Today was our first day in Bangkok. We went to the mall food court for breakfast/lunch as we were heading to the Grand Palace. I got a fried pork cutlet with Japanese curry and rice with miso soup for around 180 Baht which is about $5 CDN; we thought meals would be a lot cheaper but that is maybe only $2 cheaper than what we can get back home.
After lunch we took the subway (MRT) to Hua Lomphon train station and then we had to figure out a way to the Grand Palace as no train or subway takes you directly into the Old City area where the temples are. Now, I'm sure we got scammed as we were warned of taxi drivers trying to trick you that the palace is closed and they will take you around instead, but a random man in a dress shirt said that today there is a big ceremony with lots of military and that we should go to the palace later in the day around 3:30. He suggested we take a boat river tour that went around a small river where the floating houses and market is and would then drop us off at Wat Arun. The tour would be an hour long and 900 Baht each ($30). We thought it was expensive but would be a good way to see part of Bangkok, so we took our first tuk-tuk ride to the tour boat dock.
We got a long wooden boat, that is powered by some old turbo car engine, to ourselves. We got to see the houses of people who lived along this small canal and gave a good perspective of the poverty in the city, as these people did not have very much.
We got dropped off at Wat Arun, one of the famous temples in Bangkok that looks amazing when it is lit up at night. We were able to climb up the temple and the stair cases were pretty steep.
After that we took a ferry across the river to go to the Grand Palace. We were walking along the street and there were many people with tables trying to sell things such as clothes, old electronics, ancient coins, and other random stuff. We took a break in the Navy Wives Association coffee shop for water and much needed A/C. We knew the Grand Palace closed around 5? And we got there at 430 but the ticket booth had just closed. This was fine with us as we both did not have a strong interest in seeing the Grand Palace, nor did paying 500? B for an hour seem appealing anyway.
So we decided to walk down the street to Wat Pho and explored the Complex. Wat Pho has a giant reclining Buddah inside of the buildings, and also a bunch of temples and court yards with Buddah statues.
We also got to see monks do some chanting in one of to temples.
After that we ate at a hostel across the street and then went back to watch the sunset on the other side of the river across Wat Arun to capture some pictures of it when it is lit up. The pictures turned out great except it is a bit crooked, as noted by Joey on Instagram. It is hard to tell when setting up the camera on my small 6 inch tripod which I had to place on the ground.
We also got to see monks do some chanting in one of to temples.
After that we ate at a hostel across the street and then went back to watch the sunset on the other side of the river across Wat Arun to capture some pictures of it when it is lit up. The pictures turned out great except it is a bit crooked, as noted by Joey on Instagram. It is hard to tell when setting up the camera on my small 6 inch tripod which I had to place on the ground.
After this we took a taxi back to our hotel and called it a night as we are flying out to Cambodia tomorrow morning.
Posted by Steven
LOL. way to call me out in your post!!! i am creeping your post because I'm trying to figure out where we want to go for 2 weeks!
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