Solo Sightseeing

When we were planning our move to Bangkok, I opted to delay starting work for 1 month, with the aim of getting our affairs in order. We didn’t really know how well the dogs would settle and we obviously needed to arrange for someone to look after them whilst we were at work.  I also just quite fancied some time off!

Too Easy?

Now that all the mandatory tasks had been completed, life in Bangkok was starting to feel a bit easy. Other than “Emma’s Missions” which were tasks that Chris would set me each day such as finding him a barber or buying ponchos for the rain, I didn’t really have a lot to do. I’d also managed to stay out of trouble for a few days, I could more than competently hail and survive a motorbike taxi ride, go to the supermarket and get around by various means of public transport without incident. With still more than a week to go before I started work, I was going to have to go looking for trouble.

One aspect of Bangkok life that hadn’t really entered our thoughts was the easy access to numerous tourist attractions. Other than the copious shopping malls, which some may class as attractions, I genuinely hadn’t researched the specifics of where to visit in Bangkok. We are hopeful that many of our friends and family will come to visit at some point during our two-year stay, and I think there will be a reasonable expectation that we might have some sort of local insight into where to go.

The Tourist Trail

Knowing that once I did start my job my excess time and energy would be depleted, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get on the tourist trail. I was also quite familiar with the limitations of Chris’ tolerance for sightseeing, having witnessed complete breakdowns in the British Museum, the American History Museum and, most recently in Niagara Falls after we spent a solid day and a half looking at those waterfalls from every available angle. The only remedy in these scenarios is to immediately take him to an establishment that serves alcohol. As just living and working in Bangkok is draining enough, I predict that we’ll be skipping the museums and going directly to the pub.

According to the internet, the top 3 attractions in Bangkok are The Grand Palace (and the Emerald Buddha), Wat Pho (including the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). Now, there are some highly recommended tours of these places which I imagine making the whole experience a delight. But I was a local now and an unemployed local at that. I couldn’t really swan off on some expensive guided tour whilst Chris was out earning the pennies!

A Mini Adventure

I opted to take the BTS to Saphan Taskin where I hoped I would find Chao Phraya Tourist Boat. I’d already dodged my initial opportunity to get on a river taxi a few days earlier but surely a tourist boat would be a more sensible first foray into navigating the Bangkok waterways?

The boat was excellent, 180 baht for a full day hop on hop off. I think a river taxi is probably significantly cheaper and quicker, but at least on the tourist boat you’re not packed in like sardines (or hanging off the side), and you get to listen to soothing music and helpful commentary. As we pulled away from Sathorn Pier, the sun was shining, the brown water of the Chao Phraya glistening and, other than the fact that I had sat in an unidentified pool of liquid on the boat and now had a temporarily wet bottom, I was feeling great!

The Reluctant Photographer

On most of my previous tourism jaunts, I’ve been with other people who are much more interested in and capable of taking photos. Chris “selfie stick arm” Clowes is a master of the group selfie and even my Dad has become adept at snapping with his iPhone 6, claiming that he should have charged for taking photos at my cousin Holly’s wedding! But I was alone, so I was going to have to give it a go myself. I attempted my first selfie on the boat with some success, mainly because I didn’t drop the phone in the river, however, I must remember to jut my jaw out a bit more next time to avoid double chins!

I snapped various buildings, bridges and some sort of long cargo barge. We went past an attractive Chinese Pagoda and the commentary did explain something about this, but I was too busy randomly snapping. We approached Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) which was impressive just from the boat. There was an option to disembark here but I stayed on the boat as I was headed for the Grand Palace. If you’re interested in my appalling photography you can check out more photos by clicking this link https://photos.app.goo.gl/329Bb0gnMUiO3Uyw1.

A Slight Distraction

I got off the boat at Maharaj Pier and followed the masses towards the Grand Palace. As I was walking, I got a call from Rena who uttered the four words that I really did not need to hear when I was deep within a throng of eager tourists - ‘no water, no lights’. Oh no. We hadn’t had an electricity bill yet so surely, we weren’t being cut off for not paying? Maybe it was one of Bangkok’s infamous power cuts? Anyway, after a few frantic phone calls and texts, we established that it was a planned outage until 15:00. Rena was instructed to keep the dogs cool by whatever means necessary and I continued towards the Grand Palace, becoming ever more disconcerted by the sheer number of people that seemed to be heading in the same direction.

The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace is billed as a must-see attraction in Bangkok if you see nothing else then see this. It was the official Royal residence of King Rama I to King Rama V and is a complex of temples, thrown halls and other impressively ornate buildings. It is also without a shadow of a doubt the busiest place I have ever been in my life. There are signs everywhere saying you should be quiet and respectful but all you can hear is tour guides speaking in various languages.

After you pay your 500-baht entrance fee, you get in the Foreigner line and then enter what I think is the main court. There appeared to be three different recommended routes around the complex; fast medium and long stay, but I never saw another sign after the entrance so who knows which route I took. You get a free guide with your ticket, so I picked up my English version and started trying to get my bearings.  This proved challenging when nearly every building or statue was partially obscured by the raised umbrella/flag of a tour guide or by some nitwit with a selfie stick. I tried my best to take in the surroundings and recognise the significance of what I was looking at, but I was not loving life at this point.

I removed my shoes, stowed them in the designated area and got in line to enter the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most sacred object in the Kingdom of Thailand, nobody other than the King can go near it which he does to change its costume at the beginning of each season. It’s smaller than I thought it would be, but I hadn’t read in advance that it was only 66cm tall, so it probably doesn’t come as a shock to most people. The space you can walk in is tiny so once I’m admired the Emerald Buddha and the impressive interior of the building, I had to struggle to extricate myself.

One of my favourite parts of the Grand Palace was the gallery in the surrounding buildings. There are murals painted which depict the story of the Ramakien, which is all to do with the battle between Tosakanth, the king of demons and King Rama, the human king. It might have been because not many other people seemed to be that bothered by these murals, so it was a rare area of tranquility, but I found them fascinating.

Time to Escape

There was undeniably a lot more to see at the Grand Palace, but I’d had enough of the crowds after a few hours so made my excuses and left. My next port of call was Wat Pho, which houses the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This is just a short walk from the Grand Palace and en route, I passed the hundreds of tour buses that had clearly ferried the hoards of tourists who had hindered my day so far.

After the ordeal that was The Grand Palace, Wat Pho was an absolute dream. Firstly, the entrance fee was 100 baht, secondly, you got a free bottle of water that you could then refill at the water stations dotted about, and thirdly there wasn’t a trillion-people gurning into their phones, blocking my view of sacred artifacts.

The Reclining Buddha itself is probably one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. It is enormous, but it’s pose, and expression makes it enchantingly life-like. You can wander around both sides and you’re even allowed to take photos which you can’t do in other temples. After you’ve seen the impressive Buddha, you then get to wander through the rest of the complex. Clearly, once people have seen the Reclining Buddha they don’t bother with this, but this was genuinely the most relaxing part. There were rock gardens with weird figurines of four-legged creatures and contorting hermits, there were Chinese stone dolls and there were a lot of buddhas! There’s even a school and the children were out doing some sort of dance – probably not traditional in the slightest but adorable all the same. You could even get a Thai massage!

Feeling Triumphant!

Feeling more satisfied that I had experienced and absorbed some Thai history, and feeling nicely rehydrated from all the free water, I took the nearest exit and headed towards the main road. I chatted with a tuk-tuk driver who was trying to deter me from getting back on the boat as he reckoned his tuk-tuk would be quicker. As all I could see on the road was stationary traffic, I declined his kind offer, but he was helpful enough to give me directions back to the boat.

I was also now starving at this point and feeling slightly delirious so stopped for some coconut chicken soup and rice, and an iced coffee (I am a partial convert). The coffee cost pretty much the same as the food but it did the job, I was refueled and re-cooled and ready for my return boat trip. As I got to the pier, the boat was there, heading in the right direction and I got straight on. It did occur to me that there was probably an ounce of truth in what 'Mr Tuk-Tuk' was saying as if you timed it badly you could be waiting a long time for the boat. But it seemed to work for me and I was home within the hour.