Friday was the day of Tourism Bangkok, 2010. We put on our comfy shoes and tuk tuk-ed it down to the Grand Palace on this sweltering day. I figured that since we only had 3 nights in Bangkok, Leon ought to see some of the major sites and really tick them off his list of must sees. The Grand Palace was very packed on Friday and to make matters worse, Leon was not wearing the appropriate clothing to visit the Palace so he had to rent some long, bright blue trousers which made him look like he had escaped from a Bangkok prison - I have photos to keep this memory alive, and trust me I shall be sharing these with everyone!
We made our way around and took lots of snap shots including the mini angkor wat model, the emerald buddha (from the outside, no photography of said buddha allowed from inside the wat) and having lost a lot of minerals and water through sweat (again), we decided to stroll down the street and see where it would take us. The traffic was as immense and noisy as ever, and I couldn't believe that it was actually ten times worse than in KL... never again will I say a bad word against my country's traffic jams. We arrived at a market, wolfed down some freshly made fish cakes, and decided to increase the 'tourist factor' by 5 and take a river trip for an hour. Although a bit of a rip off, it was a beautiful day and we got a speedy boat to ourselves down the river, where we could take in the cityscape and see how Thais lived along the riverbank. It was really sweet actually seeing lots of people sat at home in their living room watching tele, even though they were really only a couple of inches above water and were being held up by some not-so-sturdy looking stilts!
We breezed on down the river past Wat Arun which housed the infamous Reclining Buddha but having had enough of the bouncy boat, decided to direct our driver back to shore and set off on foot again down to Sam Phrang market. Now this was quite a distance and I think we really did work out those quads, but eventually we made it there! The market was full baskets and trays full of flowers (my mum would have had a field day), chillis, fresh veg and the usual clothes and trinkets. Luck would have it that we stumbled across a shopping mall that was like an air conditioned Little India, and went up to the food court for some lunch and a little time to reflect on our busy day.
In the evening, after a quick power nap as it rained cats and dogs outside, we ventured down to Sukhumvit Road via taxi and Skytrain and had a lovely meal at Cabbages and Condoms, which is a famous restaurant that gives proceeds to AIDS research, and afterwards met my friend Jolanda, her sister and some of their friends for a few drinks in a retro bar where the locals all frequent. All in all it has been a busy time for us in Bangkok, and we are both looking forward to a little quiet time in Chiang Rai....
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