After we parked and picked up Jeff, we walked a little ways to the BTS station and got on Bangkok's Skytrain. We went a few stops to get to the water and the river taxi. The BTS is really the way to get around Bangkok whenever possible. The ride took us 10 minutes, and it would have been at least 30 minutes in heavy traffic if we had driven.
We got on the tourist version of the river taxi, which may not have been the fastest choice, but we knew it would stop where we wanted to stop, and they announced all the stops in English as well as Thai, so it seemed like a good choice for our first outing. We stood at the back, so that we could get some good pictures.
As we sailed along, we got to fully appreciate Bangkok's diversity. There were luxury high rises next to houses made of corrugated metal, and at one point we passed a Chinese pagoda, next to a mosque, next to a wat.
The landmark we were looking for was Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, which is right across the river from Wat Pho, and the stop we wanted to get off at.
There are lots of vendors at the pier, and when Vivian declared that she was hungry, we found one selling her favorite "meat on a stick", which is grilled, marinated pork. We got her a couple of those and took a rest in a nearby park while she ate.
We were walking back through the vendors to get to Wat Pho, when Vivi saw strawberries for sale. They're expensive here, and we haven't been getting them much, so it was a special treat. She was so busy eating them, she couldn't stop to smile.
We could see the top of Wat Pho from a distance,
but first we had to cross a busy street Thai style (step out in front of cars and hope they stop). We made it across alive and bought our tickets to go in.
Wat Pho is a beautiful temple complex with lots of statues and chedis decorating the grounds, but the main attraction is the reclining Buddha which is almost 50 feet high and about 140 feet long.
There were a LOT of other people there, and there were supporting columns throughout the whole hall, so getting a good picture was a bit of a challenge.
Vivi and I decided that we really liked the feet.
The wall behind the Buddha is lined with little metal pots. You put coins in the pots for good luck. They make a satisfying ringing noise, and the monks use the collected money to help with upkeep.
It's inappropriate to wear shoes in the temple, so they give you a little bag to put your shoes in, and you just carry them through with you and put them back on when you get out. Luckily we were all dressed appropriately (shirts with sleeves and pants to at least the knee). If you're not, they have lime green robes you can rent to wear inside the temple. I couldn't have gotten away with the sleeves on Vivi's dress, but Thai people love kids, so they just smiled and waved at her. In fact, when we got to the wat at the Grand Palace, a Thai guard came and walked her through the free, Thais only entrance, and she stood inside and waved at us while we waited in the tourist line to get in.
After visiting the Buddha, we walked around the complex a bit. It has one of the oldest massage schools in Thailand. There were lots of chedis which supposedly hold the ashes of the royal family.
Vivi mostly enjoyed the statues.
I've checked our Fodor's guidebook, and Wat Pho doesn't seem to be in it, which is really a shame, because it's been one of our favorites so far, and definitely one I would take visitors to.
After Wat Pho, we headed to the Grand Palace. On the map, they're right across the street from each other, but the entire palace complex is surrounded be a big white wall
and we had to walk all the way around to the other side to get to the entrance. It wasn't a bad walk as Thailand walks go. Yes, it was in the 80s, but it wasn't too humid, and there was a nice breeze. We did get some "are we there yet" type comments from Vivi, but overall she was a trooper.
When we finally got in, we headed for Wat Phra Kaew, the home of the Emerald Buddha (made of Jade) and one of the most sacred wats in Thailand. When you walk into the complex, the first thing that hits you is gold, everywhere.
There are also lots of statues of yakshas who guard the Emerald Buddha from evil spirits.
At one point Vivi sat down and started studying the map.
When we asked her what she was doing, she said she was looking for a bathroom. We helped her find one, and then walked around the covered perimeter of the complex where The Ramakien, the 2,000 year old Thai adaptation of the Indian epic the Ramayana, is painted, again with lots of gold.
Unfortunately, all the plaques explaining the story are in Thai, so we'll have to find a description in English before we go back.
After the wat, we walked by the biggest palace in the compound, Chakri Mah Prasat.
It's nickname is farang si chada, which means "the westerner wearing a Thai hat", because most of the palace is European, neo-classical design, but the roof is Thai style.
After all the walking and all the gold stuff, we decided we should take a taxi back to the car, even though we knew that, with traffic, it would be about an hour. We figured at least it would be an hour sitting down in air conditioning. We tried to get a taxi driver who would use the meter, but no one wanted to. Instead we negotiated with a driver who started at 500 baht and came down to 400baht, still more than twice as much as we would have paid with the meter, but only about $12 for an hour long cab ride which kept things in perspective.
When we got close to the embassy area, the traffic was so bad that we sat in almost exactly the same place for 10 minutes. I knew where we were, and I could see a Starbucks from the taxi, so we decided to pay the driver, get out, get a drink, and walk the rest of the way.
Along the way, we stopped at Central World which, for some reason, has hundreds of Snoopy figures out in front to celebrate Christmas.
From Buddhas to yakshas to Snoopies, it was quite a day.
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