Month: February 2020

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Bangkok’s Marble Temple with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Now we are going to Wat Benchamabophit.   Also known as the Marble Temple.

Marble Temple

Designed in 1899, the Marble Temple uses traditional Thai symmetry with European and Chinese design influences.  Inside the Buddha is displayed with a beautiful illuminated blue background.

Buddha

Again the workmanship is extraordinary.   We noticed that Buddha seems to have very long fingers.

Long fingers

The ashes of King Chulalongkorn are buried beneath the statue.   This is not a single temple, but an entire complex.

Marble temple complex

We wandered around the temple and entered various buildings.  We were especially captivated by the singhas, or guards, these marble lions.

Lion

Several people stop at various shrines.

Man at shrine

This Buddha was a little different.

Buddha

The sign explains that this Buddha is Burmese style.

Style of Burma

All doors and windows are very ornate.

Ornate window

So much work and so much beauty in all the temples.   Walking over this bridge can lead us to or away from the Marble Temple complex.

Marble temple complex

Between the Marble Temple and our bus, we did enjoy seeing this sculpture.

Interesting sculpture

We are not sure if it has special significance, but we liked it.   The Marble Temple is constructed from carrara marble imported from Italy.   We hope you will visit some of Thailand’s Buddhist temples.   They are extremely ornate, beautiful and very peaceful.   We are glad we visited some of them.

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Bangkok’s Wat Po with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Let’s visit Wat Po, one of Thailand’s oldest and largest Buddhist Temple Complexes.   There is so much to see; it is rather overwhelming.   There are many temples, and so much more here.

Beautiful

This guard figure is very impressive.

Guarding Temples

But now we see a smaller archway with a smaller guard.   Soapy is helping with guard duty.

Soapy helping to guard temple.

Let’s go through this archway and discover more.  Here we find hallways with many more Buddhas.

Many Buddhas

This temple is home to more than 1,000 Buddha images.   Inside a temple, this gilded Buddha took our breath away.

Beautiful Buddha

This complex was one of the first places for public education.   This is nice.

Buddha in garden

We like this Buddha sitting in the garden.   Another hall.

Many standing Buddhas

More Buddhas.  Standing this time.   Now we will see one of the world’s largest single Buddha images, Reclining Buddha.   First the face of Reclining Buddha.

Face of Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha

Buddha is 151 feet (46 meters) in length and 49 feet (15 meters) tall.   And difficult to photograph.   The bottom of his feet are rather interesting, exquisitely decorate in mother-of-pearl.

Bottom of feet of Reclining Buddha

And we need to see the top of his feet.

Reclining Buddha’s feet

Buddha’s feet are 16.4 feet (5 meters) long.  This gilded Buddha is made of a gold-copper alloy.  Nearby we enjoyed another Buddha and his offerings of flowers.

Buddha with flower offerings

As tourists, we often like to take photos of people from our host country.   Today, some Thai ladies were interested in having a photo with an American tourist.   Soapy’s mom was asked to pose with the ladies while their friends took photos.

Thai ladies wanting photo with American.

So my mom took photos of the group also.   Others from our group our sitting on the bench also.  Just another great memory that makes us smile.

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Golden Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand with Colorado Traveling Ducks

If you have visited Thailand or have friends that have, you know that the statues of Buddha are huge and beautiful.   Today we visited Wat Trimitr to view the Golden Buddha.   And yes, this Buddha is solid gold.   5.5 tons of gold.   Here we are.

Main entrance Wat Trimitr

This, the main entrance, has many steps to enter.   Our group did not enter here.   We went in a side entrance to an elevator.   Here is Golden Buddha on his throne.

Golden Buddha

Golden Buddha is made in the style of the 13th and 14th centuries.   He is very old and was hidden and forgotten for centuries.   In the 1950’s an entire monastery was being relocated by a group of monks.   While moving the giant clay Buddha, a monk noticed a crack in the clay, and something shiny under the clay.   This Golden Buddha had been covered with thick layers of stucco and clay, inlaid with bits of colored glass.   Historians believe the monks tried to protect the Buddha from an attack by the Burmese army, about 200 years ago.   All the monks were killed in the attack, meaning no living person knew where the Golden Buddha was.  So in the 1950’s this was an incredible find.

Golden Buddha with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Soapy’s mom and Stephanie are holding us in front of Golden Buddha.   Golden Buddha was moved to this new temple, or Wat, on February 14, 2010.   Such a beautiful building.   Our moms visited Bangkok in 1986.   At that time, they walked in at ground level to see Golden Buddha.   A bowl of small square gold leaf was available for followers of Buddha to donate a few coins and put the gold leaf pieces on Golden Buddha.   This was done to ask for or give thanks for favors granted.   It seems the huge number of tourists and the modern world have also required changes to Golden Buddha.   Humans are not allowed close enough to touch Golden Buddha or his throne.  This Golden Buddha is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha statue.   Buddha is 12.79 feet (3.9 m) tall and 9.87 feet (3.01 m) wide.   Buddha is huge and that is a lot of gold.   One last look at Golden Buddha.

Golden Buddha

The bus is ready to leave, so with a last look at the new Wat Trimitr, as we depart.

Wat Trimitr

We will be visiting and showing you a couple other statues of Buddha, but they are all so impressive, we decided to show one Buddha at a time.   They are magnificent.

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Bangkok’s Chinatown Markets with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

After a long overnight flight, Bangkok, Thailand welcomes us.  We clear customs and immigration, claim luggage, find our new guide, get on bus and head to our hotel.   We are staying at the Menam Riverside Hotel.   We enjoy the hotel buffet.   So many great selections, but we ducks are amazed by these giant shrimp.

Huge shrimp, or prawns, on buffet table

Mom ate them and declared them delicious.   Our group is taken to Chinatown where we explore the street activities, a food market and the flower market.

In Bangkok’s Chinatown

Street is fascinating and so different than the streets in Denver.   And look at all the motorcycles.

So many motorcycles

We will see so many more motorcycles while in Bangkok.  Here are our new friends.

Zeb and Soapy with taxi drivers.

These guys are taxi drivers.   Motorcycles power the taxi, but passengers sit in the cart.   A tuk tuk.    And another new friend.

New things and new friend in market

Great stuff in here to sell to everyone.  But wait.

Fish heads??

Mom, are these just the heads of fish?  I believe so.  Now we are walking through the flower market.

Aisle in flower market

Flowers being sold everywhere.  And food too.

Wonderful smells from cooking food

The aromas here are a pleasing combination of flowers and cooking food.   Unusual for us, but very appealing.  On the street we see tributes to Buddha.

Buddha shrines on streets

This is great.   It is hot in Bangkok, so selling fruit and juice is great for locals and tourists alike.

fruit and juice

We want to help.

We are helping arrange flowers

This lady is preparing flowers for sale.   And here are some others, marigolds I believe.

Flowers ready for sale

Arranged, wrapped and ready for sale.  This store offers food.

Food is always available

The owners have packaged so many different types of food, all ready to carry and eat elsewhere.   Here is another Buddha shrine.

Buddha shrine on street

We will soon learn that Buddha shrines are very prevalent in Bangkok.   We think Bangkok is a very busy city, but the people we met have all been very gracious.   We look forward to seeing more.

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Cairo’s Khan El-Khalili Market with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Let’s go shopping.    We are going to Khan El-Khalili Market today.  Located in old Cairo, we are ready.   Soapy’s mom and Stephanie are ready to explore.

Heading through El-Khalili Market

This store has such a variety.

market

We love the souq.  We ducks are resting for a moment.

in market

Soapy’s mom is watching us.  Everybody is friendly here.

New friend in market

This is our new friend.   So many things to see and purchase.

market

Wikipedia says this market was started in the 14th century.   This is the oldest open air market in the Middle East.  You can see this is a fabulous building.   Some of the market is indoors and some is outdoors.   Soapy’s mom and Stephanie found ankle bracelets here.

another new friend

This man likes the Colorado Traveling Ducks.   He is another new friend for us.  This market is huge.   There are many small cafes here also.   As always, we could use more time, but when we are on a tour, we need to return to the bus on time.  We carry our purchases and walk to the bus.   We have taken you to the Giza pyramids, built around 2560 BC.   Also to the Museum of Antiquities showing ancient artifacts.   And to this market from the 14th century.   But we wan to remind you that Cairo is also a very modern city.

modern Cairo

Modern buildings.

Modern Cairo

Cairo is a very complex city, with the very old and also the new modern buildings.   We would love more time to explore more of Cairo, but this is our last day in Cairo.   We will travel to Abu Dhabi, UAE, and wait in the airport 6 hours.   Then another plane to Bangkok, Thailand.   This will be our longest traveling day during our tour.   We need to pack so we can tell you about Bangkok next time.

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Cairo’s Museum of Egyptian Antiquities with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Today we are visiting Cairo’s famous Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.   Unfortunatly, we ducks stayed in our traveling bag.   Photos were allowed with phones and traveling ducks were not welcome to sit on the ancient exhibits.   Here we are.

Museum of Egyptian Antiquities

Inside we saw so many things.   We are taking so many photos at first, then just relaxed and looked at everything and listened to the explanations.   So much to see and learn here.   A few photos will be shown here so you can get the idea of the types of exhibits and size of this museum.

In museum

 

In museum

 

In museum

 

Inside museum

 

Inside museum

 

In museum

Now, up the stairs to the next level.

Up to second floor

And more photos to share with you.

inside museum

 

Inside museum

 

Inside museum

Here we are looking down, back to the first floor.

Looking down to lower floor

Next we walked to a different area, still on the second floor.  Here we looked at the mummy room, King Tut room, jewelry room and room with masks.   These were all interesting, but no photos were allowed.   Predicatably, to leave the museum, we exited through the gift shop.   This was a great museum gift shop, but we did not have much time to look or make purchases.  As you know, this museum is wonderful and contains so many ancient things and so much history.   Our next stop was our hotel.   We are staying at the Cairo Marriott.   Located on the Nile River in Cairo, we went to our balcony for relaxation and to enjoy the view.

Cairo from our balcony

From our balcony we could see a soccer field, buildings of Cairo and between buildings on the left, the Nile River.

Nile River from our balcony

Looking to the side, we had a better view of the Nile River.   Another great hotel on this tour.

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Zeb and Soapy Duck See Khufu’s boat and Visit Papyrus Institute in Cairo

Before leaving the Giza Pyramid Complex, we visited the Khufu Boat Museum.

Khufu boat museum

After entering the museum, the humans were given booties to cover their shoes.

Shoe covers to walk in museum

These shoe covers were really huge on Soapy’s mom.   You can also see she is holding a bag with souvenirs from the pyramid venders.   Inside the museum is the Khufu ship.   The ship was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC.

Khufu’s boat

The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.  It was apparently part of the extensive grave goods intended for use in the afterlife.  Khufu’s ship is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved vessels from antiquity.  It is 143 ft (43.6 m) long and 19.5 ft (5.9 m) wide.   Believed to be the world’s oldest intact ship and a masterpiece of woodcraft that could sail today if put into water.

Khufu’s boat

The first photo is from the internet and has a better view of the entire boat.   This photo shows us with Khufu’s boat inside the museum.   First we viewed items on the lower floor and explanations about reassembling the boat.   Then up the stairs to see the completed boat from this level and view.   This is a museum you will enjoy if you have an interest in this ancient boat.

Leaving the pyramids, our next stop was 3 Pyramid Papyrus Institute.

Showing us how Papyrus is made

First we learned the ancient way of making papyrus.

Papyrus Institute

Many intricate finished works were on display and many were for sale.   Soapy’s mom made some purchases.   Mom took Soapy and me outside to look around.   As soon as we crossed the street, our bus driver joined us.

Our driver

He is our friend and didn’t want us to be alone.   We were happy to see this.

Goats coming toward us

These humans had goats walking down the area between the roads.   We like goats.  Time for lunch now.   Back on the bus and to a nice restaurant on the edge of Cairo.

Patio of restaurant

We wandered around the patio area after lunch.

Famous Egyptian actor with friends

We were told that this is a famous group of humans and that one gentlemen is a famous movie star.   We don’t know him, but it was fun to see.  Behind the patio was an area with this donkey cart.

Cart ride for young humans

The young human is having fun riding in the cart.   Well, time for us to leave now.   There are more things for us to see in Cairo.

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Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

That was a long plane ride.   But now we have arrived.

Welcome to Cairo, Egypt

But, mom, where are we?  I can’t read this.   We are in Cairo, Egypt now.   Cairo is famous for the Giza Pyramid Complex.    Let’s go to the pyramids.

View of 3 pyramids of Giza

First we went to a hill to see the three pyramids.   Soapy’s mom and Stephanie with pyramids behind them.

Soapy’s mom and Stephanie

It was very windy here, so ducks stayed in the traveling bag.

Camels waiting for humans

If we had more time, camels were waiting to take us around the pyramids.   Our moms, and our Bucket Duck’s dad, visited these pyramids in the late 1990s and rode camels then.   This Giza Pyramid Complex is one of the remaining original Seven Wonders of the World.  Here is the Great Pyramid of Giza.  This is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids here.   Built as a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh, Khufu, sometimes referred to as Cheops, the pyramid was completed in 2560 BC.   When completed, the Great Pyramid of Giza was 481 feet (146.5 meters) tall.   One of the three chambers is open for tourists to visit.

Pyramid of Giza

Some from our group are in this line to enter the pyramid.   We did not go.   The tomb is empty.  There is one path in and the same path to exit.  The path is low, so humans must bend over to enter.   Our moms did not want to go in to see the empty tomb.  Today the pyramids are rough on the outside.

Pyramid

Originally they were smooth with a surfact of limestone casing covering these stones.  At some places near the base of the pyramids you can see some of the smooth limestone casing.  You can see there are venders at the pyramids.

Pyramid

And we did make some purchases.   Soapy’s mom bought a scarf; it was windy and a little chilly today, and we bought smaller replicas of the pyramids.   Back on the bus and we went to the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Sphinx with Colorado Traveling Ducks

The sphinx has the body of a lion and the head of a king.  Now we will walk behind the Great Sphinx.

Sphinx

There are rooms behind the sphinx.

Behind Sphinx

The rooms do not have ceilings, but there are several areas.

Behind Sphinx

And narrower passage ways to exit.

Behind Sphinx

And this was built around 2560 BC.   That is really old.   The pyramids are really interesting and fun to see.   We hope you visit and have time to wander around the area.   Maybe ride a camel, also.