Bangkok #3: Wat Arun and Sky Bar

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Oops! We were so relaxed after last night's massages that we slept in this morning. The alarm didn't go off. We finally managed to surface and we headed out to Seven Eleven on the corner to get some breakfast. A toastie, coffee, and another sandwich for me. The sandwiches are tiny and cheap, so I always have two, well I am on my holidays. We headed down to the ferry and caught it across the river. We headed to the tourist express boat stand, that we had been to yesterday. We decided to purchase the all day tickets, that were 150 baht and let you use the boats as much as you like. We had no reals plans, so we decided to stay on the boat until the last stop. The tourist express boats don't stop at every stop, only the major ones. There are guides on the boat explaining, what sights there are to see at each stop. the guide today was hilarious, we couldn't stop laughing at some of the comments she was making. What was better, was we didn't know if she meant to be funny or not.

We got off at the last stop, Phra Athit Pier,

and headed along the road to take a look at the fort. Phra Sumane Fort was built in 1783 by King Rama I and was originally built to protect the city from invasion. We thought that we would be able to head into the fort, but it wasn't open to the public. We spent some time wandering around the park, Suan Santichaiprakarn park. The park was really nice, if it wasn't so hot I would have liked to spend some time chilling there. There were plenty of backpackers chilling under the shade of the trees, reading their books.

We got back n the boat and headed down to Wang Lang Pier. We wanted to visit the Royal Barge Museum, as it would be cool to see the different boats that were used by the Royal family to get about on the river. However when we got off the boat an exited the terminal we wandered up the road for a bit, but the Barge Museum looked too far away on the map, and none of us could be bothered to walk in the midday heat. So, we quickly returned to the ferry terminal and hopped on the next ferry, when

it arrived. We took the ferry a couple of stops to Tha Thein Pier and disembarked. We took the small ferry, for three baht, across the river and we were deposited outside of Wat Arun.

We had seen Wat Arun yesterday as we had travelled up and own the river, but had run out of time to visit it. The good thing was the boat dropped us off right there, it was a one minute walk. We paid our entrance fees, we were told it was 100 baht on the boat, but were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was only 50 baht. It's not very often the price of things decreases. We had to cover up to enter the temple, so I got my pants out of my band very eloquently but them on over my shorts. The temple is pretty small, so there isn't much ground to cover. Wat Arun means Temple of Dawn and it is a Buddhist temple. Its name comes from the Hindu god Aruna, who is often personified as the rays of the rising sun. The temple has been in existence since before 1656, which was when it first showed up on some

French maps. King Rama II restored the temple during the early nineteenth century, this is when the prangs (stupas) were added and the temple is now 70 metres high.

What the temple lacks in ground cover, it makes up for with height. Tash and I set off up the first set of steps, they were pretty steep and I was clinging on to the wall, luckily they weren't too busy, I would have been shitting myself if the steps were full of people. We walked around the middle level of the wat and saw some young monks, they were just young boys dressed in their orange robes, they looked so cute. The work that has gone in to this temple is as amazing as the Grand Palace, just so much detail. Then it was up to the next level. When we had walked around, we had checked which of the four staircases looked the best, I don't know as why they were all gut wrenchingly steep. At this point Tash chickened out, not that I blame her it, if you're scared of heights the stairs to the top are not for you. I picked the stairs that the young monks were going up, maybe if I followed them, then Buddha would be on my side and stop me from falling and killing myself. I took it very slow. I realised pretty quickly not to look either up or down and to just look at my feet on the steps. The views from the top were pretty cool. I could see out over the river and across to the other side, where the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are. I could also see Bangkok sprawled out in the other direction and the building that was connected to the temple, where the monks live. I also saw the cutest thing ever, an old monk, probably in his sixties or seventies, taking photos of the view and the wat. Why are Buddhist monks, young and old, so cute? The top level of the central stupa was wrapped in orange fabric, which people had written messages on, it was kind of cute. I don't know where they got the marker pens from to do it though. I was glad that I had made it all the way up to the top, and the journey back down was okay. I just waited until the stairs were empty and went down backwards at a very slow pace.

We decided to head back to the boat, just as we were leaving the gardens outside of the temple, the heavens opened! My god, it was lashing down. We ran and hid in some kind of pavilion, but as it had big open windows, the rain just came flying in. We were kind of huddled in a corner. After what felt like ages, the rain eased off a bit and we were able to leave. We took the boat back down the river, I think we got the regular boat this time, not the tourist express boat, but our ticket was valid on both. We decided to see a couple more sight, Jieow Eng Bieow Shrine and Wat Yannawa, so we got off at Sathorn (Central Pier). There were on opposite sides of the BTS station, so we decided to head right and visit Wat Yannawa first. It was a short walk from the docks, maybe five minutes. Wat Yannawa is known as the 'Boat Temple'. The temple was originally called Wat Kok Krabue and was built in the 19th century during the Ayutthaya period. King Rama III

ordered for the temple to be renovated and a new pagoda to be built that resembled a Chinese junk. It was built like this to remind the Thai people of the ships that had helped promote trade and prosperity, an had brought many Chinese immigrants to the country.

We ha a quick look at the front of the temple, but the heavens opened an we retreated to this stone hallway, opposite that was housing Buddha. The rain was teeming down again. So we stood there for ages, hoping that it would ease of a bit or stop completely. I think it eased off a tiny bit and we headed out, to catch the boat back across the river. However disaster struck and Shell's flip flops broke. We spent ages trying to hail a taxi, I have nothing but disdain for Thai taxi drivers. They are the route of all evil. Why drive around in your taxi refusing fares, using up your petrol, when you could have somebody sitting in your cab, making you money, even if you are stuck in a traffic jam, the meter is still ticking, making you money. Argh! The best was one taxi driver we saw

that told a couple trying to get in his cab, to walk! We finally found a taxi driver, who agreed to use the meter, so got in his cab. However, when we got in he refused to turn it on. What a c*nt! He wanted 150 baht for the journey, but we said we would only pay 100 baht. He bitched and moaned the whole way back to our hotel and I bitched and moaned back at him. I hate being treated as a walking cashpoint. I did however get the last laugh. A friend of a friend had told me about someone who uses this trick, when Korean taxi drivers are dicks, so this was the perfect time to use it. On exit the cab, I left the door diagonally opposite the driver wide open. There is no way for him to shut it from the inside, so he had to get out of the car, walk around the cab and shut it himself. Haha, he looked like he wanted to kill me, revenge is sweet. If he had just stuck to his word and turned the meter on, it all could of been avoided. Dickhead!

We headed up

to our rooms to shower and change for later, and we reconvened in the lobby. We decided to eat inner in the hotel, as there wasn't much about outside and the restaurant we had been to the night before, which wasn't that great, was shut. The hotel offered a buffet or an a la carte option. We opted for the buffet, it was expensive for Thailand, at 500 baht, but cheap compared to the west. Also as I can eat a lot, I can always get my money's worth from a buffet. I started with a salad, I smothered it with Ceasar sauce, bacon bits, and croutons, to negate all the healthiness in it. The hotel offered seafood on the buffet, but that was located outside. The seafood selection was okay, giant prawns, crab and calamari. I had some of the calamari and prawns. It was nice, but I'm lazy and I like my prawns to arrive without their shells on. It's too much hard work to get the meat out myself and I'm sure I must leave a load in the shells. After that I had a couple of plates of the different main course dishes that were on offer. I enjoyed pretty much everything. There was a really nice fish dish and a mashed potato, that had I think had peas (or some other green vegetable) mashed into in. The best bit was the chicken carbonara, the chicken was so good, big well cooked hunks, the sauce was great too. The desserts were okay, most of them looked better than they tasted an I was stuffed, but tried to sample them all. I finished off my meal with some cheese, I love cheese, I just wish that they had had blue cheese.

I was so full and felt really sleepy after dinner, I could of headed off to bed. But that was not on the agenda. me and Shell were heading to Sky Bar. Sky Bar shot to fame, as it was featured in the film; The Hangover: Part Two. Of course, I haven't seen the film, as I am totally clueless about popular culture, but I had seen pics of the bar and another similar bar on line and the view looked amazing so we really wanted to go. We tried to get a cab, but of course the driver of the first cab didn't have a

clue where we were on about, so we headed back to reception and got them to write it down in Thai for us. We got the next cab, no problem! The bar was a short cab ride across the bridge form our hotel.

Sky Bar is located in Lebua Tower. The cab dropped us off and we walked into the hotel's reception. Wow, this place was posh, I felt like a proper duck out of water. Me and posh aren't friends. I was waiting for someone to say, "Excuse me miss, you don't belong here." We found the lifts and queued up to get in. The girls in front of us had flip flops on and one of the really smartly dressed hotel employees was telling them, that they couldn't enter like that. The employee was so sweet though, she was telling them there was a shoe store nearby if they wanted to buy shoes or to wear a long dress or skirt that would cover their feet.

We took the lift to the 64th floor. I'm pretty sure my ears must have popped going up so high. We were ushered outside, there are staff everywhere pointing you in the

right direction. We came out on to the terrace, there were loads of people there taking photos. All the backpackers were scrubbed up in their Sunday best. We took some photos from the top there. The views out over Bangkok were amazing. You could see for miles, and the whole city was lit up below us. We weren't actually in the Sky Bar proper and you could come just take in the views and leave without heading down to the bar and buying a drink if you wished.

We headed over to the bar, which jutted out from the main roof terrace area. There is a dining section and you have to walk through the dining section to get to the bar. I don't think I would like to eat there, as there are a million people traipsing through the restaurant get to the bar. Personally, I think they should be a bit more separate, if I was paying to enjoy a meal there, I would like a nicer, quieter atmosphere. There was a band, that were situated above the diners, they were really nice to listen to. We got to the bar and were given a menu to look at. It was pretty dark, so it was hard to read the menu, the waitresses had small torches that you could use. We decided to order a 'Hangovertini' each. The cocktail was created at Sky Bar and first served to the crew and cast of the film. It is made with green tea liquor, Martini Rosso, green apple juice, and rosemary infused honey. The cocktail was rather nice and I did enjoy it. However the ordering system is a bit of a palaver; you give your order to the waitress, who then gives it to a member of bar staff, they make the drink and give it to the waitress, who gives it to you, then you give your money to the waitress, who then hands it over to someone behind the bar, for them to give the change to the waitress, who passes it to you. Surely this system could be simplified.

Cocktails in hand, we wandered to the edge of the bar, it was heaving and hard to move about with a precarious cocktail in hand and not bump into anyone and spill it. I definitely don't miss those nights out from my younger days. The views were gorgeous and it was lovely to see Bangkok from this angle. However the bar was too crowded for us, so we headed back up the steps with our drinks and sat on the columns there. I think I preferred it up there, as opposed to in the actual bar. You could see a bit more of the action in the bar below and still have great views.

We wanted another drink, but didn't want to head back down to the Sky Bar for it. On the pillar next to us, a family were getting drinks delivered from inside, so we went inside to see if we could get some drinks to take outside. When we went inside we ended up in a different bar, called Distil Bar, while trying to communicate that we wanted to order drinks and take them outside, we were shown to their own outdoor bar. This place was cool. It didn't have the amazing views that Sky Bar did, but you still see the city. It was also a lot more chilled out with comfortable seat, beddy things around the edge and some tables in the middle. It was so nice to be somewhere uncrowded. We were shown to the seats along the edge, where you can recline yourself and we had a good look at the menu. We spent a couple of hours chilling there. The cocktail I ordered sounded really nice, but in reality, it tasted rank. It took me forever to finish. Shell's was much nicer, it was a fruity sangria type thing. The bar was really nice and relaxed. It was open until one, so we happily stayed there until kicking out time. It's really windy up on the roof, and the staff had to be quick to retrieve any empty glasses from the tables, as a few blew off the tables and smashed.

The bar had an interesting mix of people, backpackers, lone business men, and we were seated next to a group of VIPs. I don't know what was so special about them, the younger blokes looked a bit plebby, not really dressed up. And I shall never know why they were so important, but I won't lose any sleep over it. When we took the lift back downstairs, the other people got off at some of the other floors, as they were staying at the hotel.

I only got a quick glimpse out of the lift door, but it didn't look that fancy. In fact, the hallway carpet looked positively skanky. Another way we could tell we were somewhere classy, was that the lift stopped on one of the service floors and there were some staff members with a trolley full of laundry. They saw us in the lift and didn't enter, they must have waited for the next one. Staff must not be allowed to mix with patrons, they didn't want our time ruined by sharing the lift with the laundry. We headed out to get a taxi. The concierge took our address and asked the taxi that was just dropping some guests off to take us. Of course, the git refused, even in a posh hotel the bloody taxi drivers refuse our fairs. However the lovely concierge ordered us another one straight away, and it turned up within a couple of minutes and we sped back to our hotel, to slum it once again.

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