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Published: August 6th 2007
Bangkok is a pretty crazy place! It is difficult to express in writing how diverse some of the areas are. Khao San road (where we stayed) is a tourist bubble packed with street stalls and restaurants. We were a little disappointed when arriving at Khao San road as everyone not selling something was a westerner. However, 2 minutes walk round the corner we escaped the tourists and found ourselves in the middle of a pro democracy rally. At first we thought this was a religious concert or something similar, however, as you will see from the video, it was a bit too heated for that (plus the massive banner that said "Democracy Now" gave it away!). All the Thais seemed pleased to see us at the event and kept telling us to spread the word round the world! Dom bought a t-shirt supporting the rally but is too scared to wear it until we leave Thailand!
After the rally (and our first of many >0.50p meals!) we took 100s of photos of the amazing Grand Palace and surrounding buildings by night.
The following day we fought the crowds to get inside the Grand Palace grounds and absorb the fabulous
Illuminous Elephants
scenery. The grounds house the former residence of the King, as well as the highly worshipped Emerald Buddha. So far we can’t get enough of the glittering Wats (temples) and golden Buddhas - however 2 months down the line we will probably be all ‘templed’ out!
The King of Thailand is amazingly popular, you can’t go anywhere without a picture of him. On Monday, the day he was born, most Thais where yellow in his honor, as yellow is his favourite colour!
Later the same day we visited Wat Pho, where the huge golden reclining Buddha lies. At 16m long you feel a little inferior!
Getting around Bangkok has been interesting to say the least. The many thousand Tuk Tuks (motorised Rickshaws) that stop and say “hey where you going?” gets a little tedious, as do the honky horns of Taxis. We have been getting in central Bangkok by Water Taxi and have been amazed by how quickly the scenery transforms as you travel along the Mae Nam Chao Phraya River: from shack filled slums to high rise shopping malls.
As many will be aware Bangkok is infamous for its Ladyboys. We have had
a few
Fancy building near the Grand Palace
of encounters with them. The funniest was when one (we think it was a Ladyboy!?) took a liking to Dom’s skin/hairy arms and decided to give them a stroke. Upon realising that this may have been a Ladyboy, Dom wasn’t so pleased and we left the scene sharpish!
We only scraped the surface with Bangkok and have lots more to see when we return on our way home!
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Anne
non-member comment
Good to hear from you - was beginning to wonder where you had got to. Bangkok looks amazing - one place I would love to go. I really enjoyed the video of the rain - we could do with some of that here! Lots of love Mum xx