The Grand Palace and Temples

The flight from Chiang Mai was a bit tight for Eric, but it was only an hour long.

As soon as we touched down in Bangkok we hit the ground running.  Our hotel was supposed to have booked us a taxi, but no one was there to meet us at the DMK airport.  Since the rail link doesn’t go to this airport we had to grab a taxi.  GRAB being the operative word.  We should have used grab (like Uber).  Instead, we hired a regular taxi.  We showed our address and map to the taxi counter at the airport.  They showed it to the driver and were asking him if he knew where it was.  He laughed and nodded.  We followed him to his car and he began driving.  As soon as we were on the road he asked if we had a phone # for our hotel.  Obviously, he had no clue where we were going. He tried calling the number with no answer.  So, I was going to navigate him. I was concerned about battery power on my phone since we had a full day of picture taking ahead of us, but I had to open my google maps for the 45 minute ride.  Shouldn’t he have a GPS in his taxi?!?!?!?!  Meanwhile, I told him to veer left while showing him the map and he veered right – onto the highway with a 70 baht fee that I was now expected to pay.  Unbelievable.  I tsked him.  I actually tsked the guy.  I’ll have to say this was the first hiccup of our whole trip and I should have just let it go, but I was annoyed that he didn’t know where the heck he was going, was using my battery power to navigate, AND he wasn’t following said navigation.  I even put the navigation into Thai so he could understand it and he continued to ignore the directions. 

He was finally able to talk to someone at the hotel and after what I assumed was his understanding of the address he began driving the same way my GPS was directing.  We did finally arrive, but he wanted payment (of course).  And no, he couldn’t give change.  How are we supposed to guess at how much money we’d need when he doesn’t follow instructions and takes toll roads??  I scrounged every bill I could and had to give him coins to pay him without overpaying him by about 700 baht with a larger bill.

You all know I have a quick temper and I’m sure those of you who know me well can imagine how I was feeling right now.  But you’d be proud.  I brushed it off and put a smile on my face to drop our bags off at our hotel.  Great news though, we were able to check in early so we were actually able to takes our bags up to the room. That also gave us a chance to charge our dwindling phone batteries before our day of sightseeing.   Because today we were going to see The Grand Palace and a couple of temples. 

We were about a 20 minute walk from The Grand Palace, so we started on our way.  This is a great warning and tip for those of you who are looking to head to Bangkok to see the touristy sights.  As we walked down the road towards the palace we had a “tour guide” try to sell us his services for a whole entire day of sightseeing for only 20 baht.  He could tell we were dressed to go to The Grand Palace because we were wearing long pants (knees and shoulders must be covered to enter) in sweltering heat.  He told us the palace was closed due to the King being in town for the coronation holiday.  That was a viable possibility so when we passed by him I checked.  I couldn’t find anything online about it being closed so we decided to just try and check it out anyway.  Another guy along the way was telling me that I was wearing the wrong pants.  He said I wouldn’t get in.  No doubt he knew where I could buy some suitable clothing.  Another guy told us we needed to go in a different entrance – a block before we got there.  I’m really not sure what his endgame was…

Regardless, we finally got there, walked in with about 300 Asians in tour groups (we stuck out) and were able to get a ticket within moments because the tour groups didn’t need to stand in line at the ticket booth.  Yes, The Grand Palace was open and yes, our clothing was suitable, and yes, it was GRAND. 

 Wow…  This place was spectacular.  Mosaics abounded.  Here are some snap shots of the grounds and buildings.

We weren’t able to bring cameras into the temple of the Emerald Buddha, but that was breathtakingly beautiful.  We had to remove shoes, hats, and no cameras as we entered.  Of course, it was CROWDED – much like going into the Sistine Chapel.  We were supposed to be quiet in this temple, but we didn’t have any guards shushing us.  That may be because someone actually shattered a glass water bottle while we were in there.  Remember the bare feet?  Yah… That kept the guard busy.

The crush to get in and see the Emerald Buddha

After the Grand Palace we walked down the road to find the boat dock that would take us over to Wat Arun.  The ferry across the river was only 4 baht (about 12 cents). 

We had about a 100 yard walk to the temple and the ticket here was only 50 baht vs. the 500 baht at The Grand Palace. Of course, it was a much smaller temple.  The stairs leading up this were extremely steep.  Easier to get up than down.  Take a look at these beautiful mosaics as well – much of it was in relief, 3D effect.

We were extremely hot by this point, so we found a creamsicle that was coconut mango flavor.  Mmmmm, so good.  I also purchased a fan hat that was way too small for my head.  Yep, a fan hat.  A hat on your head or you can fold it up into a fan when you take it off.  Quite helpful in this heat. I had actually purchased another fan after The Grand Palace, but it wasn’t doing enough.  It was HOT.  Did I mention it was hot?

After Wat Arun we took the ferry back across the river for another 4 baht and walked a block to Wat Pho, just next door to The Grand Palace.  

Now, Wat Pho had the reclining Buddha in one of its buildings.  It was massive.  50 foot high and 150 foot long.  The majority of the temple grounds were under construction and we couldn’t see them – just the reclining Buddha.  We did sneak into a closed section and took a pic.

50 foot tall

 I thought the feet were beautiful

 Under Construction

 

At this point it was lunch time.  So we found The Deck on the river, straight across from Wat Arun.  We had a wonderful meal with amazing service from Peter.  I asked if he had lived in America because his English was very clear.  He said no, he was actually part of the Karen Tribe (the women who wear the rings around their neck). He learned English from his sister who now lives in America.  Wow….  He was brilliant with linguistics.  

As we were finishing up a group of about 8 or 10 people sat down behind us.  They all wore ear pieces and had walkie talkies.  This excited Eric.  He thought they were probably part of a film crew and was hoping it was someone like Andrew Zimmern.  As we walked towards home we saw more film crew actually filming on the street.  Have no idea who the celebrities were, but there were 4 beautiful British women being filmed,  Again… no idea who they were.  The cameraman practically ran us down trying to follow one of them that was walking directly in front of us.  He did say sorry for nearly knocking me into the street.  And then said sorry again when blocking our path as he caught up with her.  We were just disappointed it wasn’t Andrew.  That would have made Eric’s day.  

Our feet were DONE so we decided to take a tuk tuk back to our hotel and take a nap.  It was glorious. We’ve really gotten into the afternoon naps during the heat of the day.

After the nap we were rejuvenated and ready to go.  We put on some nicer clothes because we were going to hit a rooftop bar.  Most of them have dress codes.  We grabbed a GRAB taxi and headed towards the Hyatt Millennium and the Three Sixty Rooftop Bar.  This guy had a GPS, and so did every other taxi we took from here on out. 

We hadn’t planned it but we arrived just in time for a sunset.  What a glorious view.  We had some snacks and a couple of cocktails.  It wasn’t very busy so we didn’t feel rushed and we hung out until 8:30 just looking at the view.  It was also a bit cooler on top of the building, which was doubly nice.

We then decided to go by the famous Khao San Road.  Ummmmm.  Unless you’re in your 20’s or want to act like you are, avoid this at all cost.  It was the most horrible experience of our trip.  Girls puking on the corner (while a cockroach ran up her back – not kidding). Bars and restaurants jam packed together while competing who had the best music by making it the loudest.  It was terrible.  I was looking forward to dinner but lost all appetite.  And it was late so non-Khao San Road options were hard to find.  We finally settled for a place about a block away and it was probably the worst food we had…  Wah wah wah – bad last night of the trip.  Oh well – we walked back to our hotel and hit the sack.  Sorry - didn't even take a picture of that train wreck.

The next day we woke up, packed our bags and took a grab to the Chatuchak Weekend Market.  Woah.  It was huge.  Really huge.  Much the same as what we saw in the markets in Chiang Mai, but more lined up in rows and contained than the Chiang Mai market.  Lots of food options as well.  We did avoid the pet section – I figured I’d end up in jail if we went by that.

 I think we did sections 2,3,4,18,19, 26 and 1.  We didn't even see this map until we were leaving. That would have been helpful - HA!

When we were overheated and felt we saw enough we took a grab back to our hotel and then another grab to the airport.  We changed clothes and freshened up a bit before our long flight home.

We had some delays out of Bangkok, but we easily made our connection in Tai Pei which was also delayed.  The pilot made up the difference in the air though and our return flight from Tai Pei was a little over 10 hours vs. the 14 hours heading over.  Much better.  We caught a few winks and a movie before we touched down in Seattle.  We left Bangkok at 4:30 PM on Saturday and arrived at 7:30 PM on Saturday. Time Travel.

Our drive home was a bit exciting due to I-5 being closed in two different locations due to wrecks.  We were stuck for 45 minutes in one, but found a side road for the other.  We finally arrived home at 12:45 AM.  It feels really good to be home.  Our yard is in bloom, the air is cooler and the humidity is practically non-existent.  Tino and Fergus greeted us at the door, although I’ll have to say I was disappointed by their lack of excitement.  I guess Grandy and Grandad took great care of them.