Mid June, I was on my last locums assignment in New Zealand. The Australia registration was still pending. I had three weeks before I was to (tentatively) start work in Australia. What's a girl to do?! The weather was getting cold in NZ, so tramping was not the best idea. I thought to myself "I may never have three weeks off in a row ever again in my LIFE" (well except maybe maternity or surgery reasons!), so I decided to take a 3 week trip somewhere completely new to me--- ASIA! In particular, Southeast Asia--- Thailand and Laos.
I booked a bus tour that was 18 days long, that covered Northern Thailand and pretty much straight through Laos, with various stops along the way. I had a whole day free in Bangkok before the tour started... so off exploring I went!
This is Khaosan Road, a short street in Central Bangkok. This is where most of the backpackers stay/eat/party, as accomodation is cheap. Plenty of hostels, food carts, and shopping stalls.
Call me weird for posting this, but my first odd finding in SE Asia were the hotel bathrooms--- there was no real separate shower stall--- just the shower head on the wall that got EVERTHING in the bathroom wet when you took a shower!
Some fancier hotels have plastic covers over the toilet paper roll holders so your TP didn't get soaked and yucky... in all the others, you just had to remember to remove the TP outside of the bathroom during your shower :)
Here's a photo of a nice lovely Bangkok intersection. Yeah, very thankful I didn't have to drive in this city!
#1 Lesson of Bangkok- the city is full of scammers! I read about them in my Lonely Planet book, what to watch out for... friendly people come up and talk to you, tell you that "today is a Buddhist holiday" and that "all the temples are closed in the morning" and "for 10 baht (30 cents) a tuk tuk tour of the town"--- where they actually take you to random shops way out of town and pressure you to buy stuff (think Time Share, only worse). I had JUST read about these scams the night before on the planeride, and what do you know, the next morning I just about fell for one! So, five minutes into the tuk tuk ride, I told the driver to pull over and let me out. He gave me a bit of a hard time, but then I decided it'd be best to see the rest of the city on foot.
I found a nice itinerary for a walking tour of Bangkok. No more scams for me! I will find my own way around!
You can't go to Bangkok without visiting the Grand Palace. It's a walled whole community of buildings, halls, pavillions, etc. The Palace was the official residence of all the Kings of Siam (and Thailand) from 1782 until 1925.
There is a dress code for sacred sites like this--- long shirts, long pants/skirts, and shoes off when entering the temple. Awesome weather for clothes like this too: 35 deg C (95 deg F!) and like 95 billion percent humidity. Gross.
Lots of gold painting. LOTS.
Shoes off!
My walking tour continued. The itinerary took me down a "typical" Bangkok residental side street. I kind of felt like I was intruding--- the locals probably just thought I was lost. :) It was neat to see into the houses, where folks were just lounging on the floor on a mattress, napping (Thai people sleep anywhere and everywhere, probably because it's so damn hot!), kids playing games on the floor, another lady frying up a whole chicken in a vat of oil....
Back to the more tourist parts--- the markets! Tons of food to eat. The cart on the left was my favorite type--- FRESH FRUIT! Watermelon, mango, pineapple.... 10 baht (30 cents) a bag. MMMM refreshing!
Off to see another wat (temple, place of worship). This one was Wat Suthat.
Right outside Wat Suthat was the Giant Swing! It used to be used as part of a religious ceremony. The pillars represent the mountains, the circular base represents the earth, and the space between is the seas. Long ago, during the ceremony time, folks would actually swing on this and try to grab a bag of coins placed on the pillars. Yipes!
Next up was Wat Pho, aka "Temple of the Reclining Buddha". It's also known as the birthplace of Thai massage (which, if you haven't experienced, is A-MAZING!).
The Reclining Buddha is 43 meters long. His feet are most impressive, with mother of pearl inlay. There are 108 panels on the soles, each representing how the Buddha may be represented--- flowers, dancers, white elphants, etc.
I got a kick out of this kitty paying homage to the statue outside.
I walked and walked and walked around the city (and avoided further scammings- yeah!) The tour itinerary ended at a rooftop bar set along the Chao Phraya River. It was definitely time for a nice refreshing drink!
Across the river was Wat Arun, which was beautifully lit up...
And even more gorgeous as the evening came.
Despite semi-falling for my first (and last!) scam, I had a wonderful first day touring the capital city of Thailand.
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