Thursday 21 November 2024

Laem Chabang, Thailand:  Sanctuary of Truth tour – It was a civilized 9 am start, after a leisurely breakfast. The drive to and through Pattaya, to the Sanctuary of Truth, was quite long, much like the day before. And then the bus had to navigate a series of narrow alleyways to get there and park in a tight little space. These drivers are awesome.

But what an amazing place! It is all hand-carved teak and uses no nails. And it’s huge and full of detail. The king of the time commissioned it in the 1980s and artisans have been at work on it ever since, adding to it and repairing or replacing parts that wear out. That king was determined to do what he could to make Thailand, and ultimately the world, a better place. To that end, he articulated the 7 truths that are represented in the Sanctuary. We walked through it for about 45 minutes, hearing the explanations of the truths and how the carvings represent them. It was like an illustrated sermon. Very interesting and welcome.

We drove along a different, quieter beach in Pattaya, with several 4- and 5-star hotels, but still lots of crowded little businesses tucked between familiar names like Starbucks, KFC, McDonald’s, and Burger King. Eventually, we were driven up a steep street to the base of the steps leading up to

the Big Buddha. It’s another very impressive site, and there are also panoramic views over the city to the ocean. The final stop of the day was a huge souvenir bazaar, offering everything from candy to furniture. Lots of people brought large bags of stuff back to the bus. We arrived back at the ship hot, tired and hungry, and soon found our way to some food on deck. Today’s guide was a woman and she shed a little light on the “lady boys” who were mentioned several times yesterday with a sort of wink, wink, nudge, nudge tone. She told us they are very beautiful and she can’t begin to compete, and that they are holding a world contest here very soon. All of which led us to think they’re talking about drag performers. Kind of a relief. Trivia was really peculiar today, with shifting teams, but I did come home with a tulip, so Yay! [ 2 tulips; now with 3 - now sought after on teams! ]

Photos of the Day