Advertisement
Buddha Image Shop
If I had a big enough suit case I would buy one for my homeWelcome back to Thailand
After my good friend Roman dropped me off at the Adelaide Airport to catch my connecting Jetstar flight to Melbourne I casually strolled to the check in counters to find out that my 9.10 flight was cancelled for no particular reason, the engineers were not on strike although there had been industrial action earlier in the week so it was in the back of my mind that there could be a problem with my flights. I was put on the next Qantas flight at 10.40am and arrived in Melbourne with about 30 minutes before my Bangkok flight was leaving. The sounds of "Mr Leon Murphy please get to the check-in for your flight ASAP" or something similar over the Tullamarine intercom was ringing in my ears as I raced to the International Terminal in Melbourne. There was no need to panic as the plane had just started boarding as I made my way to the gate.
I had been very hesitant about booking on Jetstar as I prefer the direct route on Singapore Airlines to Bangkok from Adelaide but no seats were available. The flight and the service from the mainly Thai cabin crew was
Oriental Pier
It is a long but good walk to this pier from my Silom Road Hotel - You also pass the famous Oriental Hotel near the pier excellent and I would not hesitate to use Jetstar again if needed. If you are going to hire a portable video entertainment system make sure you take some decent earphones as the sets that Jetstar provide are of very poor quality. The guy in the seat in front of me does many business trips and gave me a pair from his Virgin Blue collection which were a huge improvement and I could then hear the audio clearly. Subtitles would be very handy on all the airline video systems as I am sure many people struggle to hear the soundtracks with the noise of air travel.
One of the reasons I keep coming back to Thailand is there is always a suprise in store in this unique culture and I spent most of the thirty minutes from the airport to my hotel singing along with my taxi driver who had Elvis classics resonating from the sound system. The taxi was the cleanest that I have ever seen and was fully decorated inside with little Thai statues and ornaments. I have noticed in my last two trips here that most of the taxi drivers have never hesitated to use the meter
Walking from Tha Chang Pier
There are many shops and food stalls - the Grand Palace is across the road and are much more interested in providing a good service than ripping off the tourist - maybe I look like a more experienced traveller now and they do not bother with all the bargaining for a fare that happened when I first visited Thailand.
It is always nice to see my Thai friends when I arrive in Bangkok and thank you to them all for the hugs and warm welcome I recieved when I suprised them with my arrival back in the land of smiles. It is OK to hug female and male friends in Thailand although open displays of fondness like kissing and cuddling your girlfriend may be frowned upon in public areas. Don't worry all my friends back in Adelaide, I won't be rushing in and kissing and hugging you all too much when I get back, unless you want me too - hehe.
It was also nice to see Fah, Net and Ha who work in reception at my Silom Road hotel and Mr and Mrs Chung who look after the market in front of the hotel. They are all very nice people and make me feel at home when I visit Bangkok.
Another
Day in Bangkok - Landmarks, Machines and Mechanics
It is rainy season and I have been here for two days with no rain so far but I am sure it will come. It is also very hot and partially overcast but I prefer these conditions to the cold of winter back home and it will help prevent me from putting on too much weight with all the great food here.
About 10.00 am I walked to the Oriental Pier to catch the Chao Phrayer Express Boat to the Tha Chang pier so that I could visit some more landmarks of this great city. I walked past the Grand Palace which I have visited twice previously and over the road to Sanam Luang Park where I fed hundreds of pigeons with corn which is quite a sight, luckily they are on the ground and not flying above your head. The City Pillar Shrine was the next stop which is a well worth a look before heading to the 30 metre high Giant Swing which is another impressive religous sight.
Across the road I found Wat Suphat which is a must see temple in Bangkok. The Wat has the
largest and oldest bronze Buddha image in Thailand and is surrounded by marble walkways and cloisters containing numerous Buddha images. I spent an hour walking around the temple and it was prayer time so I was very careful to be quiet as I took some pics inside this magnificent temple.
A quick stop at the Vishnu Shrine and I headed for what turned out to be a private tour of the Monk Bowl factory in Soi Ban Bat. To find the Ban Bat Community just keep walking past Wat Suphat, over the khlong (waterway) and turn right when you see the sign at Soi Ban Bat. When I found the factory I was shown all the steps in the making of the hand made monk bowls and some very excellent examples of their work, apparently the best in Bangkok.
The block that surrounds the Monk Bowl factory is a great place to visit if you are interested in motorcycles and engineering machinery. There are hundreds of workshops and spare parts shops and you can see the mechanics working on all sorts of jobs near the pavement. I chatted with a lady that sells all types of welders about
The Grand Palace
I am just passing by as I have been to the Grand Palace twice before on previous visits to Thailand my travels, you just can't help bumping into wonderful people here - she had poked her head around the corner to pose for a pic when I entered the shop after her mother had told me to go inside.
I was getting fairly tired in the heat and stopped to chat with a university student who wanted to practice his english and he told me to beware of pick pockets in the area before I kept walking towards and through Rommaninart Park which is another oasis is this busy city for locals to relax and exercise in some beautiful surroundings. It also houses some of the old city walls and towers with some fountains and plenty of shade if you need to sit down and rest for a while.
Once you leave the park the road passes a colection of gun shops with all types of weaponry I had heard about but never seen close up. It was then on to the Old Siam shopping area and to the Memorial Bridge Pier to catch the express boat back to Saphan Taskin pier and BTS Skytrain to return to my hotel for a shower and rest after another very
enjoyable day in this amazing city. For some reason I feel totally calm when I do these walking tours even though I am surrounded by the traffic jams and hectic lifestyle of Bangkok. Maybe it is the atmosphere at the Temples or the nice and interesting people I always seem to meet as I wander around Thailand.
My friends Petch, San and Pat took me to a Thai disco last night which turned into another adventure in itself. The first place we went to looked fine and then at 2.30 am the lights came on, the music stopped and we decided to leave because the management of the disco were having some late closing hassles with the local law enforcement. The taxi driver then tried to talk us into going to a farang or foreigner disco but I made sure we went to a Thai disco, it is good being the only farang in the place. This disco was more techno/hip hop type of music to the usual Thai pop and it was really great. Some of the Bangkok discos are very compact and this place was standing room only. You get a table for your whiskey bottle, ice
bucket and mixers and dance together near your table unless you want to get up on the stage or move to upper levels where there is more room. There was a great floor show, we sang and danced all night, making some new friends along the way and I got back to my room at 6.00 am.
If I was in Adelaide my Friday night would consist of going for a walk for an hour, watching the footy and going to bed about midnite. Today I have seen some amazing landmarks, met some wondeful people walking around Bangkok, been to a great disco and had many hugs and kisses from various friends old and new. Is it any wonder that I like to return to this land of smiles and these really are the beautiful people, some of the best friends you can ever have, and I am so fortunate to also have the same type of wonderful friends, family and workmates back in South Australia.
I am just relaxing in Bangkok for a couple of days before I go to Korat in the Nakhon Ratchasima province, a few hours north east by bus from Bangkok to see
The City Pillar Shrine
A holy place near the Grand Palace - there were many people praying here today - the smell of the incense and the sounds here are very calming a friend who has left Bangkok to be closer to their family while their father is ill. He seems to be getting better and has left hospital so that is going to make my visit more enjoyable. Korat is the ancient gateway to the north east/Isan region and Cambodia and my research shows there are some amazing temples and other sights of interest in that region - I will soon find out.
Click on the pics if you want a larger view and select next to see all the pictures.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0344s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
