badmonkeyfatpig: Bangkok trip 09.06.09

4th day (12.06.09)

this will be one day where we are taking the most photos!!!

Today’s agenda is to visit the temples during the first half of the day and shopping on the second half of the day.

As usual, we took BTS to the end of the station, Mo Chit station. from then on, we have to take a ferry to reach our destination, Grand Palace.

Boat ride to our destination.

there’s a lot of temples along the Chao Phraya river but suprisingly, there’s also a church!

the fare is not expensive and it only takes us approximately 20 minutes to reach.

On our way to Grand Palace, we met a bunch of university students from Indonesia who coincidentally stayed in the same hostel as us and also going to the Grand Palace. and boy, they do know how to enjoy themselves during semester breaks, starting their trip from Phuket, Krabi, then Bangkok and finally ending their trip in Macau. nice!!!

anyway,we parted ways when they drop off at Tha Tien Pier while we got off at Maharaj pier. Why dropping off at different pier when our destination is the same?!

that is when i kinda regretted getting of at Maharaj pier. at first, i’ve planned to get off at Tha Tien pier too. but just as i wanted to buy ticket, i saw this Maharaj pier with a star on the map. so i decided to stop there. but apparently there’s nothing much to see and worse, it is way farther to the main gates of the Grand Palace.

and the walls surrounding the Palace is sooo long, we can’t seem to see the end of it. till we saw one guy in dressed smartly black standing nearby one of the restricted entrance of the Grand Palace calling us and informed us that today is Buddha day and will only open at 2.30 pm and suggested us to go some other place to go. that guy is damn friendly and he also shows us his emblem, telling us that he is an employee of Grand Palace. he then proceed to get a Tuk-Tuk for us to go to other place for only 40Bht.

This is where i think i will hate myself for being so gullible. after all the warning from Lonely Planet that there are no such thing as Buddha Day and never trust those ‘too good to be true friendly Thais’, i can’t believe i actually fall for that trap!!!

luckily the ride only costs us 40Bht. but time was wasted then… my whole plan was ruined in some way.

view from a 2-seater Tuk-Tuk

Photos taken while in Tuk-Tuk. damn scary man…

but anyway, the Tuk-Tuk took us to a not so commercialised temple. AND, the catch of a 40Bht Tuk-Tuk ride? they will bring you to a few shops selling jewelleries and stuff (a.k.a. tourist trap). he knew that we will not buy from those shops but he informed us to spend time in those shops and try those products even though we do not intend to buy. The reason being? this:

Free gas card - front

Free gas card - back

Yes, Tuk-Tuk drivers are paid by shops to bring unsuspecting tourist into their shops. and in order for the drivers to get free petrol, the driver will need us to spend time in shops for certain of time (say 15minutes per shop). but of course we did not spend that much time, which did not please the driver.

however, on the last shop, we hit a jackpot (or more like the driver) , coz it is a tailor shop. good, coz i wanted to make a blazer anyway. swiped off 480Bht from the card (yikes!) to make a blazer and pants. boy, i think the driver will be very happy as i am but for different reasons though (i’m happy coz i can get a blazer that suits me, him coz he may get commissions and free gas). we saw that his smile is as wide as Chao Phraya river.

during a visit to a temple earlier, we were chatting with one of a lone tourist too, Andy from Mauritius. one thing that we talked about is the Tuk-Tuks who brought people to those shops and all that. and this is how he replied: “We all know about that but we don’t have to buy a thing. just play along with them”. those words consoled me a bit later that day. Thanks to Andy for those Zen-like words!

anyway, back to the trip. we proceed to ask the driver to get us back to Grand Palace. damn!!! the main gate is nearby the place where we got stopped earlier!!!

and off to Grand Palace we go! Get ready your 350Bht for the entrance (which also includes a few other places but we did not went).

i think i will let the pictures do most of the talking:

View from outside the walls

This photo says one word: GRAND!!!

cam-whores at work

Inside the walls of the Grand Palace

Hot Hot weather but great scenery

Remember to where decently when in Grand Palace. no shorts or sleeveless of even flip-flops! respect the Temples even if it is so hot!

Halt!!!

Look at those intricate work!

All of the templesare so large, my point-and-shoot cam can’t even take a full shot at any of the it!

Duno why but i loved this shot a lot!!!

All these micro designs are worth the 350Bht that we paid for!

we are not allowed to take photos inside the temples. this is the best i can get zooming from from the outside.

Too many temples inside. i’ve lost count of it.

it’s an alter of four faced Buddha i think. the statues was blocked. sorry.

Huge doors to one of the temple

Mini Angkor Wat

my, what tall pillars they have!

Me giving a helping hand

One of the many guardians

Stories on the wall

Translations please

Just beside Wat Phra Kaew is the Palace. Pictures are as below. enjoy!

Marching under the hot sun?! they deserves a salute!!!

The Palace Guard

The Palace (if i’m not mistaken)

it looks traditional but i think they infused some colonial architecture in it too

This is actually a hall for royal functions

Next stop, we went to Wat Pho. it is actually on the right hand side of the main gate of the Grand Palace. but when we asked one of the soldiers manning the Palace, this is what he told us:

“turn left, then turn left”

We were not really convinced with his answers as the maps seems to show that it is on the right of the Palace. so we asked another soldier. and he said:

“turn left, then turn left”

ok, at this time, we were not sure whether to trust our map or trust those soldiers. but we decided trust the soldiers instead as we felt that they should know better.

that’s a wrong decision…

i guess all those marching under the hot sun is messing up their brains.

it seems that walking under the hot sun also messes up our brains.

Grand Palace area is rectangular area. turning left twice meant that we will be going BEHIND the Grand Palace (the same place we walked earlier when we were stopped by that so-called friendly guy).

in the end, we have to turn left, then turn left, then turn left And turn left to get to Wat Pho. should have just turned right in the first place!!!

and oh, in between the journey, we were approached by some people that says WAt Pho are closed at that time and will be opened later at the day. yeah right, as if i will fall for the same trick again, fuck off!!!

Anyway, we arrived at Wat Pho and the entrance fee is 50Bht. nothing much as the main attraction is only the Sleeping Buddha.

Ok, pictures time!!!

the Face alone calms you, don’t you think so?

full shot of the Sleeping Buddha

even the toes are so intricate. the murals on the foot explains something, but i forgot what was it. go Google it.

left Wat Pho after that. Planned to go to Wat Arun that is located at the other side of the Chao Phraya river but we decided to skip it as we are a bit out of schedule at that time (3 hours wasted earlier). Plus, once you see the temples inside Grand Palace, nothing fascinates you anymore coz it was really GRAND!

but anyway, we did took a photo of Wat Arun.

looks a bit dull compared to Grand Palace

We decided to give Chinatown a miss too coz we are very very tired from all the walking for the last 3 days. and also not going back to the walls of Grand Palace to take night view of it (from the lights and all that).

I will definitely go to those place next time. and also the legendary Khao San road. but that will be next time too.

in the end we decided to go to shopping centres (MBK, Siam Paragon, Discovery Centre, Central World) for some shopping and walk around.

alas, it rained on that day! good. but wrong timing as we were rushing to go to my tailor to get further fitting at 5pm.

taking Tuk-tuks is not a good choice as they either charge you freaking expensve (plus no air-con and dust eating and also dangerous driving) or they charge you cheap but will will have to go to a lot of shops before you get to arrive to your destination.

got into a taxi instead as it was quite far and raining too. it was the greatest conversation i’ve ever got into with a taxi driver. talked various topics with him. from football, to politics, to travel, to girls to comparing our job and salary! tried to bargain with him in between the conversations too but i’m just trying for fun. 200Bht for to and fro our destinations (and waiting for us in between) is considered ok.

will never forget these legendary pink taxi