Lord Ganesh (Bangkok, Thailand)

One of the most widely worshipped Hindu gods in the world, especially in Asia is Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh in Thailand is believed to be bring luck in business transactions, so you will find small statues of Lord Ganesh decorated with garlands of flower in every shops in Bangkok. I was really impressed when I heard the Thai people narrate the story of Lord Ganesh.

Wat Arun or Temple of Dawn (Bangkok, Thailand)

We took a quick boat ride across river Chao Phraya to the other side to visit Wat Arun temple. Wat Arun built by King Rama III is called as the Temple of Dawn, because the first morning light happens to fall on the temple, as it was one of the tallest structure at the time of its construction. The sanskrit or Indian meaning of Arun is dawn. Wat in Thai means place of worship. There are thousands of buddist temples spread across the entire Thailand. The center tower rises to a height of 67 m, surrounded by a four smaller ones. The steps leading up to the tower are steep. The aerial view of the city from the tower is very impressive, so it is worth it to climb up the tower. After visiting the temple, we took the boat ride back to the other side and off we went for souvenir shopping.

Temple of Reclining Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand

Nearby the Emerald temple is the temple of reclining Buddha which was built in 17th century by King Rama III. The temple has 46 m long buddha statue in a reclining position, with the head at about 15 m above the ground. Each foot is 3 m high and mother-of-pearl inlaid along the sole of the foot depicting 108 auspicious signs of Buddha. The spectacular gold plated buddha statue is a must see if you are in Bangkok.

Emerald Buddha Temple in Bangkok, Thailand

Emerald Temple in Bangkok is one of the most beautiful Buddha temple I have been to. Its unparalleled beauty of impressive thai architecture with golden accents that adorn the pointed rooflines throughout is beyond description. Each Pagoda represent changing architectural influences throughout Thai history. Statues of elephants can also be found throughout the temple. Elephants represent strength and power, hence the presence of them. A statue of the medicine man can be found near the entrance of the temple and people pay homage through offerings. A model of Angkot War, an iconic symbol of Cambodia can also been seen inside the temple. Thailand has its influence from various cultures, including Indian. For instance, the Bangkok airport is called as Swarnabhumi (Land of Gold).

Indian influence was also evident in the Emerald temple, with vibrant and colorful murals of Ramakien painted on the inside walls. Ramakien is simply an adaptation from epic Indian Ramayana, in Thai style. The emerald buddha itself can be traced back to India and traveled to Srilanka, Cambodia and finally to Thailand.

The jade statue is about 2 feet tall sitting on top of a tall altar, and no one is allowed near the statue, except the king of Thailand, who is the only one allowed to due rituals, most importantly the costume change. The costume for the buddha is changed 3 times a year, to match the 3 seasons of Thailand.

The emerald temple is one of the top buddhist temples in the world to visit. The other temples to visit while you are in Bangkok are the reclining buddha temple and the temple of dawn.

Qin's Terra-Cotta Army

After working for the whole week in Suzhou, we decided to take the weekend off. We flew from Shanghai to Xian, which is located west of Shanghai, about 3 hrs by flight. Xian is one of the oldest cities in China and an important city on the silk road. Xian has over 3000 yrs of history with rich and vibrant culture. We checked in to the Shangri-La hotel and called it a night. The following day we rented a car at the hotel and drove to the museum of Terracotta Warriors. Local tour guides are not that expensive in China and the most efficient way to learn and explore any new place. So we hired one.

Terracotta warriors are a huge collection of life size sculptures resembling an army, that was discovered in Xian few decades ago by some local farmers near by. The terracotta army is called Qin's army. Qin was the self proclaimed first emperor of unified China. Apart from unifying China, his other major achievement was connecting and re-building walls, which is now called as the Great Wall of China.

The purpose of these clay sculptures or Qin' army was to help the emperor Qin, in his afterlife, somewhat similar to the Indian and ancient Egyptian's philosohy of afterlife. Qin believed that life under the ground continued after the life above. Hence the need for this army.

It was speculated that the construction of these sculptures was made on some sort of assembly lines. The arms, legs, heads and body were made separately and then brought together in some sort of assembly line production. Henry Ford was credited for developing assembly lines, however the Chinese had developed them in 200 BC. Thousands of people involved in the construction were later killed or buried alive to keep Qin's secrets.

After the visit, we bought a copy of Terra Cotta Army book and waited in line to get it signed by the farmer himself who discovered them.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge, the pre-historic monument is located about 90 miles southwest of London. We took a day tour to Salisbury and Stonehenge. We reached Salisbury by train and after a brief tour around the town including the trip to the magnificient cathedral, we took the bus to Stonehenge. The bus trip through rural parts of England with lush green fields on either side of the winding roads, appeared to be a scene out of Robert Frost's poem.

Historians and archeologists predict, without any actual conclusion, that the early constructions started around 8000 BC, although the actual structure that you see today was erected around 2200BC. It is nothing but tall standing stones set in a circular shape. To put things in perspective, the pyramid of giza was built in 2500 BC and the pyramid of Saqqara, the oldest in Egypt was built in 2600 BC, before the Stonehenge. Some say the American stonehenge (Yes American stonehenge in New Hampshire) was built much before the UK stonehenge. There are many theories of how the Stonehenge was erected and one fine day the uncovered mysteries and significance surrounding the structure may be discovered.

Stonehenge does look impressive when you see in picture but it was somewhat a dissappointment to see a bunch of stones in circular shape, although we were advised prior to our visit.

Khan el Khalili

After our visit to the old town Cairo, we drove to Khan el Khalili to do quick shopping, before our Giza sunset. Khan el Khalili is centuries old Egyptian market or bazaar with narrow streets filled with quaint shops, mostly souvenirs and handcrafts. You can also find cafes and restaurants spread out in the market, although mostly local. The market reminded me of similar old fashioned shopping bazaars in India. We were desperate to buy souvenirs, especially Egyptian paintings on papyrus. Bargaining is always necessary as the prices are usually inflated due to shopping by tourists. We were a little pressed for time, so we just visited a few shops and found the one that had many varieties of souvenirs. After some negotiation, we bought the souvenirs we wanted. We were convinced that we had a good deal. As we kept walking, we found souvenirs cheaper than what we paid. It appears to be that the shops at the entrance of the market had a little higher price and as you walk further inside the market, you find prices to be a cheaper. Well, we had to head back, as the traffic late afternoon in Cairo is horrific and we didnt want to miss the sunset. Regardless of what we paid, we were happy with our purchase and off we went to Giza, again.

The Tower Bridge

The tower bridge over river Thames is one of the many often photographed and noticeable structure in London. It is often mistaken for the London Bridge, which apparently is not in London anymore, but in Lake Havasu City in Arizona for the last 40 yrs.

ZhouZhang Watertown, Kunshan, China

ZhouZhang watertown is located in Kunshan, in between Suzhou and Shanghai. It is often dubbed as the Venice of the East due to its beautiful waterways flanked on both side by quaint shops and restaurants. Some of the houses were built some 900 odd years ago. For centuries, the iconic twin bridge, that resembles a typical Chinese bridge has been a subject for many artists.

Adam Smith Statue in Edinburgh, Scotland

1776 saw the publication of two great articles. The first is "The United States Declaration of Independence" and the second is "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith. Adam Smith is a Scottish economist and philosopher, who is widely known as father of modern economics and often credited as founder of free market economics. However, free market economics existed centuries before Adam Smith, in Egypt, Rome and India."Wealth of Nations" could have laid the foundation of modern economic theory and may mark the beginning of classical economics, but Kautilya's Arthashasthra, published in 4th century BC will always remain as the pre-cursor to classical economics.

Sunset at Giza Pyramids & Laser Light Show

We returned back from Khan el Khalili just in time for watching the sunset and Laser Light show. We bought the tickets for the show and within walking distance we found a roof top cafe. It was the most beautiful sunset I ever saw, sipping Egyptian coffee. Soon after, we hurried to the show and made our way through the crowd, in order to get the best seats. We could have gotten the best seats in the house, but would have missed the beautiful sunset view. In no time, it became dark and the show started. The story was narrated by Omar Shariff as Sphinx reciting the story of Egypt. The powerful green laser lights were projected on the pyramid. Colorful changing lights illuminated the pyramid and Sphinx with dazzle. The breathtaking show lasted for an hour. It was time to call it a night, so we returned back to our hotel roof top for dinner.

Vegetarian Haggis

Haggis is a national dish of Scotland. Traditional Haggis is made by mincing the left over sheep's meat and stuffing them in sheeps stomach and cooking for several hours. It is usually served with neeps and tatties. We were sitting inside The White Hart Inn in Edinburgh, ready to order our lunch, and to our surprise we saw vegetarian haggis on the menu. Yes, vegetarian. I guess they have it for tourists like me, I suppose. They make it out of carrots, onions, oats, lentils, mushrooms and spices. The scotts consider it as a sin to eat vegetarian haggis. Oh well, I guess I can add one more.

Pyramids of Giza

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in October, in the sprawling city of Cairo, with temperature around 75F. After some delay at the hotel waiting for the hired car, we finally drove south west, weaving through the bustling streets, heading towards Giza plateau. Like any big city in a developing world, the roads were packed with old cars, motorcyles, cyclists and pedestrians. Although, occasional glimpses of donkey carts on streets came as a somewhat surprise, but we did anticipate such sights .

Our first stop was Giza pyramids, which was about 45 - 60 min ride from our luxurious Marriott Omar Khayam Hotel & Casino. We were ready with our cameras, as we approached, eagerly waiting to see the world's oldest and most beautiful man made structure, that still defies time. The great pyramid of Khufo with its stunning magnificence rose 450 feet above ground. For the past almost 4500 yrs, it held the record for the world's tallest structure, until Washington monument in D.C surpassed it.

There are two ways to see the pyramid. The first is to waltz through the main gate, like hundreds of tourists, get a ticket and go straight to the Spinx and the Khufo pyramid. We took the second. The driver took us straight to camel and horse rentals. Along the way, the sights of kids cleaning the camels / horses and feeding the emaciated animals and getting ready for another day filled with camel and horse tours are common. After some negotiation with the camel / horse wrangler, we rented two camels and two horses. The gates to the pyramids for the camel and horse tours opened at 9 in the morning and there were few more early tourist enthusiasts just like us, waiting to get in. We were more excited to be on the camel and horse, so the waiting didnt seem to matter to us, as we were engaged in taking photos. Camel and horse riding was the most thrilling experience, being the first time, at least for me. I am glad I mustered enough courage to go horse galloping with the tour guide. The tour guide knew all the great photo vantage points. We stopped at every one of them to take photos. We even climbed one of the section of a smaller pyramid, which is not permitted. The so called giza securities who patroled the place to prevent such mis behaving by tourists and also as a protection for them, seemed to look for tips, rather than fulfilling their duties.

As we continued our camel / horse tour, we saw the area around the pyramids littered with trash. It was sad to see how a monument with such a long history has been neglected by the local government. We finally arrived at the front, near the Sphinx where we spent some time enjoying the beautiful and often photographed view of the Sphinx and the pyramid.

After thanking with generous tips, we bid good bye to our tour guide and drove off to Khan el Khalili, knowing well, that we will be back in few hours, for the sunset and Laser light show.