A hot day in Bangkok. I got up and had some of the free breakfast in the hostel. Nothing fancy, but free, so it’ll do.
Made my way next to the Vietnam embassy. Stopped a couple of times by taxi drivers, who tried to sway me to use their visa agencies, rather than endure the long lines at the embassy. I decided not to listen to them, and check out the embassy first, and was in and out in about three minutes. My visa will be ready tomorrow afternoon.
Being hounded by taxi drivers seemed to be the theme of the day. I got to the Wat Ratchanatda and was told by someone claiming to be a history teacher at the nearby school that it was a Buddhist holiday and that all the temples were closed. It’s a scam I’d read about in advance, but I played a long for a bit to see what he had in mind. Mostly it involved driving me around and having me waste much more time than I’d like in souvenir shops. He seemed pretty upset when I told him I’d prefer to go on foot, and surprise surprise, everything was open.
I walked down to the Grand Palace next, and was put off by the number of tour buses parked outside. I figured I’d check it out later, and headed off in the direction of Khaosan Rd. Khaosan is the backpacker mecca of Bangkok, and filled with tons of small shops, and guesthouses. Didn’t linger too long, but passed through and headed to Wat Intharawihan, which isn’t where I was headed, but something I stumbled upon. 32 metre high Buddha.
Visited the marble temple next, which was quite nice. On my way out I solicited the services of a taxi driver to take me to the Grand Palace, since it was quite a hike, and quite hot. It was fortunate that I got the ride, as it was just about to close when I got there. I grabbed a ticket before the gates closed, and had a look through. Lots of shiny shiny buildings. The Emerald Buddha was nice, but not overly impressive – but then again it was only 66cm in height and sitting atop a 3 metre structure. Sorry, no pictures allowed.
The Grand Palace itself was nice, but much of it was closed off as the King’s sister has died, and the Palace was in lying in state mode.
Took the bus back to the guesthouse, and chilled for a bit. The Dane is gone, but Jimmy the Dutch is still there. He’s asked my name and where I am from three times so far – which could have to do with the fact that he spends most of his time drinking. Nice guy though. He lives in a tent in Holland.
Checked my email after that, and did some reading. A day in the sun can really wear you out. Travelling can be a small world, though. As I was heading to my room to grab some water I ran into Wiki, who, along with Pennie, seems to be following me around Thailand. They’d actually recommended the guesthouse to me, so it’s not a huge coincidence that I’d run into them there, but they hadn’t intended on coming to Bangkok at all, but changed their plans. Not 100% sure what I’ll do tomorrow, but hopefully it involves air conditioning.
