Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Back Home

　　We wiled away four hours with some drinks in a lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport and then headed to Kansai Airport on Thai International Airways. I slept all the way on the flight, and the landing announcement awoke me. There was no Japanese-speaking cabin attendant and no Japanese version of an immigration card. I felt that the airline company didn't take proper care of Japanese customers despite the direct flight between Thailand and Japan. We got home utilizing the super-express Haruka, the Shinkansen bullet train, and the super-express Shiokaze for one stretch from Kansai International Airport. The destination of next year's trip to the U.K. will be London and Brighton.

At Munich Airport

　　We utilized award tickets of All Nippon Airways on this trip, but we weren't able to get direct flights. We had to stop over at Munich and Bangkok on the way to Japan. We stayed one night at Flightgate Hotel near Munich Airport. Our room was clean and cozy. The hotel staff were kind. Additionally, the breakfast included in the hotel charges was great. If we will have another opportunity to stop over in Munich, I'd like to book this hotel again. At Munich Airport the next day, I had to pass the passport control twice! I didn't know why. It didn't take so much time. One more thing, my daypack was opened at the inspection and my pack of wet tissues were tested using a thin film. The inspector might have doubted if I had some illegal substances. Anyway strict inspections are also for myself and are welcome. However, I wanted to know the reason why they suspected me of carrying something illegal. We flew Thai Airways International from Munich to Bangkok.

Last Day in Bangkok

　　We had a boisterous party till late last night. The youngest participant was 30-some and the oldest was maybe nearly 70 years old. My wife and I bought souvenirs before the beginning of the party and left them at our hotel. I was going to put them together into a bag compactly after the party, but I was too drunk to pack my baggage, so I roughly put them in the bag and hit the sack. I had a hangover in the morning, but I had to leave my hotel at 7 o'clock. The bag of our souvenirs was made from paper and was fragile. While I was wondering if I had to buy a suitcase in the airport, I found a packing service as I show you below. Their method was really simple, just to wrap items with nylon sheets again and again, but the strength of the bag became stronger. It was helpful and I was able to check them in with the airline staff. The time difference between Thailand and Japan was small and didn't bother me at all. I arrived at Haneda Airport (Tokyo) and went back home on the last flight on the same day. This trip was really wonderful.
　　Nov. 23rd to 25th in 2018 falls on three consecutive holidays, and the alumni meeting would be held on 24th. I'd like to visit Bangkok again to see lots of tourist spots which I had missed this time. I'll leave Japan on the night of Nov. 22nd and fly into Bangkok on 23rd. Sightseeing in Sukhothai Historical Park and a night's stay around 23rd. Then I'll come back to Bangkok by the evening of 24th and attend the meeting. I was thinking of such a plan on the return flight.

同窓会前に購入したお土産のパッキングを夜するつもりができず。朝は二日酔。しかし、午前中に出発のため７時にはホテル出発。飛行機に預けるにしては脆弱な袋に詰まっているお土産をどうするかと思っていたら写真にあるような梱包サービスを見つけた。どうやるのかというと、荷物の周りに何重にもナイロンを巻き付けるだけなのだが、これで結構頑丈になる。助かった。タイと日本、時差は全く気にならない。夕方、羽田に到着し、同日の最終便で松山に戻った。実に楽しい旅だった。

来年は１１月２３日～２５日の連休を利用して同窓会は今年と同じように開催されるらしい。１１月２２日の夜、日本を出発し２３日早朝にバンコク入り。２３日にはスコータイ遺跡を訪問＆泊。周辺を観光して２４日同窓会までにバンコクへ戻る。２５日には今回寄れなかったバンコクの観光地を見て、夕方バンコク発、２６日早朝に羽田へ戻ってくるというコースは可能かどうか、飛行機の中ではそんなことを考えていた。

Alumni Meeting

　　A party was scheduled at a Japanese style restaurant. It was the alumni meeting of my junior-high and high school, in which I spent 6 years before medical school. My school had been a boy's school until 2001 and so most participants were men, but some were accompanied by their wives. It made the party happier. I'd like to show you group photos, but it takes time to get permission for uploading them from each person in the pictures, so I'll show you the scene of the preparation, in which a few alumni were sticking two school flags on the wall.
　　The atmosphere was really nice and enjoyable. We were at the age of from about 40 to 70, but they, including me, felt like teenagers at least in mind.
　　The next alumni meeting schedule was planned at the party. I wished that I would be present next time again. I heard of Sukhothai Historical Park from my friend and became eager to visit it. I'll examine if I could visit Sukhothai Historical Park and attend the party at once in a limited day-offs.

(Vocabulary)
Sukhothai Historical Park スコータイ歴史公園

愛光学園バンコク同窓会

夕方からはバンコクの繁華街の日本料理店で中学、高校の同窓会が予定されていた。２００１年まで男子校だったので、卒業生のほとんどは男性だが、今回数名が奥さん同伴だったので少し華やいだ雰囲気で始まった。写真は同窓会の準備をしているところ。集合写真もあるのだが、各人に掲載の許可を求めるのが大変なので準備風景だけ。実に賑やかな楽しい会だった。来年の開催予定も決まった。また参加したいと思うがその頃の勤務状況に寄る。ただ、友人から聞いたスコータイ遺跡には行ってみたい。遺跡観光と同窓会出席、同時に出来るのかどうか、検討したい。

Wat Phra Kaeo and Grand Palace

　　The former king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, passed away on Oct. 13th in 2016 and was cremated on Oct. 26th in 2017. He was so popular among his people and they had been mourning for him over a year. Then the Thai government declared on Oct. 29th that the mourning period ended.
　　My friend, who lived in Thailand, told us about the king's cremation and its related ceremonies, which was a big surprise to me. That was; The Thai government built the cremation facility only for the king during the mourning period at the cost of 16,000,000 USD and the total expense of the funeral ceremony of the king was 96,000,000 USD. Additionally, the high-profile facility would be pulled down after the ceremony. I wondered why the government didn't preserve that as one of the tourist spots. Anyway the facility would be open to the public before its demolition from Nov. 2nd to 30th., and lots of people, not only Thai, but also international tourists, were eager to see the cremation facility during this period of time. That is to say, we chanced to be in Bangkok at the perfect timing. Plus the Loy Krathong the previous night. I recognized the reason why there were so many people around.
　　People around us were willing to visit the cremation facility, which was to disappear soon. My friend, who was able to speak Thai, got to the entrance to check the waiting time and it was about 6 hours. Immediately we gave up the sightseeing of this area. We asked a Tuktuk driver to run his three-wheeler around the Wat Phra Kaeo and Grand Palace, and it was our sightseeing. Seeing our disappointment, my friend took us to a nearby famous brand shop of NARAYA, a chain of bag shops. My wife got a casual bag at a reasonable price. It's used in her everyday life.

ワット・プラケオと王宮

日本ではプミポン国王と通称されるBhumibol Adulyadej国王が２０１６年１０月１３日に崩御され、２０１７年１０月２６日に荼毘に付された。国民に大変な人気のあった国王でタイ国民は１年間の喪に服していたが、タイ政府は１０月２９日を以て服喪期間が終了したことを宣言。

友人から説明を受けて驚いたのだが、この間にタイ政府は王宮前広場に約１０ヶ月の期間と１７億円を掛けて火葬のためだけの施設を建設。１０２億円をかけた仮葬の儀が終わるとこの仮葬施設は解体するのだそうだ。そして解体前に１１月２日から３０日まで火葬施設を一般公開するとのこと。我々は実に絶妙なタイミングでバンコクに来たことになる。さらに昨夜はロイクラトン（Loy Krathong）祭りが重なった。人が多いはずだ。

もう２度と見る機会のないこの施設を見るために人々が集まっていたのだった。友人が王宮の入り口まで確認に行ってくれたのだが、中へ入って施設を見るとなると６時間くらいは待たねばならないとのこと。即、諦めた。トゥクトゥクで王宮と火葬施設の周りを回ってもらい、外からその風景をちらっと見て観光を終えた。バンコクはまた訪問せねばならない。しょんぼりしていると友人がNaRaYaという店に連れて行ってくれた。お手軽な価格でカミさんは手提げバッグを購入。帰国後、大切に使っている。

 

Rama IX

　　The Thai king of Rama IX is known as King Bhumibol the Great in Japan. I knew that he had passed away in October 2016 and I was wondering before the trip if I should wear conservative clothes during the trip in Thailand, or how long people in Thailand go into mourning. Just at that time, the Thai government issued a comment on Oct 29th, 4 days before my departure, that their period of mourning expired. That was good news for us, as we didn't want to see sad faces in Thailand and hadn't to care about our own clothes. However, I wasn't able to even imagine that the happening I'm going to write in the next blog entry would occur.

 cited from http://buzz-plus.com/article/2016/10/13/bhumibol-adulyadej-thailand/

タイ国王ラーマ９世は日本ではプミポン国王と称される。２０１６年１０月に崩御された。この時点ではタイ旅行は全く考えていなかったが、２０１７年秋にバンコクへ旅行することになり、出発が近づくにつれて服喪期間中なのか違うのか、気になっていた。着ていく服に気を遣わねばならないからだ。出発の４日前に喪が明けたと公式通知があったので、この件については思案無用と思ってほっとしたのだが、、、続く
写真は　http://buzz-plus.com/article/2016/10/13/bhumibol-adulyadej-thailand/　より引用

Wat Pho

　　Our small boat reached just at the opposite side of Wat Arun across the Chao Phraya river, where there were lots of people from across the globe swarmed. I heard that we were in the midst of the busiest tourist spot in Bangkok, but if so, the number of tourists was extraordinary. Anyway we walked forward against the river and got to Wat Pho. The Thai first medical university was founded in the grounds of Wat Pho and the temple plays an important role in the development of Thai-style massage. I'd really like to have seen inside the temple, but lots of tourists and the long waiting time deterred me.
　　We saw only the most well-known item in the temple, the golden lying Buddha, in a short time. Judging from the information board in the grounds, the temple seemed to be of considerable magnitude. I was sorry that the area we walked around was so limited. I have to revisit Bangkok.

ワット・ポー

ワット・アルンのほぼ向かい側にある船着き場に着いて大混雑の中、しばらく歩いた。このあたりはバンコク観光の中でも最も人気のある場所と聞いたがそれにしても人が多い。とにかくまっすぐ歩いてワット・ポーに到着。ここはもちろん寺院だが、タイ最初の大学でもあり、タイ式マッサージの総本山と聞いた。ただ、あまりの人の多さと限られた時間だったため、最大の見どころの大寝釈迦仏のみを見ただけで本堂へは立ち寄れず、残念。案内板を見るとかなり広い寺院のようだったが我々が歩けたのはごく一部で、残念からげたぞよ。（ってこれは松山弁(^_^;)）まあまたバンコクには来ることにしよう。

Crossing the Chao Phraya River

　　Now that I came to Bangkok, and saw the Chao Phraya River, I really wanted to cross the river. Lots of small boats were running on the river, which I had viewed from the terrace of Wat Arun. When I stood at the riverside, I found the water rough. I prepared for seasickness. I'm prone to suffer from seasickness. When I got on a huge ship, like the Diamond Princess, I was all right, but in the case of a middle-size ship, the passenger-cargo boat connecting Tokyo and Hachijojima, I had to get through the eleven hours of agony. As I had expected, the seats were so few and almost all of the passengers had to keep upright for about 10 minutes. The boat swung, but the boat wasn't equipped even with doors. I didn't want to fall in the muddy water, and I shouldered my way into the central area. The handrails were also insufficient. You can see my anxiety from my face in the following picture. When I arrived at the opposite side of the river, the street was so crowded, why?

(Vocabulary)
be prone to do ～するたちだ　～の傾向がある。
I'm prone to motion sickness. 乗り物に酔うたちなんだ。

八丈島からの帰り
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2014/03/eleven-hours-confinement.html

チャオプラヤ川をわたる

バンコクに来たからにはチャオプラヤ川を渡ってみたかった。ワット・アルンから眺めたチャオプラヤ川には多くの船が行き交っていた。川縁に来て見ると、結構荒れている。揺れるんだろうなあと覚悟を決めた。実は船酔いをするたちで、小舟は苦手。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスのような大型の船に乗ったときは何ともなかったが、八丈島と東京を結ぶ中規模の貨客船では大変な目にあったことがある。（LINK:和訳なし）船は思った通り、座席はほとんどなくて、立ったままの乗船。しかもドアがない。こんな濁った川に落ちたくない。なるべく中央に立つことにした。手すりさえも不十分。緊張の表情が写真から見て取れる。(^_^;) 対岸に到着すると、信じられないほどの混雑だった。いったい何が起こったのか。

Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)

　　I was unwilling to pass up the chance to see a floating market in Bangkok, and it was really nice to visit Talingchan Floating Market. As we weren't able to speak the local language, it would be troublesome to use the public transportation system. I was deeply thankful for my friend's company car. By the way, our next destination was Wat Arun. To tell the truth, we didn't have any sightseeing plan apart from the floating market.
　　On arriving at Wat Arun and getting out of the car, I involuntarily let out some Japanese words, meaning "magnificent". I wasn't immediately able to find a word to express its beauty and solemnity. The reflection of the sunlight was beyond description. The sun-reflecting tower rang a bell with the brightness. "The temple must be the subject of the novel 'Temple of the Dawn' by Yukio Mishima." It was long ago that I read the novel and I hardly remembered the story. I should have read it before the trip. Regrettable. Excuse me for repeating, but the temple was really beautiful. A part of the tower was under renovation. I hope that it will be preserved eternally for our descendants.
　　I climbed up to the what you call terrace, and viewed the Chao Phraya river. Lots of small boats were running on the river. I wanted to get on one of them, and asked my friend. He was already going to take us to the opposite side of the river. Wow!

(Vocabulary)
Chao Phraya チャオプラヤ川

ワット・アルン（暁の寺）　

水上マーケットは見逃せないと思っていたのでタリンチャン水上マーケットへ寄れたのは良かった。マーケットへの移動に公共交通機関を使うと面倒だったと思うので、これも現地の友人に助けられた。次に向かったのはワット・アルン。実は水上マーケット以外、どこを見て回るのか全て友人任せで何も考えていなかった。ミニバンが止まったところで上を見上げて驚いた。何と美しい寺院なのかと。そして思い出した。この寺院は三島由紀夫の小説『暁の寺』ではないのかと。読んだのは随分前のことであらすじをかすかに覚えている程度。こんなことなら読み直してから来るべきだった。実に美しい寺院で一部修理中だった。いつまでも大切に保存して欲しい。テラス部分とでも呼べば良いのか、登ることを許されている最高点まで登ると川が見えた。チャオプラヤ川だ。多くの船が行き来してる。あれにも乗ってみたいな～と思いながら降りると、ここからはミニバンを帰して船で移動するとのこと。やった～

 

Talingchan Floating Market

　　When it comes to Thailand, I always recall its Buddhas and floating markets. I had wanted to see a floating market since long ago, when I have an opportunity to visit Thailand. However, the most well-known one, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, was 80km away from Bangkok to the southwest. Apparently, it would take more than three hours only for transportation to visit the market and come back to Bangkok. We decided to drop in at a smaller one in the city, Talingchan Floating Market. The transportation was a minivan rented for free from my friend's company with its driver. It was really handy. We were able to go everywhere we wanted.
　　Our minivan stopped at a commonplace roadside. The street in front of us was closed to vehicles and was lined with a variety of stalls. We had to walk to the riverside or canalside, but enjoyed seeing what were laid out on the way. As I wasn't able to communicate with people at the stalls, I was sorry. Entering into the floating market through the gate, which I'll show you below, a smell of fish-grilling came to me, and it turned my sense of hunger on. I wondered what to eat for breakfast, wandering around. There were so many kinds of food, half of which I didn't know. Finally, I chose a dish which looked delicious, which a couple of local people were eating. Spicy, delicious, and economical! I liked it.

(Vocabulary)
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market ダムヌーン・サドゥアク水上マーケット　バンコクから南西に８０ｋｍに位置する水上マーケット　バンコクから観光に行くと一日を要する

タリンチャン水上マーケット

タイと聞いて思い浮かべるのが仏塔群と水上マーケット。バンコクではどうしても水上マーケットを見たかった。旅行番組などで紹介されるダムヌーン・サドゥアク水上マーケットはバンコクから離れており、友人によると往復で３時間はかかるとのこと。それではと、バンコク市内にある、やや小さめの水上マーケットに寄ることにした。移動手段は友人の会社の車と運転手。実に有り難かった。行きたいところに案内してくれる。

水上マーケットに着いたら川？運河？までの１００メートルくらいは産直市になっていてこの場所の散歩も楽しかった。マーケットで食事をするつもりで朝食は抜きでやってきた。メニューを見るといろいろとある。が、読めない。メニューの写真を見たり、地元の人たちが食べているものを眺めて決めた。スパイシーでうまくて何より安い！

Soi Cowboy

　　It was Soi Cowboy which our friend took us to after dinner, saying "Women don't usually want to visit it, but it's not prohibited for women to step into the alley." The Thai word of "Soi" means small street or alley, and Soi Cowboy was one of the most known entertainment districts. Our group, consisting of 4 men and 2 women, went into the alley. We entered in Baccara, which was located at the very back of the alley. I wanted to take pictures of shops and bars around on the way to Baccara, but I was too overwhelmed by the surrounding atmosphere that I wasn't able to snap even one picture. I'll show you pictures of my friends below. If my wife wasn't beside me, my face would have become another face. (grin)
　　I had assumed that such places were dangerous in general, but I didn't feel such anxiety. I saw few women as tourists or customers, but there were various kinds of people, like local people, international tourists, men, women, half-men, half-women,,,. We tried to take a TUKTUK, a three-wheeler, to our hotel. My friend had a favor to ask the driver to take pictures of his TUKTUK with me and I'll show you my picture with a TUKTUK. I enjoyed the whole day from Ayutthaya to Baccara. Bangkok became one of my favorite cities in the world.

ソイカウボーイ

女性はあまり行かないところだが、行ってはいけないわけではないからと、友人がニヤニヤしながら案内してくれたのがソイカウボーイ。男性４人、女性２人のグループで狭い路地を入っていった。路地の一番奥、バカラを目指した。（どういうところかは、写真を見て想像してください。”Soi Cowboy Baccara"でググると写真も出てきます。）ここでもまた僕は周囲に圧倒されキョロキョロするだけで撮影を忘れ、ＵＰする写真は友人からもらい受けた写真。友人と話したのだが、『それぞれカミさんが一緒でなければ別の顔になっただろうな』という感想。(^_^;)

こういう場所はどこでも危険が伴うと思うのだが、ここでは危険な感じはしなかった。さすがに客としての女性は見かけなかったが、いろいろな「種類」の人間がいたとだけ書き残しておこう。帰りはトゥクトゥクに乗ってみた。これも現地の友人がいればこそ。交渉してくれて最後に写真を取らせてもらった。もちろん、すこしチップを払ったが。アユタヤツアーからバカラまで楽しい一日だった。明日はバンコク市内観光と同窓会の予定。

Loy Krathong

　　My friend took us to a pond to show us the festival, called Loy Krathong. I found several description on the net. According to one of them:

Loy Krathong is also called the Water Festival. "Loy" means "set something adrift" and "Krathong", "lantern". It has been observed by Thai people since long ago. Thai people get together at the riverside and offer their thanks to the Goddess of the river on a night with a full moon in December of the lunar year, which falls in October or November of the present calendar, when the water level of the river gets to be the highest. The lanterns differ according to their regional custom and are decorated with trees and leaves of banana and with a candle and an incense stick put on it. Then the lanterns are floated on the water. Not only along the Chao Phraya river, but also ponds in parks and watercourses in the city are covered with lots of lanterns and people.

　　After dinner, we dropped in at a park near my hotel, and I saw lots of people gather around a pond and let their Krathong float on the water. Very noisy, but a peaceful atmosphere around attracted me. It must have been derived from their modesty. I received good vibrations from them. I suddenly recalled the scene in which we were involved about 12 hours ago at that time. The unbelievable congestion at the immigration control might have been brought about by Loy Krathong. It is held only on one day a year. It's natural that lots of people want to join or see it. I was happy to notice the fact, but there was another bigger factor which I had found on the next day.

食後、案内してくれたのがロイクラトンと呼ばれるお祭り。調べてみると、

ロイクラトン祭りは水の祭典とも呼ばれている。『ロイクラトン』とは、灯籠（クラトン）を川に流す（ロイ）というタイの人々の間で古くから続いていた風習で、河川の水位がもっとも高くなる、旧暦１２月（現在の１０月または１１月）の満月の夜に人々が川岸に集まり、川の女神“プラ・メー・コンカー”へ感謝の気持ちを捧げる。地方により形式が異なるが、バナナの幹や葉などで模った灯籠の上にロウソクと線香を立て、川に流す。チャオプラヤー川沿いだけでなく、街全体がロイクラトン祭り一色になり、バンコク市内では公園の池や、市内をめぐる水路などでクラトンを流す光景を目にすることができる。

とある。

ホテル近くの公園の池に寄り、写真を撮った。周辺は大変な賑わいである。クラトンを販売する露店が数十軒はあったろうか。今朝の入管での混雑は年に一日だけ開催されるこの祭りのためかと思われた。実はもう一つ理由があったがそれは翌日実感することになる。

Dinner

　　After joining with friends, a friend, who had been working in Thailand, lead us to a shabby little restaurant in which all the other diners looked Thai, i.e. the restaurant seemed to be for local people, not for tourists like us. My wife doesn't like hot spices and southeastern Asian cuisine is overall hard to eat, but she told me that the served dishes were all spicy, but delicious. I was just focusing on eating and drinking, and forgot to take pictures. I'll upload pictures of dishes from my friend below. I don't remember the name of even a dish, but I remember that all the dishes were delicious. Additionally, the portion was really huge. Compared with the situation that we eat Thai dishes in Japan, the price seemed to dip below a half. If a Japanese businessman, sent to Thailand from Japan for some time, ate only Thai dishes during his stay, he would obliviously save money. Anyway, if my friend hadn't helped us find a Thai restaurant, our dinner would have been an ordinary one. We were very thankful for his help.

友人たちと合流して現地に住む友人の案内で夕食に向かった。案内されたのはもちろんタイ料理の店。どうやら地元の人が集う美味しい店のようだ。カミさんは辛いものが苦手だが、辛いけれどもおいしいというこの店の味を気に入っていた。僕はただただ食べることと呑むことに集中していてまともに料理の名前を覚えておらず、写真も撮っていなかった。友人からもらい受けた写真をＵＰする。

美味しく、かつ十分な量があった上に、『安かった』。日本で食べた場合と比べると感覚的には半額以下。この友人がいなかったら食事は観光客向けの通り一遍の物になってしまっただろう。日本人がタイに赴任してタイ料理ばかり食べていたとしたら、自然に貯金できるな～と感じた。

At Hotel

　　Leaving Bang Pa-In Palace, we simply went back to Bangkok, but everything seen through the window was fun to me who was new to Bangkok. I was sorry that I wasn't able to even distinguish each Thai letter or alphabet. When entering into the city, I was surprised to see the evening heavy traffic jam. I thought that it was of crucial importance to see past my biases.
　　We got back to our hotel and unpacked my luggage. We were so busy in the morning. I informed the hotel staff about our situation, checked in our luggage only and jumped back in the car to chase the tour bus. We got together with our old friends who had lived for several years in Thailand.
　　There was a small pond? in the lobby, though I didn't know its name. Such a fixture is rare in Japan, though I often find them outside the building. Then, a lantern?, whose name I also didn't know, was floating on the water surface. I didn't understand what the lantern-like float meant at that time. To be continued.

(Vocabulary)
see past … ～を無視する、～に惑わされない

バン・パイン宮殿を出ると、あとはもうバンコク市内まで戻るだけなのだが、初めての土地なので窓から見える景色全てが興味深い。市内に入ると、車の多さ、渋滞に驚く。先入観に惑わされてはならないと思った。

さて、ホテルに戻り、やっと旅装を解く。何せ朝は大忙しだった。事情を話し荷物を預け、ツアーバスを追いかけたのだから。そしてロビーでタイで仕事をしている同級生二人と合流した。

ホテルのロビーに設置してあった小さな、何と呼べば良いのかわからないが、池？水槽に小さな灯籠が浮かんでいた。ロビーの外にあるなら不思議に思わないのだが、室内にこのような造作がしてあるのは珍しい。このときは何の感動もなかったのだが、約１時間後、そのわけがわかった。

 

Bang Pa-In Palace

　　I came by Bang Pa-In Palace on the way back to Bangkok. At my first glance, I figured out its magnitude and rented a golf cart. According to the explanation of the tour guide: This palace was built in 1637 by the 24th king of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, and was utilized as the retreat for a long line of kings to spend the hot summer. After the collapse of the Dynasty by the invasion of Burma, it was left deserted for a long time, but the palace was renovated and redecorated as it appears today by the two kings of the Chakri Dynasty, the present dynasty.
　　There were several buildings, like the shining building flavoured with Thai culture in the center area of the pond, a Chinese-like house, and a series of Renaissance buildings. I didn't have enough time to enter those buildings and just saw them from outside. Additionally, the garden was really peaceful and beautiful. I knew that the garden wasn't Japanese, but was that a Thai garden? Then I climbed up the tower in the middle of the palace and viewed around. The whole world around was flat as far as I could see.

バン・パイン宮殿

アユタヤからの帰途、バン・パイン宮殿に立ち寄った。一見して広そうだったので躊躇なくカートを利用した。ガイドの説明に寄れば、１６３７年、アユタヤ王朝２４代目のプラサート・トォン王が建てた宮殿で、歴代の国王たちが夏を過ごす別荘として利用されていた。１７６７年のビルマ軍攻略以降、しばらく放置されていたが、チャクリ王朝（現王朝）のラーマ４世と５世によって、現在のように再興された。

離宮には、いくつかの建物があった。湖の中央には華やかな光を放つタイ風建築建物。他にも中国風建築やルネッサンス風の建物などがあったが、全て見るには十分な時間がなかった。また緑が美しい庭園も素晴らしかった。これはタイ風の庭園なのかな？中央にあるタワーに登ると周辺が見渡せた。見渡す限り山を認めず。

 

Nagamasa Yamada

　　I studied a Japanese, Nagamasa Yamada, through several websites. Present Thai people don't seem to think highly of him, though he is evaluated on Japan's side. In the Japanese history textbook, he is generally supposed to have devoted his life to friendly diplomatic ties with Thailand. Anyway, though I wondered why the Japanese-targetted tour didn't include the ruin of the Japanese Village on its route, the reason might be in his unpopularity. The following picture is cited from the website of the Thailand Tourism Bureau.
　　By the way, I unintentionally recalled Hoi An in Vietnam. This historic city also has a Japanese village which was formed a couple of hundred years ago. I started to think of Vietnam as the next Asian destination.

(Vocaburary)
Hoi An　ホイアン

山田長政のこと

山田長政について、いろいろ調べてみると、現代のタイ人からは山田長政はあまり良く思われていないらしい。日本側では日本とタイの友好に尽力したことになっているのだが。日本人をターゲットとしたツアーで１６世紀には数千人が住んでいた日本人町の跡がコースに入っていないのが不思議だったのだが、原因はその辺にあるのかも知れない。（と勝手に思った。）最後の写真はタイ政府観光局のウェブサイトから引用したもの。ところで、ふとベトナムのホイアンを思い出した。ここにも日本人が大勢住んでいて日本人町が出来たと聞いている。次の東南アジア旅行はベトナムにするかな～

Wat Phra Mahathat

　　Wat Phra Mahathat is the ruins of a Buddhist temple, which is known by the head of the Buddha tangled up in the tree roots. The stone head would be cut off and rolled around a young tree when Burma invaded Thailand and it would have gotten caught in roots as the tree aged. Wat Phra Mahathat is one of the historically important temples about whose construction time two hypotheses exist. The towers of the temple are said to have been shining in a golden color, but now they had fallen into ruin through the war against Burma. There sadly remain the tree roots twined around the stone Buddha head, Buddhas without their heads, collapsing brick walls, and the bleached basis of the prayer hall at present. At the renovation in 1956, a huge historic estate was found and housed in Chao Sam Phraya National Museum. You can see lots of golden Buddhas, and valuable jewelry there. When I heard about the museum, I wanted to visit it, but it was not included on my tour route. This is my humble opinion, but can we not say that we wouldn't have been able to imagine the prosperity of the Ayutthaya Dynasty through only those ruins. It's really regrettable that I wasn't able to drop in at Chao Sam Phraya National Museum.
　　A Japanese, Nagamasa Yamada, moved to Ayutthaya in the early 17th century. The average Japanese high school students know him through their history class. He had lived in Ayutthaya and died there involved in a war. I had assumed that there must be some traces of his life in Ayutthaya. I saw a traffic sign which read "Japanese Village". I asked the tour guide if we could go by there. She told me that there were no traces of Japanese. The tour guide didn't show me a cheerful face about Nagamasa Yamada. I decided to study his life after coming back to Japan.

(Vocabulary)
The church had fallen into ruin. 教会はすっかり荒れ果てていた．
Chao Sam Phraya National Museum チャオ・サン・プラヤー国立博物館

ワット・マハータート

ワット・マハータートは仏教寺院の廃墟。木の根で覆われた仏頭で知られる。破壊された仏像の頭が木の根の近くに転がり、長い年月を掛けて根が絡まったものなのだろう。この寺院は建築時期に諸説ある１３世紀の重要な寺院の一つ。かつては塔の頂上が黄金に輝いていたとされるこの寺院もビルマ軍の侵略により廃墟と化し、今は木の根の間に埋め込まれた仏像の頭や、頭部がない仏像、崩れ落ちたレンガの壁や礼拝堂の土台が残るのみとなっていた。１９５６年の修復の際、塔の跡から数々の黄金仏や宝飾品などが発見され、これらは現在チャオ・サン・プラヤー国立博物館に展示されているらしい。そう聞いて是非とも訪問したくなったが、ツアーコースには含まれておらず残念だった。勝手な思い込みかもしれないが、このような廃墟群を見るだけではアユタヤの栄華を理解できないのではないだろうか。博物館へ立ち寄りたかったな。

１７世紀初頭にタイに渡った山田長政という日本人がいる。アユタヤに住んでいた。アユタヤには彼が暮らした跡が少しは残っているのだろうと思っていた。ツアーバスからJapanese Villageの道路標識も見た。寄ってもらえないかとガイドに尋ねると日本人町の跡は残っていないという。ガイドは山田長政についてあまり良い顔をしなかった。帰国後に調べてみようと思った。

Elephant Riding

　　A kind of amusement, elephant riding, was set up at Ayutthaya Historical Park. There were several options from 10 minutes to 30 minutes' riding. We chose 10 minutes' riding, which led us around the elephant camp. The riding was a lot of fun. The longest option was 30 minutes' riding to the nearby temple. I fancied picking this option up, but we didn't have enough time. However, I should think that we were lucky to be able to visit Ayutthaya and enjoy the elephant riding even over a short time, because we had missed our due tour bus once this morning. We got there just in the nick of time by the quick wits of my friend who held an elephant's nose in the following picture. In addition, I found a pink elephant. Was that an albino? I wanted to ask a mahout, elephant driver, about the skin color, but wasn't able to communicate with him.

(Vocabulary)
fancy doing sth ～したい気がする　～したいと思う
in the nick of time きわどいところで, 間一髪で
mahout someone who rides and trains ELEPHANTS

アユタヤ歴史公園内を、象にのってのんびり散策するアトラクションが用意されていた。短いものでは、エレファントキャンプ周辺を回る１０分程度のものから、近くの寺院までの３０分の散策コースまでいくつかのコースがあったのだが、時間の関係から１０分のコースを選択。できれば３０分の散策をしたかったが致し方なし。だがしかし、象に乗れただけでも良かったと思わなければ。もしこのツアーに遅れていたらこのアユタヤを今回の旅行中には訪問できなかった。ギリギリのところで間に合って本当に良かった。先回りしようと言いだしたのは、象の鼻を抱えている友人である。

Wat Pra Srisanpet

　　Our tour guide next took us to an elephant riding site, but we had to wait too long. So we first visited Wat Pra Srisanpet to save time, leaving it until later. The Thai word of "Wat" seemed to mean "temple", but Wat Pra Srisanpet had already lost its function as a temple and was just the ruin of a former temple. Wat Pra Srisanpet was built in 1491 and used to have a 16 meters-high golden Buddha. You would imagine the prosperity of the nation, the Ayutthaya Dynasty, but the Dynasty was invaded by Burma in 1765 and that put an end to its 400 years of history. At that time, lots of buildings and statues were destroyed. There remains only three Buddhist towers now. Though I figured the destruction of Buddha or other spiritual statues out after the description, I felt deep sorrow at the first sight of that destruction. Historic structures were decaying, leaning, being bleached, and would seemingly be a pile of rubble in the future. While walking with such a thought in my mind, I found a few people repairing the ruin. What I felt from their work, was just anxiety. They didn't look professional. One more thing that I was surprised at. I was able to climb up the stairs of this precious ruin, though if anything bad happened to me, such as collapse, it was naturally my fault. Anyway I brought the scene to mind which those ruins would have seen long ago.

ワット・プラ・シーサンペット

ガイドは次に象乗り体験に連れて行ってくれたが、待ち時間が長いため、先にアユタヤ歴史公園内にあるワット・プラ・シーサンペットへ寄った。ワットというのは寺院という意味らしいが、この場所は寺院としての機能は無く、遺跡になっている。ここは１４９１年に建立された王室守護寺院。かつては１６ｍの黄金仏があったらしいが、アユタヤ王朝は１７６５年から２年の間、侵攻してきたビルマと戦争になり、敗れて王朝は約４００年の歴史に幕を降ろす。陥落の際、この辺りは仏像を含め、破壊され、現在はアユタヤ朝中期に建立された３基の仏塔のみが残っている。ワット・プラ・シーサンペットはタイ王国を代表する遺跡のひとつであり、観光地であると思うのだが、その痛ましい姿に驚いた。傾き、朽ちつつある建造物、破壊された仏像群、このままではいけないだろうと思いつつ歩いていると、修復している現場に出くわした。修復風景を見て感じたのは、どこまで本来の姿に近く修復できるのかと言うこと、作業員たちがこの道のプロには見えなかったから。もう一つ驚いたこと、自己責任ではあるものの、この貴重な遺跡に近づき触り、登ることも出来たこと。少し高いところに立ち、積み上げられたレンガの数々が見てきた様子をしばし思い浮かべた。

Wat Yai Chai Mongkon

　　The tour guide was a Thai woman, whose Japanese skills were so-so. Being briefed about Thai history, cultural background, and current topics on the way, our minivan headed to the north, i.e. the historic City of Ayutthaya, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The first place we visited was Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, which had been built in 1351. Then adjacent facilities had been built one after another for the following couple of centuries. I was really sorry that I was not able to fully understand the words of the tour guide for the lack of knowledge of Thai history. The walls of the buildings were partly heavily damaged. I thought that it was a matter of time before the buildings would collapse. There were even few pamphlets for historic items. I wanted to tell the authorities to prepare English leaflets, or if possible, Japanese leaflets about them. I wished that I had more information on their historic buildings.
　　The first picture was shot by my friend, when I viewed the scenery from the walkway on the main tower of the temple. As I heard before, there was no mountain around. Wat Yai Chai Mongkon was located on the small flat island in the river, and the altitude difference from Bangkok was apparently only a few meters. It seemed natural to me that the area had been easily flooded.

ワット・ヤイ・チャイ・モンコン

ツアーの案内はタイ人女性。タイの歴史、文化、時事問題などの説明を聞きながら車で北上。まず訪問したのはワット・ヤイ・チャイ・モンコン。寺院は１３５１年に建立され、周囲に次々と塔が建てられたらしい。ガイドの説明を全て理解するだけのタイの歴史についての基礎知識に欠けていたことが残念。建築物の壁などの損壊が激しく修復しなければいけないと思う。このまま朽ちていくのはなんとも惜しい。それと観光客向けの英語の説明があまりに少ない。日本語を用意しろとまでは言わないが、英語での説明がもう少しあればなと思った。

１枚目の写真は塔の上から周囲を眺めているところを友人が撮ったもの。話には聞いていたが周りに山は無く、簡単に洪水に襲われる地形が理解できた。海岸からここまで高度差はほんの数メートルらしい。