Last Day and then Home
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2005
1
24
29
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok, Thailand
Monday, January 8, 2007
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me
Come on... I had to mention this song at some point... and how true it is.
Today I was feeling well, woke up early and worked out before breakfast. While running I tried to plan my day and could not come up with anything to do. I know you're thinking "how could you not know what to do in Bangkok", but its true. I thought I would see the Royal Palace, but it would take at least two hours to get there by cab because of the traffic and another two hours back and my day would be shot. I met up Tony and Kristen at breakfast and they invited me to go with them. They were going to see the the palace and Wat Po, which is right next door. To avoid the traffic, they had a great idea to take the Skytrain to the river and then a water taxi to the temples. Great Idea. It saved us so much time and it only took us 30 minutes to get down there, and I felt more in touch with the culture by taking local transportation. The train was packed with locals and tourists. The train was clean, but there were few seats and only a few hand rails suspended from the ceiling to hang on to as the train moves. As packed as it was, there's no way to get out of there without being intimate with someone pits. We made it to the end of the line quickly, and the last stop was conveniently on the Chao Phraya River. Tony negotiated with a water taxi to take us directly to the Grand Palace. We pulled away from the dock, but got pulled back in to allow more people in the boat. The ride wasn't serene or comfortable, but it was fun watching to people in the front trying to keep to parasite infested water out of their mouths as the boat splashed along.
Our fist stop was the Grand Palace. This is a heavily traveled touristy area. Tourists must show respect by wearing pants or long skirts and sleeves. The rules didn't appear to be enforced, but we were told people have been turned away. This palace has several different area ranging from a funeral hall to the forbidden quarters where all of the king's wives lived. The palace was also home to Anna, from the King and I and tutor to Rama IV. We quickly made it through the area ( it's a lot quicker when you don't have a guide explaining every detail) and were happy to simply stroll at our own pace. We stopped by Wat Po for Tony and Kristen. nothing new for me and nothing new to add. Next, we went to the pathology museum. Tony is a Dr. or med student or something and was interested, so I tagged along. This museum was an adventure to find, and once there, there were sites that I do not care to discuss as they were pretty graphic.
We made our way back home via the river and Skytrain. I got off a stop early to try on my suit again. Still not right and they had to go back to the drawing board and I got another appointment later in the evening. After that, i went to the Egyptian place for lunch late in the afternoon. It was awesome. I really need to get back to Egypt soon. After lunch I headed back to the hotel and gathered my strength for the final group dinner. it took us over an hour to get to the location because of traffic and the restaurant waited for our group before the show started. There was a show about the king defeating the white monkey at the palace. At this point, I can officially say I have had my fill of culture and truly needed to go home to Texas. Dinner was horrible and a few people got sick, luckily I had a late lunch and didn't eat anything. After dinner, I stopped by the tailor again... still wrong and set another appointment for the next morning before I left.
