I woke up to find it was almost noon. Wow – slept for AGES. Then I realised that I’d sent an email to Wee telling her I’d be in the lobby at 12 if she wanted to meet. I’d never make it in time, but fortunately she phoned just as I was starting to panic and asked to meet at 2, which got me off the hook. I had a chocolate croissant for breakfast. The regular ones had run out and the breakfast buffet was long gone. In fact, they were serving lunch. Wee arrived at 2:15, and we set off for the National Museum.

The museum was more primitive than I expected – no air conditioning for a start, and the exhibits were very static and in some cases badly labelled. Wee got a chunky leaflet with what appeared to be loads of interesting info. I got the English version which was one sheet of paper with a map on it. Still, the exhibits themselves were facinating, particularly the wood carvings, dress styles and mother of pearl. Separate from the main museum was a temple, within the museum complex, that had murals covering all the walls, depicting stories of Buddha and his followers. Some were badly damaged but all were very decorative and intricate, accompanied by a narrative telling the story in the picture. Looking up the walls the murals ended and the upper walls and ceiling were just as ornately decorated as the outside. I will have to remember to look up in these places – some of these ceilings are not to be missed!

After the museum, we went to Wee’s university to meet her friend Palm. Before I left the UK Wee had suggested that I go and see a show called “River of the Kings”, so I asked her to buy tickets for both of us. Wee asked if Palm could come along, I agreed, and today was the day of the show. Palm was working when we arrived, sitting at a table with some other uni friends. Fast flurries of Thai were exchanged, and we went for a late lunch. The restaurant had an English menu, but it was so tattered and torn that it muct have been ten years old. I don’t think this place gets many foreign diners.

The River of the Kings show started at 7, and we arrived in plenty of time. The stage was constructed in the river itself, alongside the royal grand palace. The audience stands were even further into the river, on floating barges. We boarded the audience boat, and found our seats – I chanced a look over the back and saw that the scaffolding fell straight down to the ‘deck’ of the pontoon. Fifteen minutes later I received a shock when I looked behind me and saw that the stand now extended twice as high and another five hundred or so people had materialised from nowhere. The extra stand was in fact a boat with tiered seating built on top of it, which sailed into position for the show and then off again afterwards for a dinner cruise. Amazing.

The show itself was a celebration of the life of Bangkok’s Chao Mai river, and featured a lot of water – coloured fountains whirled in time to the music and behind the stage a powerful fan jet created a sheet of water on which video and still images were projected. The story was easy enough to understand, although all the songs and dialogue were in Thai. It covered the history of the area from about 600 years ago to the present day, from the war with Burma to the modern day Thai society. Palm helped by translating some of the dialogue.

With a final, spectacular flurry of fireworks the show ended. The royal anthem was played and everyone stood and bowed to an image of the king, projected onto the sheet of water. It was quite moving to see how much respect the Thai people have for their royal family, expecially knowing how little respect the British show for theirs.

I bought the soundtrack, and took the bus to Khao San Road, where we ate dinner at Wee and Palm’s favorite restaurant. I gave them a video of a British film I brought for them to watch, and headed off to the Hotel. Tomorrow I will begin my tour of the country with an organised tour group.

Note: I wasn’t allowed to take photographs in the museum or at the show, so the only picutre I took today was of Wee and Palm in my hotel room. Wee is on the left, Palm on the right.