Lots more temples and shopping
Trip Start
May 08, 2008
1
23
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Thursday, July 24, 2008
After Chiang Mai we looked forward to returning to Bangkok, a fascinating city which offers everything you could look for and many things you wouldn't! With 6 nights there we had some plans for what we wanted to do, maybe take a couple of nights out of the city with a few options available.
We arrived off the bus at 6am, tired but relieved we had booked our hotel room at the Star Dome Inn, a nice place where we'd stayed before. Unfortunately the room we'd booked (with a tv for Maria's entertainment while she rested her foot) wasn't available and the only one we could have was much more expensive. At that hour of the morning we didn't fancy trekking around for a different so we took the room at least for a few hours kip in the hope that later someone would check out. Over the next 24 hours we went through 2 more rooms for various reasons and finally when Maria's foot was feeling better we took a cheaper room without tv and finally had a base.
Leaving Maria to rest I went solo on Sunday afternoon to see some of the sights, but the main Wat Phra Keaw and the Grand Palace were almost ready to close so instead I avoided the touts talking about some random nonsense and went to see the beautiful Wat Pho, home to the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, an impressive creation. The reclining Buddha represents the Buddha's passing to Nirvana so it's a very common representation and popular with Buddhists throughout SE Asia. The following day Maria joined me in visiting the other sights I missed the previous day, so she got lucky! Wat Phra Keaw is very impressive; not surprising considering that it was the royal chapel for a long long time. There are several different buildings in the compound, and as you approach the sight of some many multicoloured roofs is very impressive. Wandering around the compound we were struck by the scale and lavish finish of the various temples and libraries, lots of ornamentation everywhere. The wat is the home of the Emerald Buddha, a small statue about 2 ft tall, which has been transported from Northern Thailand to Laos and eventually Bangkok in the course of several wars and dynastic successions. Apparently it was originally thought to be a worthless plaster statue until one day (around the 16th Century I think) some plaster fell off and the true nature of the statue was revealed. This was common back in the day to hide valuable items. Since then it has been a highly venerated object and was one of those things that didn't disappoint in seeing it. The temple itself was relatively serene striking a balance, just about, between the Thais paying their respects to the statue and foreigners just there to see. The whole palace compound along with the wat was extremely busy, but that only marginally detracted from the experience. Unfortunately access to the palace was restricted so we couldn't see the lavish interiors. The king does not live there anymore and it's mostly used for state occasions and banquets.
In the last couple of evenings we took trips to a couple of markets in the city to find a few bits and pieces, maybe see if there was anything catching our eye. Sure enough we found a few things. Would you believe that Maria found a handbag and some shoes? I wasn't surprised at all to be honest. Down by Patpong market is the dancing bar area where there are just lots of Thai girls dancing on counters. There are lots of these bars and just a look inside showed a definite type of customer...white, middle-aged, over-weight, lots of pony tails.....I'd say you can picture it. The girls really looked bored, and dancing wasn't exactly what I'd call it. It was more like vacantly shuffling the feet and shaking their hips. You'd feel sorry for them really. Most of the markets were similar in terms of what was on offer but some were more difficult to bargain than others. The bargaining is usually good fun though and it's amazing how a refusal to pay and walking away will change their attitude. That should be a last resort though, usually its possible to reach a price both parties like.
Our last day we opted out of sites and just relaxed a little, had a good massage and just enjoyed the day. We decided to go visit one of those dance bars to see what they were really like, and they just met our expectations exactly. It was a little strange really although very interesting to see it all properly. And so at last our time in Thailand drew to a close with a mild hangover and an interesting taxi ride. Taxis in Bangkok are frustrating sometimes, refusing to go on the meter and quoting crazy fares. Anyway in getting to the airport we hailed a taxi on Rambuttri who was willing to go on the mater. In we jumped and headed off, realizing that it was probably the worst car we'd been in but that doesn't matter. We kept our eye on the meter, knowing that it should be around 230 baht but suddenly we noticed that the meter was clocking over very very fast, and halfway there we were already at 250 baht. Worried we thought it might hit a very high number in the end, but mysteriously the second half of the journey only cost 20 more. The meter was tampered with for sure but it seems like he had it set up more for the city fares up to about the 250 mark. Clever, I said it to him as we arrived at the airport but he just grinned and took the money. It wasn't a whole lot extra and it wasn't worth arguing over. Bastard.
Just one more taxi story (promise). Another night as we left Nam Sua market by Lumpini we found a taxi driver who agreed to go on the meter. In we jumped and set off, at which point he asked us for 100 baht on the basis that midnight was approaching. Naturally we refused and told him to stick to the meter (should have been around 70-80). I would definitely have given him some extra, maybe even 100 if he'd got us there but he took it into his own hands and decided to take an "alternate" route. We realized soon enough and asked him what was going on. "Traffic very bad" he said. We hadn't noticed, but he was already on a different route so we just let him know that we were on to him and left it for a while. The meter kept clicking over and we asked him again what was going on and told him it was getting a little ridiculous. What could we do? Eventually just as the meter hit 95 we reached some familiar landmarks, reaching our stop just as the meter broke the hundred mark. I asked him whether we got lost but he just smiled and looked for his money. I had to admire his nerve.
Well that was it for lovely Thailand and off we set on our 13 hour trip to Bali. 3 hours to Singapore, 7 hours there and then 3 hours to Bali. I can't say enough good things about the Suvarnibhumi Airport in Bangkok. 4 times through it and never a moments delay. Friendly helpful staff, well laid out, clean, great facilities. If only more airports were like this. Goodbye Thailand.
