Big Buddha: Day 2 in Bangkok

We ended Monday night with the most virtuous of intentions, made flesh in the form of an alarm set for 6 am the next morning. The idea was to get up bright and early, figure out how to get to the Grand Palace from our hotel (public transport links seemingly pretty poor) and be there by the time it opened at 8:30, to beat the crowds, the heat and the ticking clock.

What actually happened in the morning was that Jules turned the alarm off and I woke up at 8.15. Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men and all that. The pace of the morning did not exactly pick up from there, and by the time we got ready and ate breakfast, it was 10 am and our early bird dreams were dust.

Lacking the energy to come up with a creative way to get to the palace, we just hopped in a taxi for another frustratingly slow ride across the city. I will stop complaining about Brussels traffic after experiencing Bangkok! (Well, at least for a month!) That is, when we found a taxi that would take us. The first two wanted to take us on a "tour" of the city (including the "best tailor in Bangkok" aka the tailor with the best kickbacks for that particular taxi driver in Bangkok). Unable to agree either a price or a route, we were left walking along the road until we managed to flag another one down. This one was snacking on some sort of strong-smelling curry mix, which made me feel sick, but at least he took us straight to our destination instead of holding us hostage for the entire morning in a cheap tailor's.

We had changed plans over breakfast, daunted by the size and alleged crowds of the Grand Palace. Instead, we went virtually next door to Wat Pho, home of the 46 metre long Reclining Buddha. This massive, gold, reclining (yes) statue is definitely a sight to behold. Housed in a small temple not much bigger than the Buddha himself, he perhaps seems all the larger for the intimate setting which enables you to get glimpses of the different parts of his body between the pillars, before squeezing through the crowds for a perspective on the whole statue. For crowds there were also at this temple, manically taking photos and selfies at every turn (us very much included, as you will see). As you can also see, I was a hot mess in here, unbelievably hot and sweaty and limp haired.

Jules and Buddha's pillow

Crowds in the narrow temple

Pots for offerings to the shrine

It was a nice surprise, since we hadn't done too much research on the place, that there was a lot more to see besides the Reclining Buddha (although you couldn't really ask for much more for the 2.50 entry fee). You couldn't go into many more of the buildings, but it was wonderful wandering around the grounds and seeing all the beautiful temples. This was my first trip to Asia, despite it being very popular for young Kiwi backpackers, and I don't have much knowledge of or exposure to Asian cultures. Obviously it looked more or less like what I might have imagined, I have seen some photos and artworks etc., but for me at least there was a sense of experiencing something new and different that I wouldn't necessarily have visiting a European church. The colours and the intricacy of the carvings was beautiful, and there was also a general sense of harmony and visual interest in the way the complex was laid out, particularly the "forests" of chedi (small mound-shaped temples).

I made a monkey friend

And a lion (?) friend

Smaller than the Reclining Buddha, but probably a lot bigger than it looks here

Jules got a fancy new camera, so expect a lot more depth of field from here in

We could definitely have spent longer walking around, and it was a shame we missed out on the Grand Palace and the other important temples, but we were really glad that we got to go there and see Wat Pho. And once you got out of the temple with the Reclining Buddha, it wasn't so hot or crowded.

We had begged the hotel for a late check-out, so we could leave our bags in the room and come back for a quick shower and a change of clothes before heading to the airport, so we had to be on our way at about 12.15. Another semi-frustrating taxi ride back later, we got ready and were downstairs for the hotel shuttle back to the airport train at 2 pm. We were quite early for our plane, but between some pretty decent Thai food for lunch (finally a dish with plenty of coriander, it was strangely lacking from the other meals we had), picking up our bags from the left luggage and checking in, and doing some window shopping in the many airport stores, the time passed quickly.

We're in Auckland now, it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep. We arrived to grey, rainy, windy weather, with the city not looking its best, although it has cleared a lot now and I can see the city lights out the window of my parents' house. We didn't sleep a wink on the flight, and the plane was a bit smaller and more cramped than the first one (and with worse seat-back TV screens). Still, the break in Bangkok helped - unfortunately, we don't have a stopover on the way back, and the flights are an hour longer each, so there's 28 hours of fun to look forward to.

One night in Bangkok

Cliché title I know, but what else can you put if you literally have one night in Bangkok?

I join you from a plane 10667 m up, just off the north-western coast of Australia, on the way between Bangkok and Auckland. I swear everyone else on board is asleep and mocking my perpetual inability to sleep on planes. Especially the guy right next to us, who is indulging himself in some loud, wet, gurgly snores. 

I didn't even try to sleep on the first leg, Brussels to Bangkok - we left at 1.15 pm and arrived just before midnight, Brussels time (6 am Bangkok time), so I knew there was no hope of that. I was more optimistic this leg, since we left at 6.45 pm, but 6 hours later, the only sign of sleepiness I've had was while we were waiting for them to take away the dinner trays. As soon as they did, and I could actually theoretically lie back (well, perform a token incline) and relax, I was wide awake again.

Anyway, one night in Bangkok, or 36 hours in Bangkok to be precise. Everything went smoothly with our arrival. I had the bright idea of leaving our large suitcases in the airport left luggage, so we didn't have to bother hauling them back and forth. Less than 10 euros and a few minutes later, we were disencumbered and on our way on the train into the centre. It was all a lot less daunting and confusing than I had anticipated, and we even managed the 10-minute walk from the train station to our hotel with only minor stress and major sweat. 

It was so hot in Bangkok. When I saw the forecast was for 33 degrees, I knew it would be hot, particularly coming from 2 degree Brussels, but the humidity was killer. Every time we went three steps out of the hotel, we were absolutely dripping with sweat. 

So as you can imagine, first step when getting to the hotel was a shower, and then bed. We had booked for the night before, so we were able to go straight in when we arrived around 7:30. We managed a disciplined 3 1/2 hours sleep or so and dutifully peeled ourselves back out of bed at 12 to try to not get too messed up with jetlag and have some time to see the city.

The plan for day 1 was deliberately low-key, by which I mean a two-hour massage - Thai style, hot oil and with some sort of heated bag thing (?) Whatever it was, it was pretty good. Favourably compares to the last massage I had in Marrakesh, which I realise was over a year ago! We were warned that the massage would be medium intensity, strong at time, and it did have its moments which bordered on painful. Some spots I barely even knew I had muscles, let alone tight muscles, but they do a good job squirrelling out any trouble spots and then elbowing you hard in them. 

After the massage, suitably relaxed, other than my general awkwardness over how much and how to tip, and also what to do with the disposable (I hope disposable) G-string I had to wear), we took a taxi to Chinatown (Yaowarat Road) to feast on some street food. (Actually, I forgot, we also ate lunch at a weird canteen-type place down a back alley, which was good if liable to make a health inspector faint.) By the time we crawled there painfully slowly through Bangkok traffic, with me regretting at every moment that I hadn't gone to the loo in the spa, and wondering if the traffic was going slowly enough for me to leap from the cab, find a loo, and come back again before losing Jules in the city, it was around 6 pm and getting dark. 

A sample of Bangkok traffic

It wasn't quite as "market-y" as I had been hoping, but Chinatown was a pretty good place to experience the hustle and bustle of the city and get a vibe of the energy in such a huge, crazy metropolis. It was pretty crowded and touristy, but there still felt like there was a certain authenticity in the stalls serving up simple dishes in, again, pretty terrible hygiene conditions. We just went for it and ate everything from meat on a stick, to dumplings, to pork noodles to spring rolls. I'm usually blessed with a pretty cast iron stomach, and thankfully it hasn't let me down (yet). Seeing the meat just sitting out with no refrigeration, and the cooks just chucking in meat, noodles, veg etc. with their hands might trouble the delicate, but we are made of sterner stuff :) I did draw the line at seafood, however, and neither of us was up for the much-advertised shark fins, bird's nest soup or durian. This latter was being hacked up on the street - I can say it did have an unusual overly sweet, verging on rotten, smell, but, at least at a safe distance, it wasn't nearly as fearsome as reputation has it. When we were checking in for our flight this afternoon we did see a "no durian on board the aircraft" notice though, so I do suppose it must be quite something in confined environments.

Street durian

A cook at work

The fruits of another chef's labours

Yay meat lollipop!

Jules navigates Chinatown

Tuktuk eye view

Our lack of sleep caught up with us after a couple of hours, and we finished off the evening with a tuktuk ride back to our hotel. This was pretty hair-raising, and fun. Jules's side was protected by a chicken-wire grille, but I had nothing keeping me from flying out of the tuktuk should we encounter a particularly sharp bend. That made it all the more fun though, I'm glad we tried it!