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Around South East Asia: Part Fifteen

In which I enjoyed the live theatre
Day Two continues ...
The Siam Niramit show is a world-class, extravagant cultural performance that showcases Thailand's rich history, traditions, and mythology across approximately 700 years. Its a must watch, unforgettable experience!
We reached the venue at 7pm. Some clicked photos with the show crew. The entrance itself gave the feeling that it would an amazing evening today. Kamlesh distributed tickets, those were checked and we walked inside the building. Our silver ticket included buffet dinner, thai village exhibition tour, 15min performance at the Naga courtyard and the main show in theatre. I would recommend you to reach the venue by 05:30 to get experience of the thai village since I missed on it. You will get a feel of how life was in the north, northeast, south and central plains of thailand.

Naga courtyard 
It is a large outdoor area surrounded by beautiful architecture, all of which are significant to Thai culture. Naga is the symbol of the ruler of the underworld, is an eye-catching creature that is 30 meters in length. The Thai pavilion is a replica of the Phraya Nakhon Cave in the southern province. 

The Ramayana Mountain is inspired by the Thai literary epic “Ramakien,” depicting the battle between the two main characters, Hanuman and Tosakan. 

I was busy clicking photos of the show crew and the backdrop, so were Dipti and her sister Anagha Nimbkar. Kamlesh reminded us that restaurant closes soon. Hence we walked towards the Sawadee restaurant. 
It was a thai street food delight alongwith Indian and continental. I tried various veg dishes in small portions, starters, desserts, etc. It included mango sticky rice versions, onion fritters, veg fried sticky rice, different noodles, brown cake, etc. My favourite was the thai yellow noodles which I ate a lot. 
I had dinner with Archana, Janhavi and Disha Walke, who joined this tour with her mother Rajanigandha. There were a variety of fresh juices as well. 

Again I missed the pre-show at 07:45pm at the Naga courtyard. It was a light, sound, dance show in which they included audience as well. Then everyone walked towards the theatre building.
Our bags were checked, we had to take the path as per our zones, we took our seats. There were preliminary instructions like any other theatre, some ads in thai which we didn't understand, dos and don'ts, etc. Finally we stood up for the national anthem. The show began at 08:30pm and continued till 09:45pm. Here is the order in which acts were performed:

Starting acts described the history and culture of each region.
  • the prosperous Lanna Kingdom in the North
  • the trade and cultural blend of Buddhists and Muslims in the South
  • the Khmer influence in the Northeast
  • the life in the capital of the Central Plains
Then we had music performance using the traditional instruments. It was so melodious. They invited someone from the audience as well to participate. 

The next set of acts depicted karma and afterlife. I really have a question on karma right now. 
  • Fiery Hell: Where souls are punished for their misdeeds in life. They listed all the misdeeds.
  • Mystical Himapaan forest between the human world and heaven, inhabited by mythical creatures. It was awe-inspiring.
  • Blissful Heaven: Where angels reside and souls are rewarded for their good deeds. Angles were flying across the stage and theatre. Another awe-inspiring experience.
The next act depicted Shiva as a destroyer and Vishnu as the recreator of the nature. The last act described Thai festivals and the whole crew assembled on the stage to greet us.

Once the show was over, everyone started walking out, queuing for the washroom, etc. Few members of the crew were available for photos at the Naga courtyard. 




We clicked so many photos. What an amazing experience it was tonight! We were back to our bus by 10:15pm and drove towards the hotel. Music was on and some started dancing in the bus, even played garba. At 11pm, those who wanted to go shopping on the Bangla street, alighted the bus, while the rest, including me went to hotel. We went to our rooms, packed the bag for tomorrow and dozed off. I had caught cold by night, could not sleep even after taking a pill. Lets see how it goes tomorrow.

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