Day 4 – Bangkok

December 28th 2008

Nice lie in this morning, combination of beer and exhaustion from the night before but either way this is definitely a late start.

Leaving the hotel around 12:30 we took advantage of the hotel's free shuttle bus to one of the shopping centres approximately 2/3rds of the way to the main temples of Bangkok, which is our ultimate destination today.

Drop off at the MBK centre, first priority is to get something to eat so where else this festive period but Santa's? Yes, there is a fast food eatery – chain perhaps, who knows – in Bangkok called Santa's, complete with jolly picture of the man in red as their logo. Contemplate having the “Cheese with Cheese” baked potato, but go for one of their burgers instead – not quite McDonald's, which is round the corner and twice the price, but tasty enough.

Taxi to the Grand Palace which on the map appears to be just down the road. I'm forgetting though how vast this place is and it takes us a good 15/20 minutes to get there – and no funny business from the taxi driver either, following the route on the map, it simply takes ages to get anywhere in Bangkok.

The Grand Palace is just about the major attraction in Bangkok so it's busy but not in the same class as Chinatown. When we get into the central section though all thoughts of other people just disappear. This place is amazing and, so far, just about the most amazing man made place I've ever seen. Everywhere you look is just intricate works of gold, ceramics, the detail is incredible. I've probably taken about 100 photos here alone (they'll be edited by the time we get home!) simply because you feel you have to.

Shoes off, because this is also the home of the Emerald Buddha – unsurprisingly was also covered in plaster once and discovered to be green only after some of it flaked away. (These plaster coverings appear to have been security precautions so they weren't stolen in earlier invasions). This Buddha is quite small but no less impressive as it's carved from a solid piece of jade. Dressed in one of it's 3 seasonal costumes, presumably summer, it sits at the top of a huge throne. No photos allowed inside this one though I'm afraid.

Leaving the grand palace we head for Wat Pho the home of the reclining Buddha. The guidebook doesn't prepare you though for the scale of this one though, it's absolutely massive. Shoes off but photos allowed, have tried to do it justice but will probably have failed miserably. No time to go round the rest of this Wat complex as we need to get to Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, which is across the river before it closes.

Just 5 minutes from WAT Pho is a pier where a water taxi/bus/whatever you'd like to call it takes people across the river. The fare is a wallet busting 6p each! Having taken the short hop over to the pier nearest to Wat Arun we're within a very different Wat complex which if I'd have been a betting man I'd have sworn was Hindhu, with it's “Prangs”and not a Buddha to be seen, but apparently it isn't and is indeed Buddhist. The central Prang is what we're all here for. 85 metres high and with incredibly steep steps to get up about 2/3rds of the way. The view from the top is great with the sun low in the sky behind us reflecting the light off all the gold elements from the Wat's on the other side of the river. A nice cooling breeze too make this a good place to stand for a while – that and the slightly scary prospects of having to get back down the steps!

Having been relieved of a further 6p to get back across the river we decide to try and get further down the river, back to River City – the place our dinner cruise left from – so we can get a Tuk Tuk the short hop to the Skytrain and therefore cover off 2 more Thai modes of transport not yet experienced.

Instead of waiting for the slow river bus, we end up sharing one of the long tail river taxis. Sharing because we refused to pay the 500bhat asked for (the bus was 15bhat), but there's always a deal to be done so others were found to share the price and we end up paying 80bhat each. This turns out to be a good move as in no time we're back at River City. The Germans who we're sharing with fail to understand the concept of the boat though and immediately try and jump out on arrival, one gentleman almost goes in as the boat lurches back out to the river on their momentum while a rather large lady manages to dive off the boat onto the quayside falling unceremoniously on my right foot – dear me...

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending which way you look at it, we can't get a Tuk Tuk. The usually over keen drivers don't seem to want to take us, firstly because we make it clear we don't want to swing by one of their “sponsors” - read a shop – and then another one we try to get just point blank refuses, which is all very strange. Oh well, it's only 20 minutes walk and with the sun almost down it feels quite cool.

Sky Train to Sala Deng and we're back in the Patphong region again, this time though it's to seek out a specific restaurant that's in all the guidebooks, the Mango Tree. The food is good although I think I was more fortunate with my choices than Sarah who didn't have such a great experience.

A short walk skirting the edges of Patphong to the nearest underground station and we're back at the hotel Amari Atrium for the last time. Might've started late but another day with lots crammed in and we're very tired, early to bed as we have a travelling day tomorrow.