Around the World

We got up at sunrise as we arrived in Bangkok. Along the railway people were living in makeshift camps, sitting outside eating breakfast and people putting up clothes to dry. The sleeper car was really comfortable. We were served breakfast while we watched the passing sights from our window.

After we arrived at the Hualampong train station in Bangkok we got on a long-boat from the station to Khao San Road. It is probably the most profound worldwide example of a "backpackers' ghetto" in the world. The accommodation varies from 'mattress in a box' style hostels, to full Western-standard luxury. Khao san means 'raw rice' in Thai. Before it became a tourist hotspot, the street was a major rice market for Bangkok. We had some breakfast and walked this backpacker mecca. We found a place to stay and then took a water taxi for 6 baht to the general post office. We mailed the tent and sleeping mats on to Europe since we wouldn't be camping in Asia and then explored Bangkok on foot.

We walked to the Grand Palace to see the Emerald Buddha, "Wat Phra Kaew". It was an amazing place. It cost 125 Baht and there were crowds of tourists. It is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The temple buildings were beautiful with gold and colored class inlaid on the surfaces. Construction of the Grand Palace complex began in 1782, during the reign of Rama I. The palace complex sits on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River. The other approaches to the palace are protected by a defensive wall of 1,900 metres in length, which encloses an area of 218,400 square metres. Further out from the wall is a canal, which was also created for defensive purposes, making the area surrounding the palace an island, known as Rattana Kosin.

We also saw the Reclining Buddha, "Wat Po." It is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok, and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, more than any other temple in the country. The Reclining Buddha (the largest single Buddha image) is forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and the soles of his feet. The latter display 108 auspicious scenes in Chinese and Indian styles. The Wat Pho complex consists of two walled compounds, bisected by Soi Chetuphon running east-west. The northern walled compound is where the reclining Buddha and massage school are found. The southern walled compound, Tukgawee, is a working Buddhist monastery with monks in residence and a school. I really enjoyed seeing the temples and Buddhas. I made a prayer with flowers, candles, incense and scooped water out of water bowls onto my hand and head. Then I sent 9 small birds free for good luck. That evening we took the water taxi to Bang Kuntean.

We took a taxi to the train station and found out that there were no seats available except on the 10pm ordinary train. So we walked around chinatown, one of the oldest areas of Bangkok as Chinese merchants were originally moved to this area in the early 1780's when Bangkok was founded. One of the main streets of this area, Charoen Krung (translating as 'Prosperous city'), was actually Bangkok's first paved road, so it's English name, New Road, couldn't really be more inappropriate nowadays. The area has got a somewhat seedy historical reputation for large numbers of opium dens, brothels (which hung green lanterns outside, giving it the name of the Green Light district), pawnshops and a fondness for gambling. Today, gold shops and pawnshops are still very popular in Chinatown and can be found almost anywhere. Drug dealing, prostitution and gambling (all now illegal in Thailand) are also still thought to be widespread in this area, though they are not likely to be very noticeable to the average visitor.

We also went to the River City shopping complex. After seeing all those expensive stores we took an express boat up the river to do some sight seeing but it turned out to be the last boat and we had to find another way to get back. So we took a tuk tuk to the station and waited 2 hours for the train. We got back to our room really late.