Day two went to palace, saw show of local dances, tried a famous pad Thai place went out in evening. Exotic apple for breakfast.
After a short and hectic week stop over in the UK we have now arrived in Bangkok! We have to isolate on arrival here which means we were picked up from the airport and shuttled to our government approved hotel. As soon as we arrived a woman in a hazmat suit took samples for our PCR tests and we were sent to our room we would get the results back in the morning spend the rest of the day at the hotel before being released into Bangkok, if all went well. We got the all clear via a phone call at 7am and had planned to spend the morning making use of the pool but unfortunately Jet lag hit and we ended up sleeping until 2pm and then running around like headless to pack so we didn’t miss the check out time.
Even though we are now on a new continent it appears our habit of wandering about in the afternoon heat with our backpacks on has continued with us to Asia. We took what we hoped would be a scenic if not slightly long walk along a river to our next hostel. The river itself was pretty enough but every now and the we got an awful waft of rotting fish from the waste of markets along the river. But all in all it wasn’t too bad, we made it to our hostel slightly sweaty but otherwise unharmed, apart from the asault on our noses.
I had expected not to like Bangkok I thought it would be over touristy with small streets and a lot of litter like some other big city’s I’ve been to in asia but I actually really liked it it was clean with bright wide streets. I also thought I would have a bit of culture shock here. But although it is vastly different from Europe and Latin America I think I had already had the culture shock when visiting Asia/ Indonesia previously, so this time it was less of an adjustment. That’s not to say it isn’t a completely different world here, Just trying to cross the road will remind you of that! There are zebra crossings with green lights to indicate when you should walk but that is where the similarities end, here the traffic wont stop for the red light and the green pedestrian light indicates it is now your turn to try and cross the road, but you have to walk into a sea of oncoming traffic and the cars will part and dodge around you like a modern day traffic Moses.
You must also take your shoes off before going into any building even public toilets, although for toilets they sometimes provide communal flipflops to use once inside. The toilets themselves are not always western toilets sometimes they are squat toilets and it takes some skill not to pee on your own feet as a woman! But in every toilet they have a bum gun, as me and Grace call them, a small hose to wash yourself clean instead of, or sometimes as well as, toilet paper. Although apparently we are the weird ones in the UK as both Latin America and Asia have this.
Men and women must also have both their shoulders and knees covered when entering any religious, historical or government building. Which sounds fine in principle but is actually very hot and sweaty in practice.
On our first afternoon of freedom we decided to visit Wat Pho, one of the largest and oldest buddist temples in Bangkok. (Wat is what they call temples here). I wore a long dress that reached down to my ankles with a long sleeved shirt over the top and Grace wore a long sleeved shirt with some baggy trousers that came a few inches below her knee.
Unfortunately after a sweaty 20 minute walk to the wat we were told that if you were wearing trousers not only must they cover your knees they must reach your ankle and so Grace was turned away. We walked back to the hostel and Grace switched clothes ready for round two. This time we decided to get our first tuk tuk, basically a motorbike where the back has been adjusted to be a small bench. The hostel advised us to ask for a price and then start bartering at half that price, so that is what we did and soon we were off back to the temple.
The tuk tuk driver tried to tell us the temple was now closed and instead he could take us on a tour of Bangkok for a ‘small fee’ but seeing as we had just been to the temple we were on to his scam and got us to take us to the temple. But it was a scam we would hear again and again in tuk tuks.
On the second time we were allowed inside! The temples here in Thailand are really something else often made up of several buildings guilded in gold or decorated with intricate painted wood carvings it really is impressive, and photos and videos just don’t seem to do it justice. We wandered around the various temples and were lucky there were only a few other people around which Grace tells me is normally unheard of, she has been to this temple on her last trip to Thailand and it was heaving with people. I guess the testing and quarantine rules have put a lot of tourists off coming.
But it was wonderfully peaceful, we saw the seated Buda and locals praying to him alongside monks, which seem to be everywhere in Thailand, apparently every male has to do at least 6 months as a monk in his lifetime here. There are also rules around the monks and Buda. You should never ever touch a monk especially as a woman, you should keep your head down as they pass and try not to be taller or have your head above a monk or Buda, which is easier said than done when people are so short here. You should also never turn your back to Buda or point your feet towards him, we’re yet to figured out how we can do both of those at once but have gone for the side on to Buda approach! In general people don’t seem to mind too much as long as you are dressed respectfully, don’t wear shoes in temples and appear to be making an effort.
We also got to see the reclining Buda, basically Buda lying down supposed to represent him on his deathbed. It was an impressive structure, 15m high and 46m long! One of the largest in Thailand. The whole structure was golden except for the soles of Buda’s feet which were covered in pearls meant to represent the universe.
The temple is considered the first public university of Thailand, teaching students in the fields of religion, science, and literature through the murals and sculptures. A school for traditional medicine and massage was established at the temple in 1955, and still offers courses in Thai medicine: Thai pharmacy, Thai medical practice, Thai midwifery, and Thai massage. So of course we had to get a Thai massage here.
I endured the massage rather than enjoyed it, at parts it was almost enjoyable with the masseuse kneeding my muscles like dough but for the most part it consisted of him pushing his thumb into several spots along my legs and arms and then putting all of his body weight on it. Very uncomfortable and I was left with a very odd looking set of bruises!
For our first real dinner in Thailand, as I don’t think the quarantine trays count! We decided to head to….China town. We had heard if was a really cool place to check out and it was on our way home and we were hungry, don’t judge! It was really cool we saw all the flashing neon lights and the street stalls cooking delicious food and we eventually stopped at the nicest looking one and had a dinner of gyozas (fried pork dumplings), chicken and veg in oyster sauce and egg fried rice and drinks. All for £4! One of the best things about Asia is the delicious food that’s so cheap!
On our second day in Bangkok we decided to check out the royal palace built up throughout the centuries by every new king. I must say that Buckingham palace looks rather plain in comparison! Again it was an impressive mix of wood carvings and gold painted buildings.
After we had finished looking at the palace we saw our entry ticket also included a free show at the royal theatre, so we got a tuk tuk there for the next showing. The show was super cool and interesting it showcased traditional dances from different periods and different regions of Thailand as well as including a short traditional play about one of the Thai gods and his fight with a sea demon.
In the evening we went to try a place Grace accredited as having served her the best pad Thai she had had while in Thailand the last time she was here. She was right it was delicious! Also probably the best Pad Thai I’ve had whilst in Thailand too! Pad Thai for anyone who hasn’t had it is a delicious noodle stir fry dish traditionally served in an omelette basket. It was actually introduced during world war two when Thailand suffered a rice shortage and quickly became a staple dish in Thailand.
That evening we went out to the famous party scene in Bangkok, Khao San Road, with some people we’d met in our hostel. It was a fun night with a mix of tourists and locals and the music reflected that. Although we still managed to hear lots of Latin American Regatón music, it seems we didn’t leave that behind either!
The next morning we headed out for breakfast feeling a bit worse for wear. I ordered a fruit salad and spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out what one crunchy piece of fruit was, it tastes familiar but had a crunch texture like water chestnut and it definitely wasn’t a fruit I’d had in any of my breakfasts while here or in centeral America. I gave Grace a price to try (she had curry for Breakfast, while in Thailand I suppose!). Grace quickly realised what it was and laughed her head off at me…it was Apple! Turns out I may have been away from the UK for a bit too long…
Next we’re off to Ayutthaya, the old capital city. I will tell you all about it soon! Lots of love, Alice x