem Reap around 1.30pm in our small Bangkok Airways Fokker plane. It looked like a town with two classes based upon the type of houses on the ground. One set of houses looked big, new with brightly colured roof tiles. The other houses were rickety wooden structures with tin roofs and on stilts. The entire area was full of rivers, streams, and large ponds which are man-made reservoirs created to support the city of Angkor. I then saw the majestic Angkor Wat and what a marvellous sight it was. Rising above the humid mists of mid-afternoon Cambodian sun, hidden until we were right above it, by the forests that had for hundreds of years veiled it from human eyes, and standing resplendent in its latterite structure was the edifice I'd wanted to see since my childhood days when I read it was the largest stone temple in the world.
We later learnt that the large modern structures were hotels catering to a million visitors who descend on Siem Reap annually on their pilgrimage to Angkor, while the others were habited by the local Khmers. Amita had cleverly got e-visas which prevented us from queuing in the stifling humid heat of the afternoon. The place was quite reminiscent of Calcutta as Khmer looked like Bengalis (Amita's observation as an objective non-Bengali) with flat faces, curly hair n swarthy colours. This was our introduction to the Khmer race - smallish, swarthy people with flat faces and much less almond slant to their eyes. It was an admixture of Negrito and Meditarranean and some Mongloid racial stocks.
The airport was tiny, much like Patna airport used to be in the seventies and eighties - where only two flights operated during the day - one to Calcutta and the other to Kathmandu. As soon as we entered it, had we exited it. There was a distinct difference between Bangkok and Siem Reap, or rather between Thai and Khmer people. Thais have been modernised and appear as self-confident people. This is perhaps due to a longish interaction with westerners and the process of acculturation that emerges out of such contact. It is also due to the country and its peoples in modern times (at least since the Burmese ransacked Ayuthaya in early 18th century AD) never been colonised by the western powers in Indo-China. There were the French in Vietnam and Cambodia and the English in Burma with the Chinese treating Laos as an outpost. Thailand acted fortuitously for its people and leaders, the buffer zone that kept two powerful forces separate - the English and the French. Cambodians on the other hand had not only been exploited by the French, who are any day a far worse colonising power than the English were, but they also endured firstly the killings in its northern reaches during the Vietnam war and therafter the Killing Fields of Khmer Rouge and the failed communist experiment of Pol Pot and his Maoist 'great leap' plan. These people were less certain, overly respectful and avoiding eye contact.
Our guide was waiting outside , a portly man who suddenly emerged from a motley crowd of tuk-tuk wallas, cabbies and other sundry people with a placard saying 'Sarkar and family'. 'Hello' he said and a mouthful of uneven teeth emerged in a broad smile. 'I'm your guide Sukun and this is your driver Ratha', pointing to a small man with no smile, who folded his hands in 'Suswasti'. He pronounced Ratha as 'Rota'. I asked if it meant a chariot in Khmer language. It did but had another meaning too - 'government', explained Sukun. We entered an ancient Mercedes people's carrier which must have been built in the 70s and seemed to be a relic of old James Bond movie. A cab drive from the airport into town is about $5 US. The Cambodians drive on the right side and we were soon moving slowly in a car with a poor air-conditioning system. It was quite evident that the car had seen better days. Its then that I noticed how few the number of cars there were on the roads. There was a motley crowd of people on tuk-tuks, the archetypal mode of transportation in south and south-east Asia, on feet and on cycles with a large carrier on the front handles, a relic of the Pol Pot days. The tuk-tuks of Siem Reap were very different from others I've seen elsewhere. These were a two-wheeled structure that was pulled around by mopeds!! These are most comfortable and airy and cost around $1-2 per person – you could squeeze in three to four people into one. A day-long trip to the Angkor temples and back would cost you anywhere around $30.
After checking in to Tara Angkor Hotel a four-star hotel newly constructed (Siem Reap has a new hotel sprining up every corner everyday of the year), we were welcomed by a wonderful drink served a wonderful way. It was palm juice in a glass with a straw made out of stem of lotus with a water lilly for garnishing. The staff were resplendent in chocholate brown dresses and the women wore a wonderful combination of shirt-top, a sarong wrapped around with a sash across their shoulders. We ate at the restaurant and having had a shower to driver away the sweat and tiredness, drove through the town.
Siem Reap is a wonderfully laid-back town, a reminder of how life was in millennia gone by. We met visitors who came and could never leave. The people are really friendly, much more so than the Thais, probably because alongside their niceness they are also quite shy and laugh embarrassingly. In fact we learnt that anger is not an emotion that they recognize and if someone shouts, they laugh, not to mock but in confusion. Strange for a people so abused by Commie lords in the seventies. The Siem Reap river flows through the town and one must definitely try out the local day and night market. Like most SE Asian towns, these are at different places. Then there’s the overpriced National Museum with entry tickets of $9 each and the Foreign Correspondents Club if you are missing European style, which we clearly weren’t. Finally, you could give the local Body massage a try – again a trade, which like in Bangkok, if almost always carried out by women. Funnily, we saw one tuk-tuk on the back of which was a poster saying ‘Body massage for men BY men. Free pick up from your hotels and free drop-offs’. Amita, who had warned me against any kind of massage, giggled and said she wouldn’t have any problems if I used the all-male one!
There are multiple eating places and my word Khmer food is absolutely gorgeous. Very little frying, lots of fermented stuff, and freshly cooked stuff on char-coal fires. The advent of gas stove has been delayed and except for hotels, no one has seen a microwave. In fact when Taksh ordered a lasagna at our 4-star hotel, the embarrassed looking manager came out after quite a while and apologized ‘Sorry sir, no lasagna, our microwave is not working today’. Our Panasonic microwave works many times a day but has not let us down in nearly 12 years of service. Alright, Mr Manager!
Later in the afternoon we took a ride on an ox-cart through the countryside. That's right - ox-cart. Its something I'd never done before despite coming from India, from where this mode of transportation arrived in Cambodia, or Kambuj kingdom as ancient India called it. It was the French who turned this into Cambodge which was distorted to Campuchea and from it Cambodia, a name that arrived only about a couple of decades ago. Due to the Indian influence, unlike other south-eastern countries, there were two oxes (rather than a single beast of burden as is the Chinese way) being yoked to a cart with large wooden wheels. Whilst this stil is visible in parts of rural India, it was surprising to see it in Cambodia. The countryside is very similar to the Bengals with lots of ponds, ducks, fish, palm trees, thatched roofs and people who are washed and clean. The facial features of the poeple could be easily found in India's north-east particularly in the state of Assam. In fact our guide Sukun said that the Khmer believe that they are the original inhabitants of an Indian state called 'Khameru'. Having established that we were Indians albeit travelling from England, he asked us if there was such a state in India. The word 'Kamrup' (ancient name for Assam) immediately sprang to mind and its quite possible that Kamrup has become distorted to Kamr and further into Khmer.
Kamrup lay just north-west of Kausambhi, ancient name for Burma.
We later learnt that the large modern structures were hotels catering to a million visitors who descend on Siem Reap annually on their pilgrimage to Angkor, while the others were habited by the local Khmers. Amita had cleverly got e-visas which prevented us from queuing in the stifling humid heat of the afternoon. The place was quite reminiscent of Calcutta as Khmer looked like Bengalis (Amita's observation as an objective non-Bengali) with flat faces, curly hair n swarthy colours. This was our introduction to the Khmer race - smallish, swarthy people with flat faces and much less almond slant to their eyes. It was an admixture of Negrito and Meditarranean and some Mongloid racial stocks.
The airport was tiny, much like Patna airport used to be in the seventies and eighties - where only two flights operated during the day - one to Calcutta and the other to Kathmandu. As soon as we entered it, had we exited it. There was a distinct difference between Bangkok and Siem Reap, or rather between Thai and Khmer people. Thais have been modernised and appear as self-confident people. This is perhaps due to a longish interaction with westerners and the process of acculturation that emerges out of such contact. It is also due to the country and its peoples in modern times (at least since the Burmese ransacked Ayuthaya in early 18th century AD) never been colonised by the western powers in Indo-China. There were the French in Vietnam and Cambodia and the English in Burma with the Chinese treating Laos as an outpost. Thailand acted fortuitously for its people and leaders, the buffer zone that kept two powerful forces separate - the English and the French. Cambodians on the other hand had not only been exploited by the French, who are any day a far worse colonising power than the English were, but they also endured firstly the killings in its northern reaches during the Vietnam war and therafter the Killing Fields of Khmer Rouge and the failed communist experiment of Pol Pot and his Maoist 'great leap' plan. These people were less certain, overly respectful and avoiding eye contact.
Our guide was waiting outside , a portly man who suddenly emerged from a motley crowd of tuk-tuk wallas, cabbies and other sundry people with a placard saying 'Sarkar and family'. 'Hello' he said and a mouthful of uneven teeth emerged in a broad smile. 'I'm your guide Sukun and this is your driver Ratha', pointing to a small man with no smile, who folded his hands in 'Suswasti'. He pronounced Ratha as 'Rota'. I asked if it meant a chariot in Khmer language. It did but had another meaning too - 'government', explained Sukun. We entered an ancient Mercedes people's carrier which must have been built in the 70s and seemed to be a relic of old James Bond movie. A cab drive from the airport into town is about $5 US. The Cambodians drive on the right side and we were soon moving slowly in a car with a poor air-conditioning system. It was quite evident that the car had seen better days. Its then that I noticed how few the number of cars there were on the roads. There was a motley crowd of people on tuk-tuks, the archetypal mode of transportation in south and south-east Asia, on feet and on cycles with a large carrier on the front handles, a relic of the Pol Pot days. The tuk-tuks of Siem Reap were very different from others I've seen elsewhere. These were a two-wheeled structure that was pulled around by mopeds!! These are most comfortable and airy and cost around $1-2 per person – you could squeeze in three to four people into one. A day-long trip to the Angkor temples and back would cost you anywhere around $30.
After checking in to Tara Angkor Hotel a four-star hotel newly constructed (Siem Reap has a new hotel sprining up every corner everyday of the year), we were welcomed by a wonderful drink served a wonderful way. It was palm juice in a glass with a straw made out of stem of lotus with a water lilly for garnishing. The staff were resplendent in chocholate brown dresses and the women wore a wonderful combination of shirt-top, a sarong wrapped around with a sash across their shoulders. We ate at the restaurant and having had a shower to driver away the sweat and tiredness, drove through the town.
Siem Reap is a wonderfully laid-back town, a reminder of how life was in millennia gone by. We met visitors who came and could never leave. The people are really friendly, much more so than the Thais, probably because alongside their niceness they are also quite shy and laugh embarrassingly. In fact we learnt that anger is not an emotion that they recognize and if someone shouts, they laugh, not to mock but in confusion. Strange for a people so abused by Commie lords in the seventies. The Siem Reap river flows through the town and one must definitely try out the local day and night market. Like most SE Asian towns, these are at different places. Then there’s the overpriced National Museum with entry tickets of $9 each and the Foreign Correspondents Club if you are missing European style, which we clearly weren’t. Finally, you could give the local Body massage a try – again a trade, which like in Bangkok, if almost always carried out by women. Funnily, we saw one tuk-tuk on the back of which was a poster saying ‘Body massage for men BY men. Free pick up from your hotels and free drop-offs’. Amita, who had warned me against any kind of massage, giggled and said she wouldn’t have any problems if I used the all-male one!
There are multiple eating places and my word Khmer food is absolutely gorgeous. Very little frying, lots of fermented stuff, and freshly cooked stuff on char-coal fires. The advent of gas stove has been delayed and except for hotels, no one has seen a microwave. In fact when Taksh ordered a lasagna at our 4-star hotel, the embarrassed looking manager came out after quite a while and apologized ‘Sorry sir, no lasagna, our microwave is not working today’. Our Panasonic microwave works many times a day but has not let us down in nearly 12 years of service. Alright, Mr Manager!
Later in the afternoon we took a ride on an ox-cart through the countryside. That's right - ox-cart. Its something I'd never done before despite coming from India, from where this mode of transportation arrived in Cambodia, or Kambuj kingdom as ancient India called it. It was the French who turned this into Cambodge which was distorted to Campuchea and from it Cambodia, a name that arrived only about a couple of decades ago. Due to the Indian influence, unlike other south-eastern countries, there were two oxes (rather than a single beast of burden as is the Chinese way) being yoked to a cart with large wooden wheels. Whilst this stil is visible in parts of rural India, it was surprising to see it in Cambodia. The countryside is very similar to the Bengals with lots of ponds, ducks, fish, palm trees, thatched roofs and people who are washed and clean. The facial features of the poeple could be easily found in India's north-east particularly in the state of Assam. In fact our guide Sukun said that the Khmer believe that they are the original inhabitants of an Indian state called 'Khameru'. Having established that we were Indians albeit travelling from England, he asked us if there was such a state in India. The word 'Kamrup' (ancient name for Assam) immediately sprang to mind and its quite possible that Kamrup has become distorted to Kamr and further into Khmer.
Kamrup lay just north-west of Kausambhi, ancient name for Burma.
Suvarnabhoomi airport: A structure worth the name
Our day started early. After checking out of the jazzy Majestic Grande (have not been able to figure out the value of an additional ‘e’ ), we headed for Suvarnabhumi airport again. This must rank as one of the engineering art de resistance amongst airports. Now, I’ve had the fortune of seeing many airports but Bangkok’s airport is in a different league altogether. As you approach the airport traveling along wide avenues, you are greeted by gilded Garudas standing on either side of the roads, with folded hands. The airport, particularly at night, is backlighted with a fluorescent shade of blue and grey. The long terminals are covered by interlacing metal clasps on some kind of industrial fabric stretched like tarpaulins. The main concourse is another masterpiece with the whole structure being held up apparently by metal wires. The airport is built like a futuristic tent in short.
As you enter it, you are welcomed by giant characters from the epic Ramayana and as you enter the main area after security check, there is the scene of ‘Samudra-manthan’, or the creation story for Hindus. The story depicted in beautifully sculpted structure is a tug of war between two forces – dark and light – that are churning the ocean floor. Much like potter’s wheel, this churning creates the highest mountain in mythic times, Mount Meru, atop which lies Lord Vishnu, a Primordial god directing the celestial play. The stark contrast created by a backdrop of modern brand names like ‘Gucci’ and Armani make the scene even more attractive.
As you enter it, you are welcomed by giant characters from the epic Ramayana and as you enter the main area after security check, there is the scene of ‘Samudra-manthan’, or the creation story for Hindus. The story depicted in beautifully sculpted structure is a tug of war between two forces – dark and light – that are churning the ocean floor. Much like potter’s wheel, this churning creates the highest mountain in mythic times, Mount Meru, atop which lies Lord Vishnu, a Primordial god directing the celestial play. The stark contrast created by a backdrop of modern brand names like ‘Gucci’ and Armani make the scene even more attractive.
Ode to a Butterfly
Dear Butterfly thank you for existing
For filling my life with hope and joy
Where do you come from undulating?
Gently fluttering with no apparent toil?
Life was grey memories dull future bleak
Drifted in with you a rainbow of colours
On wings of iridiscence and imagination
And took away my grind groans and grunts.
Days are now a stream of joyous escapade
You fill it with movement and luminiscence
But when with wings fluttering you levitate
I fear with you will fly away my happiness.
Does it never cross your mind, Oh butterfly?
Life isn't simply sun nectar and flower hedge
Nature is harsh and always takes its price
Pain infirmity death is just around the edge?
But of course!! Convoluted and contorted
Your body has survived the eternal test
In internal habitats varied beyond compare
Metamorphosed you triumph over the rest.
Vibgyor survivor is an epitome of endurance.
Traversing from inert mass to wondrous worm
You've seen and felt it all in only a single life-span
having escaped the deadly trap of the cocoon.
You've taught me the best lesson of life
Contentment isn't transient sensorial delight
We're travellers upon an eternal path
To learn how to end hunger, pain and strife
Life is to sway in motion, along points on a line
Delight simply in existence and nothing else
To harm no one, utter no sound, make no demands
Then silently depart the earthly jurisprudence.
You're my Monarch, a Jezebel, my Painted Lady
My Viceroy, Admiral, Tiger and so much more
But most of all, you're my treasure trove
of freedom, love, beauty and so much more.
For filling my life with hope and joy
Where do you come from undulating?
Gently fluttering with no apparent toil?
Life was grey memories dull future bleak
Drifted in with you a rainbow of colours
On wings of iridiscence and imagination
And took away my grind groans and grunts.
Days are now a stream of joyous escapade
You fill it with movement and luminiscence
But when with wings fluttering you levitate
I fear with you will fly away my happiness.
Does it never cross your mind, Oh butterfly?
Life isn't simply sun nectar and flower hedge
Nature is harsh and always takes its price
Pain infirmity death is just around the edge?
But of course!! Convoluted and contorted
Your body has survived the eternal test
In internal habitats varied beyond compare
Metamorphosed you triumph over the rest.
Vibgyor survivor is an epitome of endurance.
Traversing from inert mass to wondrous worm
You've seen and felt it all in only a single life-span
having escaped the deadly trap of the cocoon.
You've taught me the best lesson of life
Contentment isn't transient sensorial delight
We're travellers upon an eternal path
To learn how to end hunger, pain and strife
Life is to sway in motion, along points on a line
Delight simply in existence and nothing else
To harm no one, utter no sound, make no demands
Then silently depart the earthly jurisprudence.
You're my Monarch, a Jezebel, my Painted Lady
My Viceroy, Admiral, Tiger and so much more
But most of all, you're my treasure trove
of freedom, love, beauty and so much more.
Friday, 31 December 2010
The Eternal Time Machine: From Year to Another Year
As the Sun sets on a year
And the Moon keeps the score
It arises in another
Bringing hope, light and shadows
Turning stones into marvels
And life upon Gods
Churning the eternal Sea
Rending death upon life
To life overwhelming death.
Till it reaches the silent end
Or is it the beginning?
Happy New Year
And the Moon keeps the score
It arises in another
Bringing hope, light and shadows
Turning stones into marvels
And life upon Gods
Churning the eternal Sea
Rending death upon life
To life overwhelming death.
Till it reaches the silent end
Or is it the beginning?
Happy New Year
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Thailand’s Royalty
Thais revere royalty. Besides nation and religion, the monarchy is very highly regarded – negative comment about the king or any member of the royal family is a social as well as a legal taboo. We were surprised that our Thai friend would fold his hand before every banner depicting the Thai king Bhumibol as though he was the lord Buddha himself. The royal family is the Chakri clan. Phaya Chakri, one of the generals of King Thaksin, came to power after the brief misadventure of Takshin. After taking over in 1782, the first Chakri king moved the capital once more, from Thonburi across the river, to a smaller settlement known as Bang Makok or olive plum riverbank, named for the trees growing there in plentiful. Bang Makok later became known as Bangkok. Phaya Chakri himself took the name of Rama I after the hero of the Indian epic Ramayana. The break with Ayuthaya was geographical as well as ideological. As Chakri shared no bloodline with any earlier royalty, he granted loyalty by modeling himself as a Dhammaraja (Dharma King) supporting Buddhist law rather than Devaraja (God King) linked to the divine and who supported Brahmaism (Brahma is still worshipped today in Thailand). Ayuthaya’s control of Laos and Cambodia was transferred to Bangkok and thousands of slave labour worked as coolies alongside common Thais who could not pay taxes. The Chakri clan went about establishing the waterways of Bangkok building canals and temples at a rapid pace until the reign of Rama III (King Nang Klao 1824-51).
Visitors to Bangkok should not miss Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn (Aruna). It was built by King Takshin as a temple that glorified Vishnu atop the vehicle of Eravan, the elephant, still resplendent on the 82 metre prang (spire) of the temple, built in Khmer style. This was built by Rama II and is adorned by millions of pieces of glazed porcelain, common temple adornment when Chinese ships calling at Bangkok used broken porcelain as ballast. It was the seat of the Emerald Buddha which is like a talisman of the Thai kingdom. It now resides in Wat Phra Kaew, part of the royal houses and temples in Bangkok.
No one knows who sculpted it or when, but history has it that it first appeared in Chaing Rai in northern Thailand in 1434. Legend says it might have been sculpted in India and brought to Thailand from Ceylon. In the 15th century the Buddha was covered in plaster with gold leaf covering, a common way of masking Buddha images to deter pilferers. Over time its identity was forgotten until after a fall, the original brilliant green colour revealed itself (Emerald Buddha is carved from nephrite, a form of jade, found in Burma predominantly). During clashes with Laos, the Emerald Buddha was taken to Luang Prabang in Laos where it remained for over 200 years until the Bangkok based army recovered it and placed it first in Thonburi and then in Bangkok. The Laotians still claim that the Thais stole their emerald Buddha. It now resides in the Royal Palace complex which consists of various buildings, which is usually a must for all visitors.
Finally, about 60 kms outside Bangkok is the summer palace of Bang Pa In, where the royalty moved to avoid the intense rains of summer. It is a potpourri of various architechtural styles and reflects either the ecelectic taste of Rama IV (King Mongkut) and his son Rama V (King Chulalongkorn), or a tendency to display European styles to the Thai people. It has a Thai, Chinese and Swiss chalet style mansion (the preferred residence). There is a wonderful lookout tower and an American style garden house, also called gingerbread architechture. There are Italian style garden but the overall impression is one of chaos and architechtural gluttony. I loved the Chinese mansion with its intricate carving and miniature decorations. Tomorrow we fly off to Siem Reap in Cambodia, a place I’ve wanted to see since childhood – that dream of an edifice – the Angkor Wat.
Visitors to Bangkok should not miss Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn (Aruna). It was built by King Takshin as a temple that glorified Vishnu atop the vehicle of Eravan, the elephant, still resplendent on the 82 metre prang (spire) of the temple, built in Khmer style. This was built by Rama II and is adorned by millions of pieces of glazed porcelain, common temple adornment when Chinese ships calling at Bangkok used broken porcelain as ballast. It was the seat of the Emerald Buddha which is like a talisman of the Thai kingdom. It now resides in Wat Phra Kaew, part of the royal houses and temples in Bangkok.
No one knows who sculpted it or when, but history has it that it first appeared in Chaing Rai in northern Thailand in 1434. Legend says it might have been sculpted in India and brought to Thailand from Ceylon. In the 15th century the Buddha was covered in plaster with gold leaf covering, a common way of masking Buddha images to deter pilferers. Over time its identity was forgotten until after a fall, the original brilliant green colour revealed itself (Emerald Buddha is carved from nephrite, a form of jade, found in Burma predominantly). During clashes with Laos, the Emerald Buddha was taken to Luang Prabang in Laos where it remained for over 200 years until the Bangkok based army recovered it and placed it first in Thonburi and then in Bangkok. The Laotians still claim that the Thais stole their emerald Buddha. It now resides in the Royal Palace complex which consists of various buildings, which is usually a must for all visitors.
Finally, about 60 kms outside Bangkok is the summer palace of Bang Pa In, where the royalty moved to avoid the intense rains of summer. It is a potpourri of various architechtural styles and reflects either the ecelectic taste of Rama IV (King Mongkut) and his son Rama V (King Chulalongkorn), or a tendency to display European styles to the Thai people. It has a Thai, Chinese and Swiss chalet style mansion (the preferred residence). There is a wonderful lookout tower and an American style garden house, also called gingerbread architechture. There are Italian style garden but the overall impression is one of chaos and architechtural gluttony. I loved the Chinese mansion with its intricate carving and miniature decorations. Tomorrow we fly off to Siem Reap in Cambodia, a place I’ve wanted to see since childhood – that dream of an edifice – the Angkor Wat.
Bangkok: Venice of the East
The one activity every tourist should do in Bangkok is to hire a long-tail boat and take a ride down its mazework of waterways and canals or khlongs. Best, have a dinner on a river cruise down Chhao Phraya river - an unforgettable experience. History has it that during the reign of first five Chakri dynasty kings (the current dynasty is Chakri), the lion’s share of public works involved building extensive waterways and canals to link its new capital Bangkok to various cities and temples of importance. Khlong Damuen Saduak is a major tourist attraction with its esoteric floating markets, which in historical times provided housewives with daily fresh supply of vegetables and meat, it now caters pretty much to ogle-eyed tourists (watch out for the blog covering this). In facts canals was the primary means of traveling until 1861 when newly arrived European merchants and diplomats signed a petition requesting King Rama IV to provide roads so that they could enjoy horse-riding – the king acquiesced but with a warning to the local people. The King said ‘Whatever they (the Europeans) have invented or done which we should know of and do, we can imitate and learn from them, but do not wholeheartedly believe in them’. Funnily, despite Thailand’s far greater experience of foreign tourists and industry than India, because it was never colonized by the west, it still holds its cultural identity far better than India does. You would not be surprised if a hip 21st century teenager, who is a trans-sexual gay, dabbling in western culture, to respectfully bow with folded hands when he is introduced to a guest (like we were) and continue to live with his/her family which accepts him. Old wine in new bottles.
Portuguese priest Fernao Pinto was the first to use the epithet ‘Venice of the East’ referring to Ayuthaya but that’s what Bangkok looks like from the boats today and the phrase is apt for it too. In 1855 British envoy Sir John Bowring noted in his reports ’The highways of Bangkok are not streets or roads but the river and the canals. Boats are the universal means of conveyance and communication’. Another adventurous Italian nobleman Salvatore Besso wrote in 1911, ‘The Venice of the East – the capital still wrapped in mystery…in spite of the thousand efforts of modernization amid its maze of canals, and in spite of the popularity of the reigning monarch … from the crowded dock-raods of the river, which reminds me of Giudecca (Grand Canal of Venice), across the intricate mass of.. the Chinese quarter.. which whilst resembling Canton, is still more Ventian. Were it not for the queues, almond eyes and odours, decidedly Oriental, the illusion would be very often be complete…’
Portuguese priest Fernao Pinto was the first to use the epithet ‘Venice of the East’ referring to Ayuthaya but that’s what Bangkok looks like from the boats today and the phrase is apt for it too. In 1855 British envoy Sir John Bowring noted in his reports ’The highways of Bangkok are not streets or roads but the river and the canals. Boats are the universal means of conveyance and communication’. Another adventurous Italian nobleman Salvatore Besso wrote in 1911, ‘The Venice of the East – the capital still wrapped in mystery…in spite of the thousand efforts of modernization amid its maze of canals, and in spite of the popularity of the reigning monarch … from the crowded dock-raods of the river, which reminds me of Giudecca (Grand Canal of Venice), across the intricate mass of.. the Chinese quarter.. which whilst resembling Canton, is still more Ventian. Were it not for the queues, almond eyes and odours, decidedly Oriental, the illusion would be very often be complete…’
Bangkok: Ancient city Modern veneer
Bangkok is a very modern city and not just in terms of architecture and technology. It predates Indian economic surge by almost 30 years and has experienced a stock market debacle in the early nineties and a crash of its currency – the Thai Baht in last nineties when the IMF coached its financial recovery. So in many ways it has gone through what the US and Europe are going through now and what India and China have not since their economies burgeoned.
Whilst Mumbai dreams of becoming the next Shanghai, and New Delhi hopes to become Taiwan, Bangkok offers a template of how Indian cities might look in the future. This is because of the cultural similarity between the two nations – particularly in the way religiosity of the common Thai, their reverence for the royalty, much like our reverence for our political royalty, their tolerant and welcoming manner, their love for bargaining about everything, and finally the importance eating and sharing within families has. Their ‘cool heart’ or jai yen characteristic means that you are unlikely to see heated arguments and certainly no fights. In fact we hardly saw a single policeman – traffic or otherwise during our time there, despite hour long traffic jams and a thriving sex industry. They regulate themselves. No honking, and no shouting. In fact Thais will look at your with alarm if you raise your voice and become rude. They tend to smile or laugh nervously as they don’t know how to react. Do bargain when there for most things, even in big shops are inflated in price. The best bet is to start at 50% and stop somewhere between 2/3 or 4/5 of the asking price. Do this with a smile and be aware whenever someone says ‘ this one costs 100baht but only for you I’ll give it for 90baht’. Its more likely to cost around 50-60Baht. One GBP is 45 Baht, which is valued 1.5 times that of Indian Rupee.
Thais are 80% Buddhists and this religion receives royal patronage. However people are free to practice any other religion and we saw Portugese churches, Mosques, and Indian temples. Thais practice Theravada Buddhism where they believe in one Buddha who attained Nirvana – they call it Nippana, and hence no Dalai Lama for them, unlike the Mahayana group which believes in the reincarnation of Buddha, who comes to earth again and again (like our avatars) through the Dalai. In fact the northern Asian countries of China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Taiwan are all Mahayana while the southern countries are Theravada – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Burma and Cambodia. Thai Buddhism is a conglomeration of Hindu rituals, ancient animistic practice of worshipping spirits, and Buddhism. Thus, you will have priests presiding over Buddhist temples (which are not called pagodas), offerings of food, fruits, flowers, incense and money are made to appease the lord, requests are made to god (‘If my daughter gets married, I shall offer you Baht 1000, and so on), and a great deal of superstition abounds. In fact you will find in every temple, the Chinese practice (this one comes from Mahayana) of shaking a container full of wooden/bamboo sticks with numbers written on them, held within two folded hands, until the rapid rhythmic shaking throws out one stick. ON the wall would be a stand with messages/advice written on paper under various numbers and you would be expected to go check the number you got. Much like the Indian practice of the parrot picking out a sheet on the roadside. The difference is that Thais take it very seriously as though the advice is straight from the Lord Buddha himself.
In Bangkok, the ancient lives alongside the modern. After the Thai economy crashed in early 90’s increasingly Thai women from the northern districts turned to catering to men by offering traditional Thai massage for small earnings as the men folk turned to alchohol and domestic abuse. This coincided with the end of the drug trade in the Golden Triangle (wait for a blog covering this in the next few days), where thousands of poor farmers were stopped from growing poppies for opium (much like the situation is in Afghanistan today), making them paupers overnight. Now Thai massage is like Ayurvedic massage where the masseuse uses elbows and knees gently to apply pressure in key points to release stress, tension and pain. But some women turned this into a sex trade and others found that much more income could be made if they offered themselves after their skills.
This coincided with a boom of cheap and gratuitous tourism from European countries where men flocked in hundreds every year to benefit from cheap sex industry which was safer than the more vicious industry of the West. Some of these men started marrying these poor women, usually middle aged or older European men, often British. The women jumped at the prospect of leaving a sordid practice behind, going to the UK (Germany, and eastern European countries) and living a comfortable, albeit a lonely life. I remember chatting with a London cabbie once who’d a young Thai wife. He said the reason he got married was ‘because western women think selfishly, but Thais know how to respect and love their men. When I get back home, my bath is ready and hot sumptuous food is on the table. She does not ask for much exceptt respect and equality. I’m more than pleased to provide that’.
In recent times the Patpong and Nana areas have become havens for gay and trans-sexual men. Thailans has a larger than usual share of hermaphrodites (eunuchs in lay terms) according to a local friend, who have always been accepted as part of the society, unlike India where they are marginalized and ostracized. These men, called 'ladyboys' are now offering themselves as consort and attracting a type of tourism that Thailand can do without. But its tolerant nature means that the government does not put a stop to it nor does the religious nature of the society abhor this blatant sexuality. The funny part is that these places, called go-go bars abound and nestle comfortably next to normal shops and restaurants. I found even burkha-clad women (the little Arabia is smack in the middle of Nana district) with their husbands walking calmly through lines of women and gay men standing on the sidewalks. No cheap cat-calls for those soliciting busines and no lewd gestures by those walking through their districts - that's 'Jai yen' or cool heart for you.
Whilst Mumbai dreams of becoming the next Shanghai, and New Delhi hopes to become Taiwan, Bangkok offers a template of how Indian cities might look in the future. This is because of the cultural similarity between the two nations – particularly in the way religiosity of the common Thai, their reverence for the royalty, much like our reverence for our political royalty, their tolerant and welcoming manner, their love for bargaining about everything, and finally the importance eating and sharing within families has. Their ‘cool heart’ or jai yen characteristic means that you are unlikely to see heated arguments and certainly no fights. In fact we hardly saw a single policeman – traffic or otherwise during our time there, despite hour long traffic jams and a thriving sex industry. They regulate themselves. No honking, and no shouting. In fact Thais will look at your with alarm if you raise your voice and become rude. They tend to smile or laugh nervously as they don’t know how to react. Do bargain when there for most things, even in big shops are inflated in price. The best bet is to start at 50% and stop somewhere between 2/3 or 4/5 of the asking price. Do this with a smile and be aware whenever someone says ‘ this one costs 100baht but only for you I’ll give it for 90baht’. Its more likely to cost around 50-60Baht. One GBP is 45 Baht, which is valued 1.5 times that of Indian Rupee.
Thais are 80% Buddhists and this religion receives royal patronage. However people are free to practice any other religion and we saw Portugese churches, Mosques, and Indian temples. Thais practice Theravada Buddhism where they believe in one Buddha who attained Nirvana – they call it Nippana, and hence no Dalai Lama for them, unlike the Mahayana group which believes in the reincarnation of Buddha, who comes to earth again and again (like our avatars) through the Dalai. In fact the northern Asian countries of China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Taiwan are all Mahayana while the southern countries are Theravada – Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Burma and Cambodia. Thai Buddhism is a conglomeration of Hindu rituals, ancient animistic practice of worshipping spirits, and Buddhism. Thus, you will have priests presiding over Buddhist temples (which are not called pagodas), offerings of food, fruits, flowers, incense and money are made to appease the lord, requests are made to god (‘If my daughter gets married, I shall offer you Baht 1000, and so on), and a great deal of superstition abounds. In fact you will find in every temple, the Chinese practice (this one comes from Mahayana) of shaking a container full of wooden/bamboo sticks with numbers written on them, held within two folded hands, until the rapid rhythmic shaking throws out one stick. ON the wall would be a stand with messages/advice written on paper under various numbers and you would be expected to go check the number you got. Much like the Indian practice of the parrot picking out a sheet on the roadside. The difference is that Thais take it very seriously as though the advice is straight from the Lord Buddha himself.
In Bangkok, the ancient lives alongside the modern. After the Thai economy crashed in early 90’s increasingly Thai women from the northern districts turned to catering to men by offering traditional Thai massage for small earnings as the men folk turned to alchohol and domestic abuse. This coincided with the end of the drug trade in the Golden Triangle (wait for a blog covering this in the next few days), where thousands of poor farmers were stopped from growing poppies for opium (much like the situation is in Afghanistan today), making them paupers overnight. Now Thai massage is like Ayurvedic massage where the masseuse uses elbows and knees gently to apply pressure in key points to release stress, tension and pain. But some women turned this into a sex trade and others found that much more income could be made if they offered themselves after their skills.
This coincided with a boom of cheap and gratuitous tourism from European countries where men flocked in hundreds every year to benefit from cheap sex industry which was safer than the more vicious industry of the West. Some of these men started marrying these poor women, usually middle aged or older European men, often British. The women jumped at the prospect of leaving a sordid practice behind, going to the UK (Germany, and eastern European countries) and living a comfortable, albeit a lonely life. I remember chatting with a London cabbie once who’d a young Thai wife. He said the reason he got married was ‘because western women think selfishly, but Thais know how to respect and love their men. When I get back home, my bath is ready and hot sumptuous food is on the table. She does not ask for much exceptt respect and equality. I’m more than pleased to provide that’.
In recent times the Patpong and Nana areas have become havens for gay and trans-sexual men. Thailans has a larger than usual share of hermaphrodites (eunuchs in lay terms) according to a local friend, who have always been accepted as part of the society, unlike India where they are marginalized and ostracized. These men, called 'ladyboys' are now offering themselves as consort and attracting a type of tourism that Thailand can do without. But its tolerant nature means that the government does not put a stop to it nor does the religious nature of the society abhor this blatant sexuality. The funny part is that these places, called go-go bars abound and nestle comfortably next to normal shops and restaurants. I found even burkha-clad women (the little Arabia is smack in the middle of Nana district) with their husbands walking calmly through lines of women and gay men standing on the sidewalks. No cheap cat-calls for those soliciting busines and no lewd gestures by those walking through their districts - that's 'Jai yen' or cool heart for you.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Food, markets and meals of Thailand, Laos & Cambodia - Part II
Then there is a variety of noodles too although nothing is really served without rice. You will not find any semblance of bread anywhere unless you went to a bakery, Indian or a western eatery. Noodles are made from either rice, wheat or mung daal flour. You have hofun – wide, flat rice-flour noodles, dried rice vermicelli – very fine rice threads, egg noodles or bami made from wheat and similar to ramen, and glass or cellophane noodles – thin transparent noodles made from mung bean flour.
All south east Asian dishes contain coconut – either in the form of milk, oil or grated into pastes and curries. Thais particularly put palm sugar in everything so one must either be prepared for sweet dishes or ask them to desist. However, there is also a tremendous use of red and very hot chillies – dried, red and green varieties and the really hot variety of Bird’s Eye chillies in UK - which are usually made into paste and put in dishes. You don’t realize the chilli content of your dish as its masked by palm sugar (they don’t use cane sugar) and coconut milk but my word, you do realize it the next morning in the toilet. Other spices commonly used pretty much everywhere are coriander – seeds, leaves and roots, galangal – a rhizome similar to ginger with a distinctive and often pungent fragrance, kafir lime juice and leaves, green peppercorns, krachai or Chinese keys, lemongrass, rice vinegar, rice wine, shrimp and fish paste/sauce, tapioca pearls, tamarind, water chestnut, taucheo or salted soy beans. There is hardly in frying in oil so that the food always tastes fresh and nice.
People eat several times a day – the urban Thais are really nibblers with no fixed rule for eating who will eat a full meal for breakfast or have something light and simple for lunch. More rural Cambodians tend to eat a very heavy breakfast and then only one other meal a day. This is in keeping with Buddhist teaching where monks eat only two meals a day - one at 5am and the other at 2pm. Depending on where you are eating you can have a sumptuous meal for Baht 200 (around £4)in Thailand, for Riyal 10,000 ($2.50)in Cambodia and for Kip 100, 000 (around $13.00) for the whole family in most parts in Laos. Its much cheaper in road-side vendors although one must make sure everything is piping hot.
Thais eat a lot of fruits – what Indians do with their fried fritters, pakoras, vadas, etc or the western man with burgers, nuggets, fried fish, the Thais do with their fruits – they snack on it. You will find small glass and wooden tricycles ferry fresh papaya, watermelons, pineapples (I’ve never eaten sweeter pineapples in my life), coconut, guava, mandarin orange, apples, and the famous Durian. Eaten fresh or dipped into a sauce of sugar, salt and ground chilli, these fruits taste wonderful.
The meat, fish and vegetable markets play a very important part in the common man's life as he must get to it several times a week, although with modern gadgets like fridges, this is easier now. The markets are veritable museums of what the human mouth can consume and the gut can digest. You can everything you never anticipated to be on your plate out here – everything from beetles to tadpoles, snakes to cow stomach, from really small fishes to sharks, and most of those alive and moving!! It’s not something for the squeamish because the smell can be unbearable sometimes for those not used to going to fresh fish and meat markets. But the experience is once in a lifetime so give it a go. Do particularly try out a market about 55 kms outside of Bangkok in a place called Samud Sonkhran (or if you prefer Samudra Sagaram in Indian lingo). At predictable times during the day (10am and 1pm) the neatly and busy market laid out along a train track contracts and expands to let through the local trains pass. Its amazing to watch - Check this out…
All south east Asian dishes contain coconut – either in the form of milk, oil or grated into pastes and curries. Thais particularly put palm sugar in everything so one must either be prepared for sweet dishes or ask them to desist. However, there is also a tremendous use of red and very hot chillies – dried, red and green varieties and the really hot variety of Bird’s Eye chillies in UK - which are usually made into paste and put in dishes. You don’t realize the chilli content of your dish as its masked by palm sugar (they don’t use cane sugar) and coconut milk but my word, you do realize it the next morning in the toilet. Other spices commonly used pretty much everywhere are coriander – seeds, leaves and roots, galangal – a rhizome similar to ginger with a distinctive and often pungent fragrance, kafir lime juice and leaves, green peppercorns, krachai or Chinese keys, lemongrass, rice vinegar, rice wine, shrimp and fish paste/sauce, tapioca pearls, tamarind, water chestnut, taucheo or salted soy beans. There is hardly in frying in oil so that the food always tastes fresh and nice.
People eat several times a day – the urban Thais are really nibblers with no fixed rule for eating who will eat a full meal for breakfast or have something light and simple for lunch. More rural Cambodians tend to eat a very heavy breakfast and then only one other meal a day. This is in keeping with Buddhist teaching where monks eat only two meals a day - one at 5am and the other at 2pm. Depending on where you are eating you can have a sumptuous meal for Baht 200 (around £4)in Thailand, for Riyal 10,000 ($2.50)in Cambodia and for Kip 100, 000 (around $13.00) for the whole family in most parts in Laos. Its much cheaper in road-side vendors although one must make sure everything is piping hot.
Thais eat a lot of fruits – what Indians do with their fried fritters, pakoras, vadas, etc or the western man with burgers, nuggets, fried fish, the Thais do with their fruits – they snack on it. You will find small glass and wooden tricycles ferry fresh papaya, watermelons, pineapples (I’ve never eaten sweeter pineapples in my life), coconut, guava, mandarin orange, apples, and the famous Durian. Eaten fresh or dipped into a sauce of sugar, salt and ground chilli, these fruits taste wonderful.
The meat, fish and vegetable markets play a very important part in the common man's life as he must get to it several times a week, although with modern gadgets like fridges, this is easier now. The markets are veritable museums of what the human mouth can consume and the gut can digest. You can everything you never anticipated to be on your plate out here – everything from beetles to tadpoles, snakes to cow stomach, from really small fishes to sharks, and most of those alive and moving!! It’s not something for the squeamish because the smell can be unbearable sometimes for those not used to going to fresh fish and meat markets. But the experience is once in a lifetime so give it a go. Do particularly try out a market about 55 kms outside of Bangkok in a place called Samud Sonkhran (or if you prefer Samudra Sagaram in Indian lingo). At predictable times during the day (10am and 1pm) the neatly and busy market laid out along a train track contracts and expands to let through the local trains pass. Its amazing to watch - Check this out…
Food, markets and meals of Thailand, Laos & Cambodia - Part I
The day began with a trawl through Thai food bazaar in our hotel; the Majestic Grande, a 25 storey five star affair with costs nearer three star level. It has its dining room on 7th floor with the swimming pool set outside and visible from other skyscrapers around it. Breakfast was included and had two sections – Continental and Asian, the latter consisting of largely Thai and Chinese style dishes. I would tuck into the Asian section with real gutso given that Chinese is my faviourite.
People in SEAsia are wonderful cooks and have the magical ability to concoct something out of nothing. Their staple cereal is rice which comes in different flaviours and colours and is served in many ways. You would have rice that is steamed, that is sticky and that is sticky and steamed. Rice is not boiled but placed in a bamboo container and steamed over boiling water. Rice comes in various hues of white, yellow, brown and violet. Usually sticky rice is a breakfast dish or comes as part of starter, while steamed rice is eaten with main course. They tend to eat with hands in rural areas but with a fork and spoon otherwise. The fork is used to shovel food on to the spoon and just as in the west you would not put knife into your mouth, the not so cosmopolitan SEAsians look aghast if a fork is put into the mouth.
Now the more one can say about the spices, the less it would be. Spices form the backbone of all dishes and these folks have the ability to tingle all your taste buds – simultaneously. From sweet and sour to hot/spicy and mild, from tangy to pungent, from hot to cold: no wonder Bangkok is known as the Kitchen of the world as Thais merge Asian with European tastes. They use spices differently to how Indians do – no powdering, pickling or preserving spice pastes for Thais who use fresh spices everytime. Meat of all kinds is served along with a range of fish and poultry dishes. In some Chinese influence restaurants it’s not unusual to find a section on the menu that says ‘Insects’. Thais are known to eat fried insects which I’m told has a crunchy and nutty feel (do keep a glass of lager handily placed next to you should the guts rebel).
While all this was of no interest to Amita, I had a great time. For vegetarians, most restaurants and street vendors would cook all the dishes that contain meat by putting vegetables instead. Broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potato (I could hardly find potato anywhere in this trip), carrots, pak choi – that quintessential Chinese spinach with a wonderful taste, beans, corns and other vegetables make up for what the vegetarian misses out in meat dishes, although without any regrets. Whilst veggies generally tend to ensure that no meat, fish or eggs are in their dishes, beware that you specifically ask that no fish or oyster sauce is used in vegetarian cooking as every Thai dish has traces of it!
People in SEAsia are wonderful cooks and have the magical ability to concoct something out of nothing. Their staple cereal is rice which comes in different flaviours and colours and is served in many ways. You would have rice that is steamed, that is sticky and that is sticky and steamed. Rice is not boiled but placed in a bamboo container and steamed over boiling water. Rice comes in various hues of white, yellow, brown and violet. Usually sticky rice is a breakfast dish or comes as part of starter, while steamed rice is eaten with main course. They tend to eat with hands in rural areas but with a fork and spoon otherwise. The fork is used to shovel food on to the spoon and just as in the west you would not put knife into your mouth, the not so cosmopolitan SEAsians look aghast if a fork is put into the mouth.
Now the more one can say about the spices, the less it would be. Spices form the backbone of all dishes and these folks have the ability to tingle all your taste buds – simultaneously. From sweet and sour to hot/spicy and mild, from tangy to pungent, from hot to cold: no wonder Bangkok is known as the Kitchen of the world as Thais merge Asian with European tastes. They use spices differently to how Indians do – no powdering, pickling or preserving spice pastes for Thais who use fresh spices everytime. Meat of all kinds is served along with a range of fish and poultry dishes. In some Chinese influence restaurants it’s not unusual to find a section on the menu that says ‘Insects’. Thais are known to eat fried insects which I’m told has a crunchy and nutty feel (do keep a glass of lager handily placed next to you should the guts rebel).
While all this was of no interest to Amita, I had a great time. For vegetarians, most restaurants and street vendors would cook all the dishes that contain meat by putting vegetables instead. Broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potato (I could hardly find potato anywhere in this trip), carrots, pak choi – that quintessential Chinese spinach with a wonderful taste, beans, corns and other vegetables make up for what the vegetarian misses out in meat dishes, although without any regrets. Whilst veggies generally tend to ensure that no meat, fish or eggs are in their dishes, beware that you specifically ask that no fish or oyster sauce is used in vegetarian cooking as every Thai dish has traces of it!
Monday, 27 December 2010
Kingdom of Siam: Ayuthayya
Thailand
Thailand was born only on 11th May 1949 before which the nation was referred to by Westerners as ‘Siam’. Medieval Indian references to the country calls it ‘Soumyadesh’ or the land of ‘gentle, calm’ peoples. There are heated debates even now as to the origins of the word Siam. Next door neighbours, the Khmer Cambodians tend to call the Thai by their original Khmer name of ‘Siem’, which means ‘theif or pilferer’ (Ravana, the demon kind from the Indian epic Ramayan is called ‘Siem’ for stealing lady Sita away from her husband Rama). The Khmers believe that Thais stole away Cambodian land in the 13th century after being allowed to live as friends.
The word "Syâm or Syâma" in Sanskrit & Pali means ‘dark skinned’. Khmers, who were Hindus prior to converting to Buddhism, may have used it to refer to ‘dark souls’. Alternatively, it may have been used as a racial sub-typing; Siamese people being "dark/brown" people, being separated by the fairer Chinese, generally considered "yellow people". If one considers the Irish, English, German, Danes as sub races or tribes of "white" as the Sioux, Chickasaw, Pawnee are tribes of the "Red people" in North America, then the Siamese sub-races are the Tai-Kadai, Mon-Khmer and the Austronesian Karen, etc.
The original Siam nation was created between Khmer Cambodia and Thai-Kadai state of ‘Sukhothai', a distortion of the Sanskrit word ‘Sukhodaya’ which means ‘happiness-kindness’. Thais even today place a high value on ‘jai yen’ or ‘cool heart’ such that even in the most trying bumper to bumper traffic jams, honking is rarely heard, even when the other car has just squeezed yours out.
Ayuthaya: The ancient capital of Siam was Ayuthaya, the 'lost city'. It is built at a confluence of three rivers - Chao Phraya, Pa Sak and Lopburi and was the seat of Siamese kingdom and culture between 1350-1767AD. The Royal palace was located here from the time of King Ramathibodi 1 (1350) to King Sam Phraya (1448). King Borommatrailokanat (or if you prefer the Hindu version Brahmatriloknath)ordered a temple (Wat)Phra Si Samphet to be built at this site in 1448AD.
Its stranglehold extended (following the waning of Angkor Wat as the pre-eminent kingdom in SE Asia in 1320 AD)at the height of its powers to present day Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar/Burma. Its strength might have been derived from its Sanskrit meaning 'Unassailable' or 'Undefeatable' as well as its ancient namesake of Ayodhya; the birthplace of Rama. It flourished as a river port, webbed as it was by rivers and khlongs (canals), courted by teh Portugese, Dutch, French, English, Chinese and Japanese merchants.
Its popularity and wealth meant potential disaster by greedy foreigners including one attempt by a Greek advisor to plot a coup. But what distant Europeans could not do, the Burmese did when they ransacked Ayuthaya in 1767. They destroyed much of its Buddhist temples and royal edifices and marched off the Siamese to Burma as slaves. Between 1767-1782, the Siamese were led by Phaya Takhsin, a half-Chinese half-Thai general, who moved the capital further south (away from northern Burma) to Thonburi Si Mahasamut. Power went to his head and he called himself the next Buddha and became violent and totalitarian. His ministers deposed him and executed him in the customary mild-mannered Thai way. They sealed him in a velvet sack so no royal blood would spill on the ground and beat him to death with a scented sandalwood club in 1782.
Thailand was born only on 11th May 1949 before which the nation was referred to by Westerners as ‘Siam’. Medieval Indian references to the country calls it ‘Soumyadesh’ or the land of ‘gentle, calm’ peoples. There are heated debates even now as to the origins of the word Siam. Next door neighbours, the Khmer Cambodians tend to call the Thai by their original Khmer name of ‘Siem’, which means ‘theif or pilferer’ (Ravana, the demon kind from the Indian epic Ramayan is called ‘Siem’ for stealing lady Sita away from her husband Rama). The Khmers believe that Thais stole away Cambodian land in the 13th century after being allowed to live as friends.
The word "Syâm or Syâma" in Sanskrit & Pali means ‘dark skinned’. Khmers, who were Hindus prior to converting to Buddhism, may have used it to refer to ‘dark souls’. Alternatively, it may have been used as a racial sub-typing; Siamese people being "dark/brown" people, being separated by the fairer Chinese, generally considered "yellow people". If one considers the Irish, English, German, Danes as sub races or tribes of "white" as the Sioux, Chickasaw, Pawnee are tribes of the "Red people" in North America, then the Siamese sub-races are the Tai-Kadai, Mon-Khmer and the Austronesian Karen, etc.
The original Siam nation was created between Khmer Cambodia and Thai-Kadai state of ‘Sukhothai', a distortion of the Sanskrit word ‘Sukhodaya’ which means ‘happiness-kindness’. Thais even today place a high value on ‘jai yen’ or ‘cool heart’ such that even in the most trying bumper to bumper traffic jams, honking is rarely heard, even when the other car has just squeezed yours out.
Ayuthaya: The ancient capital of Siam was Ayuthaya, the 'lost city'. It is built at a confluence of three rivers - Chao Phraya, Pa Sak and Lopburi and was the seat of Siamese kingdom and culture between 1350-1767AD. The Royal palace was located here from the time of King Ramathibodi 1 (1350) to King Sam Phraya (1448). King Borommatrailokanat (or if you prefer the Hindu version Brahmatriloknath)ordered a temple (Wat)Phra Si Samphet to be built at this site in 1448AD.
Its stranglehold extended (following the waning of Angkor Wat as the pre-eminent kingdom in SE Asia in 1320 AD)at the height of its powers to present day Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar/Burma. Its strength might have been derived from its Sanskrit meaning 'Unassailable' or 'Undefeatable' as well as its ancient namesake of Ayodhya; the birthplace of Rama. It flourished as a river port, webbed as it was by rivers and khlongs (canals), courted by teh Portugese, Dutch, French, English, Chinese and Japanese merchants.
Its popularity and wealth meant potential disaster by greedy foreigners including one attempt by a Greek advisor to plot a coup. But what distant Europeans could not do, the Burmese did when they ransacked Ayuthaya in 1767. They destroyed much of its Buddhist temples and royal edifices and marched off the Siamese to Burma as slaves. Between 1767-1782, the Siamese were led by Phaya Takhsin, a half-Chinese half-Thai general, who moved the capital further south (away from northern Burma) to Thonburi Si Mahasamut. Power went to his head and he called himself the next Buddha and became violent and totalitarian. His ministers deposed him and executed him in the customary mild-mannered Thai way. They sealed him in a velvet sack so no royal blood would spill on the ground and beat him to death with a scented sandalwood club in 1782.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Thailand - Land of Happiness-Kindness
Bangkok is comfortably Asia’s modernist cities, probably just behind Tokyo and Singapore. Founded almost 200 years ago on the banks of Chao Phraya river it consists of 3600 residents for every square kilometer. Whilst that might not be a lot by Indian standards, the style, grace and cleanliness with which Bangkok manages it is exemplary. The streets are clean of litter, even the poorest wear well laundried and pressed clothes, jasmine blossoms hang everywhere and with incense smoke from religious corners sat atop small pedestals, the ‘spirit houses’, you forget the fumes of vehicles. It boasts of a wonderful mass transit system as well as a waterway system that keeps Bangkokians on the move 24/7. Bangkok has over 250 art galleries and hundreds of pretty women and ‘ladyboys’, their version of transvestites and transsexuals, that adorn the street sidewalks, jostling for space next to a vendor selling deep-fried crunchy insects and beetles, and another selling caged birds of paradise. These sit in front of neon-lighted bars full of western tourists with young nubile Thai consorts. It’s a very modern city whose credentials unfold as you disembark at the Suvarnabhumi airport (the entire south-east Asia was given this name by Indians in medieval times, meaning ‘the golden land’), with its ultra-modern look that makes most European and American airports pale into insignificance. Thais approach everything with a sense of playfulness (although their rage at inequity and unfairness does spill over as the recent Red Shirt movement reveals) – ‘sanuk’. It’s a society where women have a lot of power and control – they control family finances, shops are almost always managed by women, they ply the massage and sex industries too. Traffic is a mayhem and everything is planned around the ebbs and flows of it. More later….
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