Never a dull moment in Bangkok
Trip Start
Jun 10, 2009
1
Trip End
Nov 15, 2009
Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
For the next 3 days after Kanchanburi and Ayutthaya, I finally travelled alone without Charlie (had to work), made my own plans, mostly revisiting the places I have last visited ten years ago. Some recommendations were from the Tut Tut drivers, the van drivers and of course from Charlie. Tourists seems to be seen everywhere in every crooks and nooks of the streets. The Chao Phraya river with busy barges and boats, cruising the river to and forth, tourist boats minding their ways in and out the floating villages. Seems like good business all year round for them.
The first day I hired a van to visit places like Dumnden Saduak Floating Market. It is the most popular floating market ever visited by most tourists. You can see the joy on the faces of the tourists and the vendors. Reminds me of the movie, Oliver Twist, who sang, "Who will buy my sweet red roses, who will bloom for a penny"…The Rose Garden, somewhat has lost its touch. I remembered the gardens were beautiful ten years ago, painted umbrellas on displayed and for sale and the workers in Thai costumes posing with the tourists. I was glad the elephant show and the cultural show are still in the programme and that fascinates me most on that day. Wat Phra Pathom Chedi, unfortunately was on restoration Hopefully my next trip will get to see the new Chedi. The Siam Cultural Park is a-must see tourist attraction, situated in Ratchaburi. It gives you the whole idea how Thai became so involved in their traditional culture, when it begun and who gives light to new ideas and pride to the people of Thailand. You can see all these in the Hall of Fame. The Hanuman Temple, I cannot recall where is the place, but I will certainly come to you on the location. I remembered it was between The Rose Garden and the Wat Phra Pathom Chedi. Situated in a quite remote place; from the main road, one can watch out for the arch signboard indicating the direction to the temple. Devotees offered candles, joss sticks, grapes and black roses. This is something very new to me as I have not seen people offers black roses to any Gods and Deities before, not to mention the grapes, the size of offering is bigger than football. However, the flies were having the feast after all. The Hanuman sat in superior posture, looking fiercely, holding a golden ball in both palms. I read he was the ninth reincarnation of Lord Shiva whom I cherished most since 2005 in Nepal.
The next day, I visited The Floating Village and the Snake Farm in Thonburi district, Wat Arun that stood majestically by the Chao Phraya River. Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) and the Grand Palace are the highlights in Bangkok; two tourist attractions stood side-by-side that offers so much to see. The place is so huge, so grand, and full of history and artifacts, its architectural Temple and the Palace will always astound you when you enter. Day to day these two tourist attractions is always packed with tourist, from morning 9.00am until 5.00pm. Tourist Guides waiting outside the temple to offer guiding services with a small fee. Tut Tut taxis waits for your call to your next destinations. For a fee of 30-40baht you get to see 3-4 places that includes a trip to the Gem shops to get their token for free petrol. The Government provided petrol incentives for the Tut Tuts.
After lunch, I went to Wat Lohaprasada and Wat Thepthidaram. Wat Intharawihan has one of the most beautiful Standing Buddha I ever seen. Devotees bowed on his feet to offer flowers and prayers. I was a bit unhappy when my Tut Tut taxi driver left me stranded for an hour. He never came back for me. Therefore, I decided to take a cab back to the hotel. I loved their sedan taxis, either Toyota or Sentra, they were so colorful, clean and refreshing. Most of them could not converse in English but certainly one cannot miss their friendliness with a big grin. I grinned in comfort all the way back to the hotel.
The weather were extremely hot and humid in the day, rain every evening, a perfect time to have a good shower, an hour of foot massage before my sumptuous dinner. Surprisingly, the hotel served very good food. I had Bakkaprow that is the minced pork with basil leaves, kailan with salted fish and green curry chicken.
The last day I decided to wake up early. Met an elderly taxi driver, very old, always have a cap on, hiding his few wavy strands. He loves Elvis songs; we chat and became good friends. We went to Ancient City in Samut Prakarn, about an hours drive from Sathorn.
Luckily, they have buggy. I paid for two hours drive, trying to see all the replicas of temples and palaces from neighboring countries. It was like fighting for time, taking as many photographs as I could and what I want to see most was the temple roof made from wax. Ten years ago, they started doing it. To my dismay, I did not get to see them finish the whole roof. in such a short time. It probably took them months to carve the wax to its form. However, I finally get to see it. Beautifully carved and always protected with a roof from the sun. Then the taxi driver drove me to Crocodile Farm. Saw two shows; crocodile show and the elephant show. Quickly walked out, we had my Kuey Teow. He said I still have time to see Wat Pho. Never thought, I will get to visit Wat Pho in such a short time given, and to see the most beautiful reclining Buddha once more. I tipped the taxi driver before i left for Malaysia.
