Thailand: Bangkok Day 1

For my Easter break I decided I wanted to go to Thailand, I had heard so much about, everyone says its one of the best place they've been to, so it was about time I went. Unfortunately everyone had already been there, so although I received plenty of advice from my friends I was going to be doing this trip on my own. I've done short weekend trips to cities by myself but never an extended long vacation, so this would be a new experience.

I arrived in Bangkok around noon on Wednesday, took the rail into town where I transferred to the subway and ended up in China Town. I hailed a tuk-tuk to take me to my hotel, and after negotiations I got him down to 100 baht from 300, which I felt was a good job on my part. Later I learned the real price should have been about 30 baht, so much for my epic bartering skills. My hotel in China Town was the Shanghai Manson and it was super nice, complete fluffy towels, silk robes and the entire mini bar was free. Thai silks and Chinese design was evident everywhere. It was the prefect way to start off the trip.

My next stop after dropping of my bag was to make my way to purchase a bus ticket to Chiang Mai for the following night. Several people had informed me that the overnight bus was better than the overnight train. They lied. But regardless I ended up in a tour agency that was able to get me a ticket to Chiang Mai, I was lucky because it was Songkran, Thai New Year, which is a five day celebration, which one of the biggest takes place in Chiang Mai. 

After that I told my tuk-tuk driver that I wanted to go the the grand palace, he then took me to a river boat cruise depot, which offered to take me down the river and through the canals ending at the grand palace. It was touristy and I was unsure of it, but in weird situations I find its best to go with things and barter the hell out of a price. The people started at 3000 baht, which is about 100 dollars, I ended up agreeing to a price of 800 (around $25). Which I still feel like was too much but after talking to several people who paid around $60, I felt a little better. The boat cruise was pretty and we ended at Wat Arun.   Where he let me out and then I had to pay a $1 docking fee, and as it turned out my boat didn't even stay around to take me over to the other side of the river to the grand palace. Thailand... 

Although it is often referred to as the land of a thousand smiles, it is also the land of a thousand scams. The Thailand tourism industry as boomed like nowhere else in south east asia, much of their economy is now based on the tourism industry.  This has cause many of the friendly locals to begin to see foreigners as a big dollar sign, and because there are always people willing to pay outrageous amounts without question it means that you always have to be on your guard, but even then you'll still find yourself paying a docking fee even though it doesn't actual exist. 

Another boat, similar to mine, called a long tail boat because of the extremely long propeller that is in the back of them.

Stopping for gas 

 

The Grand Palace, my original intended destination

Wat Arun, where I ended up

Wat Arun sit on the West side of the Choa Phraya river, opposite the Grand Palace. Wat means Temple, Arun means dawn. I however viewed it at sunset, and it was spectacular, although apparently the early morning light makes the whole temple glow. I however was unwilling to wake up before 5am to find out. The temple was built in the early 1800s, replacing an early temple that existed there. Its prang, the tower portion, is covered with mosaics made from Chinese porcelain. The Porcelain was originally intended for sale in Europe, but along the seas some of their cargo would get ruined and damaged. As they stopped at port to gather good they would discard the broken porcelain from the ship to make space for good that would still have value on the market. These broken pieces were collected and put to use in creating the new Wat. 

View from the second level

This banner of monk's cloth is wrapped around the second level of the prang for Thai New Year. Here people write their prayers and wishes for the new year on the cloth. 

After I finish my exploration of the temple, I discover that my boat is no where to be found and has left me there, on the wrong side of the river. Luckily there is a ferry near by for 10 cents will take you across the river. I end up in front of Wat Pho, where the giant reclining gold buddha is. I debate going in, but its close to closing and at this point I'm tired, hungry and hot. I buy some cut pineapple from a woman on the street.  Find a tuk-tuk, head back to my hotel where I chug some water shower and relax for a while. I'm waiting for it to get dark, so I can go outside and hit up the night food market. 

China Town food market happens at night and the streets are lined vendors, people, tables all the while traffic still makes its way down the street dodging those around it. For me it didn't shock or even startle me, I was used to living in asia where a certain amount of chaos is expected. However for some travellers I ran into you could see the look of shock and horror that a market would take place in a crowded street while vehicles whizzed passed. The key is to watch your elbows and walk with purpose. The food was great, a spring role there, some pork on a stick here, fish on a stick there, fresh pomegranate juice, and stir fried goodness all for less than a dollar. I met two British guys traveling for their Easter break. We bonded over our fear of eating fish bones and photography. We grabbed a Tuk-Tuk and headed to Khoa San road, which is the major tourist hotspot and known for its night life. The road was lined with vendors selling food, tourist t-shirts, phallic key chains, and men advertising for ping pong shows. We found a quite pub off of the main strip and enjoyed watching some street dancers perform.  They were off the next morning to head south and I was exhausted, not realizing that I had been running at full tilt until this vacation so at midnight we called it a night, just as many of our twenty something counter parts were gearing up for the night. I cabbed back to my hotel and had a wonderful sleep.