When we got to Bangkok, I can’t believe how many tourists were there. I think almost half of the people you see are tourists. Bangkok is similar to Manila except that it’s cleaner and they drive on the left, but the traffic congestion and the driving style are very familiar. On the other hand, the taxi drivers were also more polite, or maybe we were just lucky. If you say meter, they don’t argue with you. We visited the Grand Palace and it was really awesome. The colors were vibrant and glittering in the heat of the day. Looking at the mosaics, one has to admire the effort and painstaking detail the artists and laborers put into making the different structures in the compound. I learned that Rama V was a great fan of European style that is why you will see a blending of the East and the West. There was a particular building that the guide said was copied from the Buckingham Palace but with Thai style roof. The entrance to the Grand Palace was 350 Baht. It seemed quite steep but it also includes entrance to the Teakwood Golden Mansion, about 4 kilometers from palace, and also other museums. So if you buy the ticket from the palace, it’s already a steal. We saw the Emerald Buddha, which is their national treasure. It’s somewhat smaller than I expected and according to the guide, it’s not emerald but jade. The Buddha had three sets of clothing, one for summer, another for rainy season and the third one for winter. However, Thailand only has two seasons, the guide said, “warm and warmer”. The Buddha was wearing his winter clothes, which composed of the rainy season clothes with a mantle for the winter season as a cover. The 1:30pm guide was very funny and he was a fount of quips and golden nuggets of information.
Going around Bangkok, you can’t help but feel the presence of their King, the ninth Rama. His pictures are everywhere, even on their money. He must really be the most important figure in Thailand.
After the Grand Palace, we went to Wat Po, which is just a walking distance away. It houses the Sleeping Buddha statue. It’s a very big statue. There are also other Thai structures inside the compound. On our way to Wat Po, we experienced what our friends and the guide book have been warning us about, people who will approach you and tell you that the place you want to visit is closed for the day. We were walking along the walls of the palace on our way to see the Sleep Buddha when this man tried to approach us. He said, “Lady, Lady!” But we continued walking. He then shouted to our retreating backs, “Sleeping Buddha is close!” We paid him no mind and sure enough when we arrived at Wat Po it was open.
After we went around the temple compound, we decided to cross the river to the Temple of Dawn. We went to the pier to take a short ferry trip to the other side. It costs 3 Baht per person one way. When we arrived there, we walked along a plaza to the temple. Temple entrance was 50 Baht/person. The stairs climbing up the temple was quite steep and at the top you can see a view of the river and Grand Palace and Wat Po on the other side. Along the plaza you can find lifelike cardboard stands with a hole where you can put your face with the drawing showing a person in Thai costume. You have to pay 40 Baht if you want to have your picture taken. There are also stalls which rents out Thai costumes for picture taking. When we crossed back to the other side, I decided to try their Thai sausage, which a vendor was selling in the pier market. The sausage was similar to Ilocos longganisa, which was slightly sour and garlicky, just the way I like it.
We walked further along to a bigger pier and market. It was full of vendors selling food and other stuff. We enquired about some trips but we had no time to take it. It means that we have to go back to Thailand in the future to take those out of town trips.
