The Grand Palace and a river cruise

A guard for one of the temples in the Grand Palace.
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The flight to Bangkok was pretty decent – I think I’ve mentioned flying on Gulf Air before, but this trip was particularly nice because I got the race upgrade. It’s a little crude to say, but basically they put two people in the same economy seat, took a look at the two of us, and invited me to use business class. Naturally I didn’t refuse and made the best of my flights - a menu to choose courses, eye mask, ear plugs, free toothbrush in a full sized bathroom and, most importantly, a seat that reclines all the way!

One of the statues holding up the temple roof.
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But even with all the comforts, I didn’t exactly arrive in Bangkok refreshed. After negotiating my way through the airport and past all the people trying to sell me something, I finally got a cab to our hotel in the middle of the backpacking district, where I took a shower and nap waiting for my friend Sara to show up.

exploring bangkok

Even though I was suffering extreme jet lag, Sara eventually convinced me to get a move on and we set out to explore the city. Naturally we had lunch first – did you know you can get a plate of pad Thai, spring rolls and a Singha (beer) for about $2? All the food in Thailand is extremely tasty, whether you buy it from a street vendor or a restaurant.

some monks in training
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After filling up, we decided to take a tuk tuk to see the Grand Palace. A tuk tuk, by the way, is an open-air carriage attached to a motorcycle that takes tourists around the city. They’re pretty quaint but usually on the lookout for tourists. Our driver was kind enough to offer a whole tour of Bangkok for about 14 Bat, which is not quite 50 cents. We enjoyed the Standing Buddha, our first stop, which is just a really huge statue of Buddha that stretches 7 stories or so into the sky. After that, he offered a tailor shop, and a long boat ride, which we refused. We tried to negotiate a new rate for a ride to the Grand Palace while he was trying to kick us out of his tuk tuk. Apparently the drivers earn quite a commission for bringing customers in. Sara and I stood our ground, and eventually got a ride to where we wanted.

something like an apartment building of the river community
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The Grand Palace is a collection of many, many temples. There are long corridors at the edges filled with paintings of the Buddha’s life. Each temple has a different Buddha in it: a sitting Buddha or jade Buddha or smiling Buddha – you name the Buddha, there’s probably a temple for him. The most interesting thing was the ornate decorations on the outsides of the temples. Some were completely covered in gold leaf; others were mirror tile mosaics (which reflected the sun on an already very hot day). My favorite things were the monkey guards holding up the temple roofs – they all had quite animated faces, each one different from the next.

our driver talked on his cell the entire ride - his slow pace allowed us to really enjoy the views
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After a couple of hours at the Grand Palace, we were in desperate need of a cold drink. We stumbled onto a market and got watermelon slush and lime juice (just like limeade) to refresh. Luckily, you can buy really good juice right on the street. We thought a nice way to relax would be a boat ride down the Chaia River and then happened to be right next to the pier – how convenient. We got our own longboat and set out for a tour of the riverine communities. We passed a whole lot of temples, some shops, and the occasional Royal Navy outpost. But mostly there were family homes along the river in all levels, from barely a structure to practically a mansion. Little kids and little boy monks in training waved and smiled as we passed – it was all very happy.

one of the many temples along the river
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Once again exhausted – the heat will do it – we foolishly decided to walk back to our hotel based on looking a map in the Rough Guide. It took a long time and involved playing virtual Frogger in real traffic, but we followed the natives and made it back, about an hour later (it only looked like two city blocks on our map).

I finally succumbed to the jet lag and called it a night.