Bangkok: The City That Does Not Sleep

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Day 1:

Bangkok is a very interesting city. I would best describe it as a having the smells of China town in San Francisco the humidity of the jungles of Mexico, the the hustle and bustle of a busy European street with the crazy drivers to match.





I started my travels in California at 7am on Sunday, and ended my travels at 12am on Tuesday. We time traveled.





It was the most bizarre feeling as we chased the sun from California to Tokyo. We were on the plane for 11 straight hours to Japan, and the Sun was still just as bright in Japan as it was when we left California ! We arrived at the Tokyo airport at 3pm on Tuesday and felt extremely jetlagged as we laid on our backpacks at the terminal. Not being able to stomach real Japanese food such as sushi, we opted for the chicken rice bowl. The airport was DEAD -- after imagining the Narita International airport as being a bustling hub for all of Asia, this was not what we expected. We were "almost there", but by almost there I mean we were still a 6.5 hour flight away from Bangkok.





Once we stepped off the plane in Bangkok we knew we were there. We were flooded by the heat and humidity, and it was already 11pm !





The Bangkok airport was much more lively than Narita. It was as if it was 11am rather than 11pm. straight off the plane we were targeted by the airport officials (you could say that with our blonde hair we stuck out a bit...) -- They helped us grab a cab and proceeded to tell us that all their cabs are okay to take -- hot pink, orange, yellow. Ours was hot pink.





Ot was a 30 minute cab ride from the airport, and when our cab driver stopped to drop us off we thought that by the looks of things, this must not be the right spot. We spotted our hotel across the street and down an alley way behind gates. Across the street were some food vendors and many stray cats. When we walked in we were greeted by an extremely friendly staff who were expecting us.





Our room was funny -- There was a window that went from the inside of the bedroom to the inside of the shower, with blinds that only partially worked. I guess we knew we were in Bangkok at this point !





The shower was electric (I didn't even know these existed) and poorly designed so that whenever you showered, you flooded the bathroom floor.





At this point we were so exhausted all we wanted to do was sleep. Lauren went to jump on her bed and basically bounced back it was so hard! The pillows weren't any better -- rock solid. We could probably sleep on a concrete floor though.









DAY 1 IN BANGKOK:





Our plan was to go to the Grand Palace and Wat Po -- Basically the two main tourist attractions in Bangkok. Little did we know at this point that neither of these would happen on day 1 in the city.





Dress requirements for Buddhist temples is shoulders covered, pants or skirt to the knee or below, and heels covered. Lauren and I each put on our long skirts and shoulder coverings and headed out of the room. Walking out of our air conditioned room into the stuffy hallway was eyeopening. We were instantly hot.





The hotel staff greeted us by name and handed us two breakfast tickets for the cafe around the corner. They wrote down the two Thai phrases we needed to know to get around:

Hello: Sa-Wat-Ti-Ka

Thank you: Koh-Kun-Ka





Breakfast was suprinsingly good ! We were offered a pretty decent latte along with our choice of egg dishes, yogurts and fruit of pancakes -- Just like America !





Off we went.





In Bangkok, and throughout Thailand, there are two main ways to get around cities -- The taxi, which runs off of the meter. And then the Tuk Tuk which is a very small, open air taxi that dodges traffic and drives pretty erratically through the streets.





Our hotel offers a free tuk tuk to the Grand Palace, but we would have to wait an hour for it so naturally, being the explorers we are, we set off on foot. Headed towards the Grand Palace, we took a couple short cuts through quaint alley ways with cafes, bars and restaurants in search of the river. We were planning on taking the boat down the river to the palace, as suggested by the hotel staff.





One wrong turn somewhere, we ended up by what's called the Democracy monument. A nice gentlemen saw us checking our map and tried to help lead us in the right direct. Weary of scams, we were cold yet polite, and did not take the man's advise to get in a tuk tuk. He had been telling us that the Grand Palace and Wat Po were closed until 3pm today because the king was in town. It was hard to understand why exactly, but it was clear that someone died. He suggested we go see a few other temples before 3pm, but we did not take his advise.





Turns out we had been walking in the wrong direction for a few blocks, so we turned around and headed back. Another gentlemen, a police officer at a near by wat stopped to help guide us. Here is where the story gets interesting. He told us the same story -- The king was in town because a royal family member had died and the Royal Palace and Wat Po were not open until 3pm. He suggested going to see the same temples the 1st guy suggested. He also told us taht becuase the king was in town, it was a special day and the government was subsidizing gas and food for tuk tuk drivers. THsi meant that we could hire a tuk tuk driver to drive us to all the temples for only 20 baht (about 50 cents) instead of 300 baht. He said to watch out though, and make sure to use the government sponsored tuk tuks. We would be able to spot these becuase they were the only tuk tuks with flags -- one yellow flag for the government and one red white and blue flag for Thailand.





As he was telling us this, a tuk tuk with flags was driving by so I pointed it out -- "Like that one you mean?!? That's the kind of tuk tuk we should take?" YES he said. Just like that, do not take the others as they will scam you.





As I type this I realize how silly it sounds, but as the events were unfolding in real life it did not at all feel like a scam. There were too many people telling us the same thing -- The main attractions were closed until 3pm so you should see these other temples that are beautiful and tehn go see the grand palace and wat po in the afternoon !





So off we went with our tuk tuk driver Noi. He drove us to the Giant Buddha "Wat Indrawiharn", The Marble Temple "Wat Benchamabophit", the Golden Mountain "Wat Saket" and the Lucky Buddha.





Noi was great. He spoke enough English to tell us jokes and explain that he's really into playing poker. His driving was a little bit on the crazy side, but luckily we had handrails to hold on to (sorry mom, no seat belts in tuk tuks).





First stop was the Giant Buddha. This is a 100 ft tall golden Buddha in the center of the city. It was spectacular ! The architecture in Bangkok is so different than anything else I've seen, and this was definintely the largest Buddha I've ever laid eyes on ! There were a few other tourists...not many ! So Lauren and I spent time here exploring the grounds. There were a lot of Thai tourists around, praying to the great Buddha.





We found one small temple that we decided to go inside. No shoes in the temple. Inside was a bizzare scene. There were monks ushering us in, and we sat down on the designated carpet following the lead of the local Thai tourists. In front of us lay a glass box with what appeared to be a dead monk inside. To this day we are not sure what this was -- Was it a real dead person? Was it made of wax? It looked very well preserved if it was real...The other people inside the small temple were very, very emotional. Crying and praying to this deceased monk. We are still trying to figure out this mystery...





Next stop was the Marble temple. This was a beautiful temple made of white marble. The grounds were exquisite with a small river flowing through. It appeared as if they were setting up for an event -- Big tents were being set up with chairs. "Was the king coming here next?", we thought.





Noi waited for us outside. He was content playing poker.





When we got back in the tuk tuk he informed us that becuase today is the special government subsidized day, if we stop at this tourist information place he will receive a free meal coupon.





Olay. Fine Noi, only becuase we like you.





It was a quick stop in the tourist office, and they didn't try to push or sell us anything. Just answered a few questions we had about travel.





Next stop, Lucky Buddha.





Another ornate temple covered in gold and glittering jewels. It was under construction, and one of the workers came over and talked to us for a while as we were wandering around the grounds. He was very friendly and very chatty. Talking about how he had been to America once, and trying to explain that because of what's going on with the government right now, many tuk tuk drivers are bringing tourists to the information centers so that they feel comfortable in Thailand. He was explaining how tourism is so huge here that taking a hit because of the political unrest would just be devastating. He said they were doing construction but if we wanted to see the lucky Buddha we could go around and poke our heads inside. It didn't look like much, but according to everyone we spoke to, this Buddha will bring you the best of luck !





Noi couldn't really explain to us why exactly the lucky Buddha was lucky, but we just went with it.





Next up was the Golden Mountain temple also known as 400 Stairs. This temple was at the top of a hill and had beautiful views of all of Bangkok.





In between all these Noi asked us to stop at a total of 4 places so that he could get either food or gas from the government because it was a special day (tourist info, jewelry outlet, tailoring place, and another tourist info shop). At one of the tourist offices the man said "You haven't been in Thailand long have you? You still look pale!!". Thanks.





About half way through allt his we had a feeling it was a scam but just didn't know how much of a scam. We obviously didn't buy anything at all these stops, and were really doing it just incase Noi really DID get a free gas tank or a free meal.





After the Golden Mountain we asked Noi to take us to get some real Thai food. He brought us to a little food stand on the side of the road where only locals were eating. His friend worked there and served us some of the best fried rice I've ever eaten. It was chicken and veggies over fried rice, all for 30 Baht ($1).





We asked Noi to drop us off at the Grand Palace and said our good byes. Our total trip cost us 40 Baht, which is a little more than $1.





When we arrived at the Grand Palace, we were told that it was still closed to tourists, and only Thai people could go inside until 3pm.





So maybe everyone was telling the truth!?





We took a tuk tuk down to the river, and avoided yet another scam. Then we decided to just take a walk and get to know our surroundings. We ended up at the famous backpackers' road, Koh San Road, which felt a lot like the Vegas strip. Lots of flashing lights, things for sale and men on the street trying to haggle you.





We headed back to the hotel to freshen up, as we signed up for a night bike riding tour throughout the city !





We met our bike crew around 6pm -- It was Lauren, myself, and a family of three with an 11 year old son. We cruised around the city on the back roads and through the alley ways, getting a real sneak peak for true Bangkok living. We crossed the river on the ferry and went to Wat Arun which is lit up at night.





We were the only people there, besides the monks who live there.





Our guide Tammy told us a bit about the Monk culture. Almost every man in Thailand is a monk for some period of time in his life whether it be one month, or many years. The monks do not use money, nor do they use any form of technology. They are allowed to speak to women but are not allowed to touch them in any way. If we accidentally brushed up against a monk on the street, he would have to return to the monastery and purify himself.





We headed to a local flower market after the temple, which was interesting. It's open 24 hours and vendors offer hundreds upon hundreds of flowers. People use these flowers as offerings to the Buddha. You could buy 2 dozen roses for $1 !!





After this we went to Wat Po which is also lit up at night. We were the only ones here again which was very nice.





By the time we got back to the hotel we were utterly exhausted from seeing 5+ temples, and walking about the city from 9am - 11pm !





Day 1 we learned: We stick out sore thumbs. All tuk tuk drivers target us and love to try to rip us off. We're still not sure if the king was actually visiting the temples, and we're also unsure on whether or not there was any sort of government holiday.





When we returned to the hotel I googled "Lucky Buddha Bangkok" and every single article that popped up was about tuk tuk scams -- pretty much what happened to us word for word.





We may have lost an hour of our day, but at least we didn't lose more than $2 !!! And now we know. Welcome to Bangkok.

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