After a two hour ferry and six hour bus ride from Koh Tao, we arrived in Bangkok at 9 pm without a place to stay. The bus dropped us off at Khao San Road - aka backpacker central - and we wandered through the throngs of partiers and amid street vendors selling pad thai, fruit shakes, obscene t-shirts and tickets to the late night sex shows. Neon signs were glaring overhead like Vegas and we could hear at least three different bands, all playing American cover songs, mostly rock and roll, mostly from the '90s.
I watched our gear while Giovannina searched for a room. After 10 minutes she returned with a 700 Baht/night (about $23 USD) room with its own shower and air conditioning. It sounded like a great deal to us and we proceeded to check in for our final three nights in Thailand.
We found a temple about two blocks from our hotel and decided to wander the grounds for a bit. We were both struck by the contrast of a holy place in the midst of the city. All of the alters were open to the public and the paths between the shrines were clean and well-maintained. The offerings of food and drink that were left for the spirits were not touched by anyone, even those without shelter begging on the street corner.
We were approached by an off-duty police officer who told us about a promotion sponsored by the government in which foreigners could be driven around the city by tuk-tuk for only 20 Baht (about 60 cents). The tuk-tuk driver got coupons for bringing the tourists to state sponsored outlet stores and the tourists got to see the city and maybe do a little duty-free shopping. We had heard of scams like this from other travelers, but honestly it seemed like a decent way to see the city for pretty cheap. So we flagged down a tuk-tuk and headed out to explore the city. Our driver, Joe, was very kind, teaching us some basic Thai phrases and drove us to several different temples, including the Lucky Buddha - I love that name - and the Standing Buddha, which was over 40 m tall. He also took us to a suit shop and a jewelery store, both of which we strolled through quickly and politely exited. We were also able to book a tour of the Floating Market for the following day. Next, Joe took us to see the Black Buddha, but it was closed for prayers. While we waited a Thai man who claimed to live in the U.S. tried very hard - and spoke very loudly - to get us to buy jewelery at the state-run store and then sell it in the states for a 195% profit. This, we found odd and politely ignored him as best we could, wondering if this really was some sort of elaborate scam.
We got lunch at a great little food stand where Joe told us a bit about his life. He had worked many years as an engineer making very good money (>$1000 USD/month) but was laid off when the company went under. Now he drove tourists around town in a suped-up tricycle. We paid Joe the 20 Baht, for which he was very pleased and he dropped us off at the Royal Palace. If the whole thing was a scam, it seemed to work out well for everyone involved.
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| These are just a few of the many buildings in the compound |
The Royal Palace was stunning. The architecture is a blend of traditional Thai and Cambodian designs, complete with demon statues, golden domes and vast murals depicting ancient stories. In these murals, the most important characters are painted in gold-leaf to make them visible even at night. The holiest part of the palace is the chamber for the Emerald Buddhas, which are actually jade, but are dressed in solid gold and diamonds. There are three of them (one for each season: Summer, Winter and Rainy) and the are rotated in a ceremony directed by the King. Pretty special.
We got to see the Summer Buddha and doused ourselves with lotus blossoms dipped in holy water to honor the event.
After the Royal Palace, we walked over to the Reclining Buddha, which is 45 m (about 150') long and about 10 m (30') tall. Massive. The statue has its own building, which was built around it after its construction over a century and a half ago. The still serenity of such a massive personnage was breathtaking. Although there were at least twenty tourists in the temple, it was almost silent.
We walked in awe down the length of the figure until we got to the feet, which tell another ancient story etched in mother of pearl.
At this point, it was late afternoon and the temperature was approaching 100 degrees. So we headed back to the cool of our hotel room to nap a bit and take a shower before heading out again to explore the Khao San Road night market.
The night market was like one huge festival happening in and amongst the city buildings. In alleys, on sidewalks and all over the street, vendors set up their wares and sold them to the throngs of passing tourists. For $1 USD each, we got a delicious curry and pad thai dinner. We then decided to have a snack of deep fried frogs, crickets and grasshoppers, which weren't nearly as bad as you might think, and looked a lot better than the cockroaches and maggots that were also available. We met an American doctor named Joe who had been working in Cambodian and bought us a beer in exchange for a deep-fried frog. We headed off to bed around 1 am. It seemed like the party was just starting, but we had to be up early for our trip to the floating market.
The Floating Market of Ratchaburi is about 90 minutes north of Bangkok and dates back to when the Chao Phraya River was the main means of transportation from the farms to the city and vice versa. Ratchaburi became a little trading post where vendors could sell their goods coming from or going to Bangkok. Now, everyone uses the highway, including the Floating Market vendors, who leave their boats in the canal and bring their goods via car and load up before the tourists arrive each day.
No fear, it's still really cool to watch vendors hawk their wares from a long-tailed boat. The town itself is built along a maze of canals, similar to Venice.
The houses all have boat launches so folks can leave from their yard and head down river.
We got back to Bangkok around 1 pm Saturday, took another air conditioning break in our room and headed out to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. This involved a 30 minute tuk-tuk ride across town by a mentally unbalanced driver who seemed to enjoy driving on both sides of the road at random intervals (He didn't get a tip.) The Weekend Market was huge, with vendors selling everything from pants and shirts to bedding and furniture, electronics to kids toys. The key here was to haggle, which we learned to enjoy. Often a price would start at 500 Baht, but if we were dilligent could get down to 300. This made us feel like we were getting a bargain, but probably we were just avoiding getting ripped off too bad.
We headed back to Khao San Road for our last night in Thailand and our last mango shake, which we will miss sorely. And so we ended our time in Thailand with more delicious, cheap food, loud, drunken backpackers and a hot, humid night.
To see more images from our time in Bangkok, check out our web albums for Bangkok and the Floating Market .
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