For 150 baht you get to use the boat all day and it stops within walking distance of most if the main attractions.
The first task was to take a photo of Wat Arun from the river, as by all accounts it's not worth seeing it close up. Apparently it's best viewed at dawn, but with the string of late nights and early mornings we've had there was no way that was going to happen.
We got off the boat at the pier nearest to Wat Pho and walked to the temple. The main reason for visiting this temple is to see the world's largest reclining gold Buddha. He looked suitably comfortable laid down on his enormous plinth and was, as you might well expect, huge. The overall effect is as if a giant lay down for a nap and while he slept they built a temple around him, especially as your view of the Buddha is obstructed by structural columns as you walk around it.
Having ticked one Buddha off our list we walked to the Grand Palace. Unfortunately, we somehow ended up walking around the perimeter wall as we had missed the main entrance. As a result we decided to get a cab to the Southern Bus Terminal to buy our tickets on the VIP night bus to Krabi for tomorrow night and then get one back to the palace entrance. At the bus station we got two tickets for 691 baht each.
No idea what makes the VIP bus so special, but we figured we might well try it, as we'll be on the bus for 12 hours solid.
We arrived at the main entrance to the palace only to find out that it was closed for a special Buddhist ceremony until 2:30pm. Typical!
To kill the time we went in search of the backpacker haven that is Khao San road. This was a boat ride upstream and a short walk away. When we got there it was everything you'd expect from a backpacker hangout: cool restaurants; stalls selling body jewellery, funny t-shirts and souvenirs; tattoo and body-piercing parlours etc. A good vibe (I was sorely tempted to get another piercing) but nothing you can't find in similar places the world over. The only thing we bought was a tray of veggie springrolls. Then it was time to head back to the palace.
This time we actually got inside. The palace complex is very large, so it took us a while to get round it all. It's funny, everybody says that once you've seen the temples of Angkor all other temples look a bit pants, and they are absolutely right. For all its glistening golden spires, proud statues and colourful mosaic tiling, the grand palace fails to capture the imagination in the way that the temple of Angkor do. This is largely due to the fact that the former looks like it was built last week, a tribute to all things concrete and kitsch - all spectacle and no substance.
Having said this, I have to confess to quite liking at times the use of excessive amounts of gold leaf and gold paint in these temples. You can't help feeling a bit like you're walking around some mythical 'City of Gold' from a children's novel.
The most important sight at the palace is the so-called Emerald Buddha, who sits a mere 66cm high and is technically made of nephrite jade. The King of Thailand changes the Buddha's gold outfit four times a year to coincide with the changing seasons. The Buddha sits atop a seriously elaborate mountain of gold, looking for all the world like a green jelly baby with a size issue and a penchant for rather a lot of 'bling'.
In fact, this statue is a rather important war relic and when you're in the temple alongside the Thai people saying their prayers, you start to understand what all the fuss is about.
Now that we had both Buddhas under our belts, it was time to go back to the hotel for a much needed wash (it was crazy hot today).
Once we had freshened up we rode the Skytrain to the Silom area of Bangkok and walked to the Banyan Tree hotel. Sat in the rooftop Moon Bar on the 59th floor of the hotel, we drank a couple of cocktails as the sun set and watched the city put on its evening dress to a soundtrack of jazz. It doesn't get much more romantic than this.
The romance didn't last long. We decided to migrate from the Moon Bar to a live jazz pub we'd read about called Brown Sugar. It looked to be in walking distance, so we set off in what appeared to be the right direction, according to trusty Lonely Planet.
An hour and a half later, we were getting a little frustrated by the fact we'd been up and down the same street three times and still hadn't managed to find the flippin' place. It made no sense, we were standing right where it was meant to be, but it wasn't there! What a crappy end to what had been a lovely evening. We gave up our search and walked further up the street to find the Skytrain...
...and would you believe it? There was the pub.
And what a fantastic experience it turned out to be. We sat down in the attached restaurant at 9pm and promptly ordered a jug of margarita (we definitely needed it!).
We then had a fantastic meal. Amber had an authentic Thai yellow curry and I had easily the best tom yum koong I've ever tasted. Then the live jazz started downstairs and made our whole evening. What a brilliant find!
We headed home with big smiles on our faces.
No comments:
Post a Comment