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Published: December 13th 2007
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I woke up rather early, eager to experience Thailand. It was nice to find that the place I was staying offered free breakfast and coffee in the morning (even if the selection was rather slim). For 250 baht/night, I wasn't complaining. (By the way, $1 US = 30 baht or so... so cheap!). So I had some coffee, toast, and muffins and set off on an adventure into the great big, polluted city of Bangkok. My plan was to see as many wats as possible, including the Grand Palace (A "wat" is a Buddhist shrine, and there are thousands throughout Thailand). I met a nice Thai man over breakfast, and he showed me how to use the Skytrain ticketing system. It's actually not very hard, but it's always nice to have somebody explain something in such a foreign area. So I took the Skytrain to the end of the line and hopped onto the Chao Praya tourist boat. They even gave me an auspicious sticker reading "Chao Praya Tourist," which I promptly removed. The trip on the river to the Grand Palace was rather interesting, as the shanties of the poor are juxtaposed next to extremely expensive hotels along the river
banks. After about a forty minute boat ride, I got off and followed the herd of tourists to the Palace. I had heard of a scam involving local tuk tuk drivers that tell you the palace is closed, and then take you to other locations to buy things from their cohorts, and just like clockwork, as soon as I reached about a 100 foot radius around the Palace they would try and talk to you into going with them. In reality, I was probably prepositioned by these people at various parts of Bangkok at least ten times that day. It's a bit disconcerting to know that there are constantly people watching you and trying to devise schemes to take your money, but I guess that's part of travelling.
Anyways, I bought my admission ticket and I have to say, the Palace was simply amazing. The intricacies of the design coupled with the enormity of the complex truly make it a sight to behold. I overheard a tour guide starting an English tour with a group of four people next to me, and I was impressed by his knowledge of the place and his English was very good, so I
asked to tag along with their group and they had no problem with it. Apparently, each King has erected different parts of the palace during his reign of Thailand (I believe there have been seven kings so far), and some kings have made greater contributions to the palace than others. The point is, though, that this creates a vast complex of palaces that must have taken millions of man hours to make. Very impressive.
After the tour of the palace, I split off of the group and just started walking. Landing in the center of Chinatown and being all alone was a little weird at first, but I began to feel more and more secure as I only seemed to be getting smiles and the occasional hello from everybody I passed. I grabbed a bite at a mom and pop soup kitchen (food poisoning be damned!), and the lady was very friendly and offered me good directions (since I had no idea where I was). We parted with her commenting on my height, which is not an uncommon thing here. I guess a 6'4" American is not something they see every day. After lunch, I continued on and went to see a giant swing in the middle of the city. I remembered from the plane ride it had some importance, but I couldn't remember what it was. I think it was very old or something. Anyways, saw the swing, and went on to visit a few more wats. None stand out in my mind except the Golden Temple, which is pretty much in the dead center of Bangkok and requires a decent climb to reach the top. From there, you can see most of the city, but in all honesty it's nothing THAT special as Bangkok is ridiculously polluted.
Feeling a bit "watted out," I decided to check out Khao San Rd. It was supposed to be the backpacker's haven in Bangkok, and that is an accurate description I think. There are food and market stalls lining the road, and tons of westerners wandering around with giant backpacks on... presumably looking for a place to stay. I grabbed a drink there, then went to get my first Thai massage, which was very nice and only 150 baht for an hour. One of the girls giving massages to a guy next to me pointed to my face and said "very good." She, according to the customer next to me, wanted to meet up later but since A) I don't speak Thai and B)I had no idea if she was a real girl or a ladyboy, I politely thanked her for the compliment and left. I went and bought some green curry at a little bar/restaurant called Suzie's, and it was absolutely the spiciest food I'd ever tasted. I was sitting there with sweat and possibly tears running down my face, and managed to count the number of small chili's they had used in my bowl, and the final count was... 21. 21!? Who the hell puts 21 chilis in one bowl? I'm guessing they were all in the back having a laugh... but I ate it all! So I won.
In the mood for some more drinks and possible companionship, I went to another bar where I met a guy from Australia named Dan and an Irish girl named Dierdre, also both traveling alone. We talked for a while and went to a few different bars, and then finally called it quits around 2 AM. I got a tuk tuk home, which was quite a frightening experience. Tuk tuks are basically these little tricycle type things that ferry tourists around the city on motorcycle engines. They're open air, don't have seat belts, and feel like they're constantly going to explode or roll over. But I made it home, and was heading up to my room when a group of five people sitting outside the hostel, drinking, invited me to join them. I agreed and sat with them for another hour or so, and finally made it to bed around 3:30 AM... talk about a LONG first day!
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