Royalty

Throughout Bangkok, you see photos -- some billboard size -- of the king and queen. The King, the 9th of his line, is the longest reigning monarch in the world and is, according to our tour guide, quite beloved.

Still, in some cases, you would have thought he would have chosen better photos of himself to display. And maybe he could crack a smile once in a while, unless he, like Dwight Schrute, thinks bearing teeth is a sign of weakness. (I told Jordo that when I am Queen of Nataland, I will definitely have total control of which photos of me are displayed. In fact, I'm sure there will be quite a few incidents where my people come to me and say, 'Queen Natalie, all of those photos of you look just like actress Anne Hathaway. In fact, I will wager those are Anne Hathaway. Surely there is some mistake?" Then I will have that person beheaded as a symbol to all to not question the !ueen. If she wants to pretend she's Anne Hathaway, so be it. It's like the Emperor's new clothes. You just go with it.)

We had a fabulous day yesterday with Tim, our guide, who took us on a tour of the Grand Palace and filled us in on all things royal. We walked through a museum of royal relics, including ancient betel nut containers since, at one time, it was believed white teeth were for animals and the royal humans liked chewing this narcotic nut until their mouths were red and their teeth turned black. (Jordo had this in India and I was up for trying it until he described the constant spitting that goes along with it. ) We saw robes of real gold and jewels galore, all made more interesting by the presence of Tim. (My travel opinion : I'm a big believer in guided tours, even when you go to a museum to see an exhibit, get the audio headset. It's so much more enriching.)

One thing I noticed: When Tim talked about the King, it was with the fondness and respect one uses to describe a grandfather. "Our King," she's day, proudly boasting of his accomplishments like he was part of her family. In English, he is Rama IX, which is fortuitous as 9 is a lucky number in Thailand. (In your face, 7!) She had the same familiarity and affection in her voice when discussing Kings of the past, noting how Rama IV, 5 generations ago, negotiated with Europe to ensure Thailand in the one country in SE Asia that was never colonized. (That's the King featured in "The King and I," although he is not bald and Yul Brenner-like in museum images.) Another King, Rama V, now worshipped as a quasi-God, liked cigars and the color pink, thus those paying homage to him bring those items to his statue weekly.

Even dress is determined by the Kings, in a way. We were on a commuter boat and I noticed a lot of people were wearing yellow shirts. It was clearly not a school group as some were old, some young, and none of the shirts matched. So I asked Tim. Yellow was worn on Mondays, she explained, out of respect to the current king, who was born on a Monday. The practice started about 10 years ago to mark his birthday. (It was his 70th, I think.) Tuesday was a day to wear pink, as the past King I mentioned above was born on a Tuesday. Every day has a color to honor a past royal. (This Tuesday morning, Jordo and I noticed a ton of pink shirts going by -- and one or two yellow ones, prompting J to say, "Look at them, doing their yellow walk of shame.") (I guess during my reign, people will wear a lot of black. Or, to make myself look better, I'll make the common folks were ridiculously bright colors.)

Tim also knew the King and Queen's birthdays -- hers August 12 and his December 5 -- and talked about the celebrations surrounding those days. The King's sister died earlier this year but her final resting ceremony has been postponed until the end of rainy system. Tim told us how every day, monks from around the country come to the Grand Palace to pray for her. On the front page of the Bangkok Post this morning, was a photo of an elaborate gold ship on a float, going down the street, bearing the sister's ashes.

Tonight, we will go to the ceremony for V. We will be bringing him cigars and pink flowers.

Gotta go buy some silk, or at least look at it. More later!

Quick background information for those who asked: We are in Thailand and Vietnam until the end of October on a delayed honeymoon. We booked a lot of things through a travel agent, meaning we have people meeting us at the airports in Bangkok, Phuket, Hanoi, Hue and Hoi Chi Min City. Stylin'.