Day 40 - Bangkok, Thailand

Day 40 – His.

Okay, so – maybe I was being a bit harsh about Bangkok last night. Maybe it was the tiredness. We got up this morning and after various shenanigans with the breakfast arrangement we managed to wangle a meal from the hotel and we set off for a walking tour. It would seem there are three Bangkoks. The first is the Disneyland-esque Bangkok, which is made from gilded spires of wats, temples and palaces. This Bangkok is truly magnificent and expensive. Most of the temples and palaces charge to go in – but once you have paid your fee there is a lot to see. Some sights are still free – like the Golden Mount which is a working monastery and gives a superb view of the city – but most charge.

The second Bangkok is the tourist exploitation Bangkok. We saw one side of that last night and the other side today. The average tourist here is encouraged to do one of two things (preferably two of two things) drink and see sights.  The night life I described yesterday and is about getting drunk. The sightseeing is about hoards of tuk tuk drivers trying to herd you in one direction – the direction of the sights.

We were up and out about 9 o’clock and the streets were deserted. As we walked along we were approached by tuk tuk drivers helpfully explaining we were going the wrong way. Thankfully we had a map and knew exactly where we were going. It is a little scam the drivers run. They tell you the sights are closed and offer to take you to an open sight – which happens to be their uncle’s tie factory or gem store or some such place. We were warned about this in the guide books but it was depressing to actually find out it was true. Sadly enough, even outside the royal palace they have a loop tape loud speaker address telling you the opening times and warning you not to trust anybody on the streets in front of the palace – a sad indictment.

 Our standard technique is to thank them politely for offering their help but we were ok. It still took some persistence to shake them off – Patti discovered an excellent way of getting rid of them – when they ask if you have been to Bangkok before you just say yes you have. The men we tried this on looked very disappointed and went away pretty sharpish.

So armed with our map (that we bought from a book exchange for 20 baht) we wandered happily around oooh aaahing at the palaces and temples. In addition we took a look around the third Bangkok.

The third Bangkok is the one hidden behind the glitz and it has a charm all of its own. You don’t have to go far to find it just go the way the tuk tuk drivers tell you not to go – and I am not kidding here – the minute they tell you there is nothing to see down there – head down there. In this way we discovered the amulet market. Amulets are a curious thing – they are collected by the Thais for good luck – most Buddhists think bad luck is lurking around every corner and anything you can do stave it off is a good thing – so they collect good luck amulets. You can find them by the corner of the palace complex and Maharat road. The sellers will happily charge you 150 Baht. But, just walk down Maharat road to the end and turn right and you will find sellers with great heaps of antique amulets spread out on blankets crowded with Thais fishing through them – these amulets will cost you 20 Baht.

After visiting the palace we continued down Maharat road, along the river and down Thawang road towards a canal. We passed three drivers who all told us we were going the wrong way – one even got quite irate – but after we crossed the canal by the Bamrungmuang bridge we entered a sweet and peaceful area stuffed with old style houses, charming street restaurants and second hand shops crammed in between Atsadang road and Bandisor road. Most of the meals there were between 15 and 30 baht and crammed with locals having their lunch – definitely a place to go. We walked back towards the hotel passing the Giant Swing and visiting the Golden Mount. On our way up the mount to the monastery we were stopped by a group of nervous school kids, who, in broken English asked us if we wouldn’t mind being asked a few questions on global warming and videoed. We happily obliged, the young girl who was interviewing me was shaking like a leaf – clearly nervous – bless her.  The view from the top of the mount was glorious – a 360 degree panorama of the city.

We arrived back at the hotel at two o’clock. Tourist Bangkok was waking up by then and the hawkers and bar owners were out in force. We went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and met a group of bleary eyed Aussies there, clearly washing the cobwebs of a hard night’s drinking from their heads.

Day 40 – Hers.

I like Bangkok.  It is a city with many different faces, each with its own character – something for everyone.  The Sky Train and the Metro zip between the skyscrapers of the financial district and the glitzy shopping malls.  The river teems with tour boats, long-tailed river taxis and ferries that cost only 3 baht to cross between temples.  The older areas have carpentry shops and laundries and restaurants.  We walked by one workshop selling beautiful handmade monk’s bowls: silver, trimmed with brass, and several shops selling statues of monks so life-like that it was only when I had seen the same model three times that I realised they weren’t real.  Rob pointed out a number of couples – Western male, Thai female – that he is certain involve ‘Thai Bride’ scenarios.  We didn’t visit the seemier side of Bangkok; I’ve seen it before and Rob just wasn’t interested.

The streets are not nearly as gridlocked as I remember from the last time I was here, twenty something years ago. I guess the Sky Train, Metro and motorway around the city have helped to solve that problem.  The car to motorbike ratio is also much more what we are accustomed to in the west; in Vietnam and Cambodia it was completely the inverse - and it is easier to cross the road here; like Shanghai, there are pedestrian lights that have the time remaining in seconds and/or a green man that walks faster and then runs as the time runs out.

We decided to have a bit of a splurge for dinner but didn’t really manage it.  We went into one of the tourist area’s streetside restaurants, choosing the one most frequented by Asians.  Rob ordered a pork and fried noodles dish; I had chicken with cashew nuts in a spicy sauce with rice – delicious, and generous portions.  With drinks, our bill came to 100 baht - $3.  We spent another 25 baht on a sticky, sweet banana and chocolate pancake from a street stall for dessert – so much for our splurge.  We couldn’t even find anything to spend our money on in the night market.  We didn’t feel the need for a dental clinic, massage, fake Raybans or harem trousers.  Rob was hassled repeatedly by tailors to have a suit made – but even if we hadn’t been leaving at 6am tomorrow, he probably wouldn’t have taken them up on their very kind offers...

We returned to the hotel just as the 20 somethings were heading out to work on tomorrow’s hangovers.  We’ve packing to do – and this time it’s the cold weather clothes that need to be on top!