The original plan (yes Cat, we’re using that same numbered day list style!) called for a day trip to the River Kwai, but we used up a slack day to lie in and get our bearings. With the next couple of days tickets arranged we were advised to check out the Royal Grand Palace. Until recently, Bangkok had no roads, just canals (I’ll refrain from any Venice connection, Manchester is closer…), and as we crossed over one, a huge crocodile was swimming upstream. Well, maybe not a croc, but a good 2 metres of kimono dragon-esque creature swimming through the brown water and flotsam in search of a meal (or maybe wondering what the hell he was doing there, as I was…)
The ferry dropped us off near the palace, but the first sight was the colourful roofs of Wat Pho, a buddhist temple adjacent to the palace. The star attraction was the huge gold reclining buddha, about 50 metres long housed in his own building. I’m betting the builders were glad the buddhists didn’t want a standing buddha as that thing was big. At least my curiosity was satisfied as to what the sole of a buddha looks like (mother of pearl, in case you wondered), and the only enlightenment that sole received was when the camera flashes went off. (sorry, couldn’t resist a rubbish joke…)
We ended up only having half an hour to look around the palace, which was probably a good thing as I had to wear trousers over my shorts in the stifling heat. There were also a number of “helpful” people telling tourists they wouldn’t get in, or it was closed already, probably in preparation for some scam or other. There are plenty of signs telling you not listen to these people, often right next to the scammer, which makes you wonder why they don’t just get the police to stop the scammers. The same goes for tuk-tuks and longtail boats in Bangkok, they look like such a fun way of getting around, but everywhere you look says to avoid as they are probably in cahoots with a scam, and just get a taxi instead.
That evening we headed to Khao San road, bars and tat shops galore, and of course the one time we leave our umbrella behind is when Bangkok decides to have a tropical downpour and change the road into a river. Good job the beer was cheap!