CHINA Bangkok tour day4

CHINA Bangkok tour day4
We visit Erawan Museum, not just an ordinary museum, but beautiful gardens dominated by, in the centre, a huge elephant with 3 heads on a pedestal. It is not a real elephant, it is 43.6 metres high from toe to top of head. The pedestal is a large round structure that you can go inside to view an exhibition of Thai/Buddhist philosophy. So the top of the elephant must be 60 metres above ground. It's big and very impressive. 3 headed elephants have major significance in Asian culture.
Now we enter staircase that winds its way up inside one of the elephants legs. part way up you can crouch down to look out of a small window down to the ground, a long way down! The top of the staircase takes us into the belly of the elephant. Here there are, in glass cases along each side, ancient Buddhas, some going back to 13th century. At the end, inside one of the elephant's heads, is a gold Buddha mounted high up and surrounded by flowers and ornaments as they do. This is a beautiful room, all the more striking for being inside the elephant's tummy.
We go back outside and I look back up at the elephant - the whole thing is spectacular.

After lunch, soup in a nearby outside restaurant, we travel across the city to 'Ancient Siam'. This is a large park with reconstructed villages, temples and other structures from the past. We are driven around in a sort of trolley bus which has a handle for steering it - I think cars used to have these, I wonder if some of my older friends remember them? This is an interesting and attractive place, you could spend a whole day walking around here. There is even a floating village. We have an ice cream here. We see Siamese dancing girls and bullocks.

Last day of this tour tomorrow,
All the Best,
John