Bangkok I
5/28/05
We arrived in Bangkok at 5:30 A.M, coming from Krabi. The name Bangkok comes from Bang Makok, meaning 'Place of Olive Plums', but many other guides mention that Bangkok means 'City of Angels'. Whatever the name means, not to create any confusion, below is the official name of the city. It is a real tong-twister.
Krungthep mahanakhon amon ratanakosin mahintara ayuthaya mahadilok popnopparat ratchathani burirom udomratchaniwet mahasathan amonpiman avatansathit sakkathattiya witsanukamprasit.
The bus dropped us next to Khao San Rd, the street that concentrates budget hotels and guesthouses and it is packed with people, bars, pubs, travel agencies and shops.
At 5:30 in the morning there was still people in the streets partying from the night before.
We found a place to stay and went to catch up with sleep. We took a nap until 10 A.M when we left to tour around in Bangkok.
Angie had a Thai breakfast, a rice chicken soup.
We looked into some tours with travel agencies just to have an idea of the prices.
After that, while walking around, we were approached by a hawker that offered us a free tuk-tuk ride to visit the city but in exchange he asked permission to bring us to a jewelry store. Knowing how these things work, we decided to have a deal with the driver; he took us for free around the city in exchange of a stop in a store chosen by him. The surprising thing is that it was openly explained during the negotiation.
We left on a tuk-tuk ...
... and made the first stop at Wat Indravihan, also known for its huge standing Buddha image that is 32 meters tall.
Next to it there was a nice wat, which means temple in Thai.
From there we went to see Wat Sommanatwiham which is lso known as the lucky temple.
Our third stop was our deal with the tuk-tuk driver. A Jewelry store where we spent maybe 3 minutes.
Our free ride kept going to another 2 travel agencies in a search for information for trekking around Bangkok.
Our final stop was the Grand Palace, we just had a quick look from the outside because the building was about to close.
Nearby was Wat Pho, a site that carries a long list of superlatives. It is the oldest and largest Wat in Bangkok. It also features the largest reclining Buddha and the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand and was the earliest center of public education, Wow!
Wat Pho is also the national headquarters for the teaching and preservation of traditional Thai medicine, including Thai massage. Indeed, it is possible to do a 10-day massage course.
The colossal reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high.
When we were out of Wat Pho we were again approached by another tuk-tuk driver. The negotiation for the ride was again clear, he openly said it would cost 50 bath to go to straight to our requested destination with no stop or 5 if we were ok to see a jewelry store. Well, why not?
We made a 30 seconds stop at the jewelry store and then were droped in Chinatown's night market. We saw no tourists there. Later I tried to look for the name of that market in the Lonely Planet but I just couldn't find it. Would that be a mere coincidence? (later I found the name in the Bangkok tourist map - Thief Market)
The market had everything one can imagine, from the latest Playstation (PSP) to pre-owned worn out stinky boots.The food was also good and cheap.
From Chinatown we started to walk back to Khao San Rd. and on the way we stopped by Wat Saket, or also known in English as Golden Mount.
From there we passed by the Democracy memorial and the memorial for the king Rama III where we were again approached by tuk-tuk drivers. But this time, it was too late and we didn't want to go anywhere else, so we headed to Khao San Rd.
It was already night and we could see this famous street at its full steam. It was absurdly busy. It looks like all the Western weirdos gather there. We found a bookstore where we exchanged our Malaysian Lonely Planet for a Vietnam one and finally headed back to the hotel.
5/29/05
We left with plans to see the Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace but the fact that tourists have to pay 250 Baht (1 US$ =40 Baht) versus free admission for Thais got us by the guts. There is even no children nor student price. But in all the Asian countries we have visited so far, it is normal practice. We walked around from gate to gate and saw what we could for free :)
Then we went to see Wat Arun which is also called temple of dawn. It has been built in the 17th century.
The place is really nice, it is just across the river (2 Baht) and the gate is guarded by two Chinese soldiers.
Just next to Wat Arun there was another beautiful temple.
The temperature in Bangkok was so high and the heat was so strong that going into a mall (air conditioning) wasn't a bad idea. We jumped in a public bus that crossed Chinatown before getting us to Siam Square, the area with all the designer and brand-label shops. All the western trendy stores are here, Benneton, Quicksilver, Chaps, Esprit, Lacoste, Timberland, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, you name it, they have.
One weird thing is that even though the market is Thai the models in the ads are all white European-looking people.
From Siam Discovery Center we crossed the street and went to the cheaper and bigger MBK; here is where the sales are really happening. The building is huge and you can walk for hours from store to store.
When we got tired of walking we decided to go for a movie. Although Angie wasn't really excited about it, I really wanted to see how Anakin turned into Darth Vader and we watched the last of the Star Wars in Bangkok. . Angie slept almost the whole movie :D Before the movie everybody had to pay respect to the king and stand up during a short movie about him.
After the movie, it was already night and we headed back to Khao San Rd.
We arrived in Bangkok at 5:30 A.M, coming from Krabi. The name Bangkok comes from Bang Makok, meaning 'Place of Olive Plums', but many other guides mention that Bangkok means 'City of Angels'. Whatever the name means, not to create any confusion, below is the official name of the city. It is a real tong-twister.
Krungthep mahanakhon amon ratanakosin mahintara ayuthaya mahadilok popnopparat ratchathani burirom udomratchaniwet mahasathan amonpiman avatansathit sakkathattiya witsanukamprasit.
The bus dropped us next to Khao San Rd, the street that concentrates budget hotels and guesthouses and it is packed with people, bars, pubs, travel agencies and shops.
At 5:30 in the morning there was still people in the streets partying from the night before.
We found a place to stay and went to catch up with sleep. We took a nap until 10 A.M when we left to tour around in Bangkok.
Angie had a Thai breakfast, a rice chicken soup.
We looked into some tours with travel agencies just to have an idea of the prices.
After that, while walking around, we were approached by a hawker that offered us a free tuk-tuk ride to visit the city but in exchange he asked permission to bring us to a jewelry store. Knowing how these things work, we decided to have a deal with the driver; he took us for free around the city in exchange of a stop in a store chosen by him. The surprising thing is that it was openly explained during the negotiation.
We left on a tuk-tuk ...
... and made the first stop at Wat Indravihan, also known for its huge standing Buddha image that is 32 meters tall.
Next to it there was a nice wat, which means temple in Thai.
From there we went to see Wat Sommanatwiham which is lso known as the lucky temple.
Our third stop was our deal with the tuk-tuk driver. A Jewelry store where we spent maybe 3 minutes.
Our free ride kept going to another 2 travel agencies in a search for information for trekking around Bangkok.
Our final stop was the Grand Palace, we just had a quick look from the outside because the building was about to close.
Nearby was Wat Pho, a site that carries a long list of superlatives. It is the oldest and largest Wat in Bangkok. It also features the largest reclining Buddha and the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand and was the earliest center of public education, Wow!
Wat Pho is also the national headquarters for the teaching and preservation of traditional Thai medicine, including Thai massage. Indeed, it is possible to do a 10-day massage course.
The colossal reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high.
When we were out of Wat Pho we were again approached by another tuk-tuk driver. The negotiation for the ride was again clear, he openly said it would cost 50 bath to go to straight to our requested destination with no stop or 5 if we were ok to see a jewelry store. Well, why not?
We made a 30 seconds stop at the jewelry store and then were droped in Chinatown's night market. We saw no tourists there. Later I tried to look for the name of that market in the Lonely Planet but I just couldn't find it. Would that be a mere coincidence? (later I found the name in the Bangkok tourist map - Thief Market)
The market had everything one can imagine, from the latest Playstation (PSP) to pre-owned worn out stinky boots.The food was also good and cheap.
From Chinatown we started to walk back to Khao San Rd. and on the way we stopped by Wat Saket, or also known in English as Golden Mount.
From there we passed by the Democracy memorial and the memorial for the king Rama III where we were again approached by tuk-tuk drivers. But this time, it was too late and we didn't want to go anywhere else, so we headed to Khao San Rd.
It was already night and we could see this famous street at its full steam. It was absurdly busy. It looks like all the Western weirdos gather there. We found a bookstore where we exchanged our Malaysian Lonely Planet for a Vietnam one and finally headed back to the hotel.
5/29/05
We left with plans to see the Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace but the fact that tourists have to pay 250 Baht (1 US$ =40 Baht) versus free admission for Thais got us by the guts. There is even no children nor student price. But in all the Asian countries we have visited so far, it is normal practice. We walked around from gate to gate and saw what we could for free :)
Then we went to see Wat Arun which is also called temple of dawn. It has been built in the 17th century.
The place is really nice, it is just across the river (2 Baht) and the gate is guarded by two Chinese soldiers.
Just next to Wat Arun there was another beautiful temple.
The temperature in Bangkok was so high and the heat was so strong that going into a mall (air conditioning) wasn't a bad idea. We jumped in a public bus that crossed Chinatown before getting us to Siam Square, the area with all the designer and brand-label shops. All the western trendy stores are here, Benneton, Quicksilver, Chaps, Esprit, Lacoste, Timberland, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, you name it, they have.
One weird thing is that even though the market is Thai the models in the ads are all white European-looking people.
From Siam Discovery Center we crossed the street and went to the cheaper and bigger MBK; here is where the sales are really happening. The building is huge and you can walk for hours from store to store.
When we got tired of walking we decided to go for a movie. Although Angie wasn't really excited about it, I really wanted to see how Anakin turned into Darth Vader and we watched the last of the Star Wars in Bangkok. . Angie slept almost the whole movie :D Before the movie everybody had to pay respect to the king and stand up during a short movie about him.
After the movie, it was already night and we headed back to Khao San Rd.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 8:35 AM
2 Comments:
Hi, it's Buzzi from Brazil
Finally I got to your blog! It seems everything is going weel with your trip. Nice pictures! (read: I'm envy of them :)
Wish you the best!
hahaha! Poor tuk-tuk driver. He probably didn't know you are "vacinado" and already passed through Egypt and India. Bad deal for him and free trip for you. :-)
I'm not commenting too much, but I'm constantly checking your blog so I can travel a little with the stories and pictures. Great adventure! Totally worth it! I'm really glad for you. And, don't worry about the end of the trip because Curitiba is actually prety cool these days!
Take care,
Wellington.
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