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Published: June 13th 2009
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Bangkok
One of the many stupas on the way into Bangkok Wednesday we ventured into Bangkok for the first time. It was a good opportunity for us to experience public transport and to get a feel for how chaotic the rest of our 9 months would be!
We were dropped off in the centre of Bangkok to catch the number 82 bus to the Grand Palace. We felt that this would be a simple trip and as the bus would take us directly to the Palace we could not see how we could go wrong!
How mistaken we could be. We jumped on what appeared to be a relatively busy bus, full of locals and with no air conditioning. We knew the Palace was by the river and that it was not too far from the stop we got on the bus at. But after a short time the bus became so full we couldn't see out of any of the windows and so were now playing a guessing game as to where the correct stop would be. We knew the Palace would be an impressive building with lots of gold features, unfortunately this describes the majority of Thailand’s buildings be it a Palace or a Hotel.
After 20
minutes of sweating on a packed bus we came to bridge over the river. As all we knew was that the Palace was near the river we decided to get off here and then assess the surroundings. We hopped of the bus at what appeared to be a bustling flower market. We walked in the direction of the river to try and establish where we were.
At the river we realised we had got off the bus too early and we were in fact walking in the wrong direction. We decided to cross the river and walk in the direction of the Grand Palace along the river front. The walk took us through small shanty town streets and past large shrines, temples and churches.
We stopped off to look at all the sites on our way; one shrine housed the largest gold Buddha which towered over you as you prayed. You could feel its power and energy. All you could do is stand and stare, breathless at this magnificent statue.
After paying our respects we left the temple and headed back to the river. We had walked as far as we could along the rover front and
Bangkok
Bangkok traffic so opted for a river boat to take us in the direction of the Grand Palace.
As we got off at the other side we headed in land and suddenly a sense of Deja- vu descended. 2 and half hours after we had begun our trip to the Palace we were back at the flower market! Feeling slightly deflated we hopped back on the 82 bus and 10 minutes and 7 baht (13p) later we arrived at our destination.
The Palace was not as we expected, in fact it was slightly disappointing. The dress code is strict (shoulders covered and long trousers.) From the outside all that can be seen is gold towers protruding from the walled exterior. You could only go inside the Grand Palace with a designated tour guide, so we decided to walk around the outside of the building and then head to Hualamphong train station. We opted for the local river boat which at 16 baht (30p) each was reasonable and a much more scenic route than the bus. After our trip on the water we hopped on the Sky Train (pretty new in Bangkok) and then jumped onto the Subway on the last
Bangkok
The view from the Chao Phraya river...quite a nice river actually! stage of the trip to the Train Station, where we would buy our tickets for the next stage of our journey, to Chiang Mai in the north next week.
After having spent to best part of the day in Bangkok we got a long distance bus back to Pattaya where we were given a whistle stop tour of the local night scene. Every street is crammed full of bars, brothels and strip joints. It’s a seedy place at night and you can’t walk a street with out being propositioned (even driving through in a car!). One of the most amazing things that this town has are loads of huge, extravagant brothels, not disimilar to the casino's in Vegas. What is even more amazing, are the coach loads of "tourists" (mainly Japanese we were told) that turn up to these giant windowless buildings. After half an hour of being shown the delights of Walking Street, Boyz Town (yes the gay district) and Soi's 7 and 8 we headed home for a well earned rest and some noodles and chicken!
What a way to end the day!
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Louise
non-member comment
We won't mention the brothels to grandma...
Hi both, Again, looking fascinating. It's a much more modern and busy city scene than I expected - I think you describe it well; will you be a journalist? Here in blighty it is Hannah's birthday and we are going over to Pete's for a BBQ. I haven't been across for 7 years so looking forward to seeing everyone. I have printed off some of your blog pages to show Grandma. Must get her onto the net. Enjoy and be careful! Love Lou.