Wat Phra Phi Ren

After arriving at our hostel at midnight after being awake for almost twenty-four hours we weren’t quite sure what to expect from our first day in Bangkok. The guidebook promised loads of interesting sites but we’d heard some pretty bad reviews of Bangkok from family and friends who had been here (or who knew someone who’d been here). The reviews were of a disgusting noisy city filled with touts and pickpockets. I’m glad we didn’t listen to the naysayers because that’s not the Bangkok we found.

We set out from the hostel at around 10am after I spent a few hours working. We are staying close to the river near the junction of China Town and Downtown. We decided to set off on foot towards Wat Pho and the Old Town district. We have these new Garmin Vivofit watches that tell us how many steps we’ve taken so we were keen to get some runs on the board. So we politely refused the many tuk tuk drivers, including those who refused to take “no” for an answer and wound our way along lanes and alleys. We came across many small markets where vegetables and prepared foods were sold. My favourite market was the flower market in China Town where flowers were stored on ice to keep them fresh. My poor partner discovered that being over six foot tall in Bangkok places you at risk of losing your head to all sorts of obstacles, such as the umbrellas that are balanced over walkways as shade coverings.

During our 23km walk (that’s right, we walked 14 miles) around the city, we came across many green spaces. There are pot plants and small gardens everywhere. Flowers are blooming red, purple and white while leaves of all shapes and textures abound. It almost feels like there is a little bit of country on every city street. While the city is crowded and old, it would be unfair to say it is disgusting or filthy. There are certainly a lot of cats around though. There are pretty black cats, big fat ginger cats, painted cats with missing tails and everything in between. There are dishes with cat food tucked under bridges, showing that at least some of Bangkok’s citizens are feeding the cats. The river seems to be at the heart of the city. Boats rocked on the waves churned up on its brown waters as they raced to their destinations. The sound of water slapping the concrete banks was almost constant. The traffic on the roads was constant too but not as chaotic as it was in Indonesia. The cars all stayed in their lanes and the volume of motorbikes was moderate. The traffic was certainly more chaotic and heavy than at home but it was nothing like what I had been told to expect.

Let me be clear though, there are touts and fraudsters at work all over Bangkok. In fact, I would say they are worse here than they were in Shanghai where I got stung going to a tea ceremony many years ago. The touts and fraudsters here play on the fact that foreigners view Thai culture as friendly and kind. Do not be fooled – if you are in a tourist area like Old Town Bangkok and someone starts to talk with you, they are not trying to help you. They have ulterior motives. Yes, you may enter Wat Pho and the Palace if you are not wearing trousers because you will be given the free loan of a robe or sarong. No, Wat Pho and the Palace do not close on Saturdays or Sundays or mornings before 2pm or afternoons after 1pm or whatever excuse the tout will give. And yes, you can walk down the street without a guide or tuk tuk driver. The touts were terrible around the tourist areas but disappeared as soon as we walked a block or two further away. These criminals are not just trying to make a living. They are endangering the tourist trade and the reputation of all Thai people. But don’t let them ruin your holiday … anticipate, be firm and politely ignore anyone who approaches you near a tourist area or who tries to dissuade you from going to a certain destination. So far the hot spots we have found include: Wat Pho, the Palace, Silom Road and Lumphini Park. If in doubt, ask yourself “why would this stranger want to be so helpful when I haven’t asked for advice”? And for heaven’s sake – do not carry your map out in public. Upload Google maps and use that because you can pretend you are updating Facebook instead of reading a map.

Naturally, we visited many temples during our first day in Bangkok. I was quite taken by the gold. There was just so much of it everywhere in the temples. The roofs shone in the sun, the windows glittered and the Buddha statues shone. Over the course of the day we must have visited six or seven different temples. Wat Pho was as beautiful as expected. The laying Buddha was spectacularly huge and the temple complex was massive. My favourite section was the tiny garden with the fountain in it. This was a peaceful place in a heavily touristed place. I would definitely try to come here early before the tour groups arrive if I came again.

My favourite temple was on the opposite bank of the river. Here you could climb steep steps to the top of an old Buddhist structure that reminded me a little bit of the Borobudur in Indonesia except that this was far steeper, smaller and more ornate. But the style was similar in that it was a tiered structure with steep steps and carved reliefs. The view from the top was spectacular and worth the climb. Though I do wonder whether the people who built it were short like the Thais because even my six foot tall partner found the height of the steps a challenge.

On the way home we came across a garden with a lake and island. The garden was a reproduction of an ancient sacred mountain temple. It was the kind of place that isn’t mentioned in the guide books that you stumble across when you walk around taking side alleys. It was a small but magnificent place and we probably spent almost half an hour there.

We ended the day with a full body Thai massage and a healthy street restaurant dinner complete with two serves of vegetables. I’d never had a Thai massage before so was a little shocked when I realised the masseuse was going to walk on my back (though it felt amazing) and when she dug her fingers painfully into muscles I never knew I had. And, with all due respect to every masseuse and physio who has ever treated me at home, I have never walked away from a massage feeling so good. I have chronic back pain and after this massage I felt as right as rain.

Bangkok seems to be a city in the process of massive change. On the one hand there are cute little Buddhist shrines everywhere you look, whether it be inside motorbike repair shops, hung in trees or standing in front of buildings. There are dilapidated buildings rotting into the river and tiny laneways where people sell food from karts. There is even a market along the river in Chinatown that is constructed each night and then pulled down during the day. There are even men and women walking their wares on carts and trolleys through the street to sell at market. But if you walk beyond the main tourist areas and into the city centre, there is another equally vibrant side to Bangkok and it is very modern. Modern cars certainly outnumber the old wrecks and we even saw a couple of Lotus cars near Paragon, both parked and being driven.

Speaking of the Paragon Siam, the shopping centres here are massive and glitzy. There are even doormen in uniform to welcome you into the complex. There are massive movie cinemas with different levels of cinema experience available from deluxe seating starting at $5 on a Wednesday through to daybeds and 3D cinema screens starting at about $15 on a Wednesday and increasing in price on other days of the week. The shops here carry normal brands like at home and are not much cheaper.

We explored a few parks here today. They are beautiful and peaceful. It’s difficult to believe that just having a few trees and some grass can change a block of land into a haven when a city of 8 million people is bustling around it. We spent some time sitting under trees in a park and walking through others as short cuts on our way home.

Religion is everywhere here as it is in so many places. Buddhism and Hinduism dominate. This brings an interesting sensory contrast to the Islam-dominated experiences I had in Indonesia. In Indonesia it was my ears that were constantly reminded of the locals’ faith. Here it is my nose when I smell the burning of incense sticks. Like the many stunning mosques I saw in Indonesia, the temples and shrines here are beautiful too. At a time when many Americans and Australians criticise the existence of religion as evil, I personally find it fantastic to see so many people peacefully filling their lives with faith and being unabashed about it. Besides, I like the pretty temples and art works that come with many of the world’s religions.

Naturally, we also enjoyed some of the culinary delights on offer here in Bangkok. We ate bananas barbecued in their jackets, shared a chocolate brownie, dined on noodles with vegetables and chicken for lunch and dinner at street restaurants, indulged in chocolate fondue at Haagen-Dasz and sampled a crispy pancake for dessert after walking more than 20km (11 miles) again today. I don’t know what the highlight of the day was … it could have been the sights or the chocolate fondue or the 60 minute leg massage we relaxed to. Nope – no highlight … just a brilliant day.

It’s taken us a couple of days but we are finally checking out Bangkok from the river. We are heading further afield to check out the Dusit area and decide it’s too far from our hostel to walk. The river is brown, wide and relatively fast flowing for it’s width. The ferry drivers have to work hard to hold their boats in place so passengers can jump on and off. And often the jumping is literal because there is no gangplank. The ferry is tied to the pier with a slack rope and held so that it stays pressed against the pier. Often the boat slips back, leaving passengers to jump a short distance if they don’t want to swim. We worked out the flag system and caught the cheap orange flag boat. The flags indicate which piers the ferries will stop at. There is a special blue flag boat for tourists but it cost 40 baht while the local boats (which stop in the same places) cost only 15 baht. The green flag boat is the express boat and doesn’t stop everywhere.

The river is a bustling place. Boatmen whistle to drivers to communicate directions at stops. Brightly coloured longboats race around with oversized engines at the ends of their rudders. Small yellow fishing boats head out to sea. Wooden pole houses look like they are about to fall into the river only to be replaced by new concrete barriers and new concrete houses. It’s a bright, colourful and alive.

There aren’t many people left on the ferry when we hop off at the Dusit flower market. The market is a bit dirty and feels dodgy so we leave to go to a wat we spied. The wat is beautiful. The exterior is white with a red roof and gold trim while the interior is purple. There is some water for sale here so we make a donation to get some.

The temples here in Thailand are stunning. Later in the afternoon we walk through an area on the other side of the river near ferry stops 17 and 18. A small Chinese Buddhist temple stands on the side of the road. It’s simple colourings are a stark contrast with the elaborate wats. But it too is a peaceful place and the lady praying welcomes us to enter. There is also a wat nearby with yellow walls and red trim. It is totally different to the other wats we’ve seen with white or gold windows. The red windows are amazing against the yellow walls in the setting sun.

But before we get to the afternoon, there is a lot to explore in the Dusit area. After hopping off the ferry we walk towards Dusit Park. Along the way, we see a sign that says “Police Museum”. Paul suggests we head in there to see what it is. It turns out to be quite a little find. The first building is part of a palace that King Rama VI built for his son. The building was designed by an Italian architect and was decorated in Prussian style after King Rama VI’s son was educated in Russia and married a Russian lady. The museum is free and a guide who speaks quite good English shows us around. First we watch a video, which is both interesting and gives us a chance to rest our feet after a long walk up the road. We learn a lot about the royals and their way of life through the mansion. It’s not as grand as the massive white palace across the road but still beautiful.

The second half of the police museum is a new modern building that houses an actual museum about the police. The reason the two buildings are used together as a police museum is because King Rama IX is a great patron of the police and brought modern thinking to the police service’s management of traffic in Thailand. He donated a fleet of motorcycles and encouarged police to be trained to deliver babies, including issuing baby delivery kits to the police. The police section of the museum included some short films about police work and training, a display about the history of policing in Thailand, including weapons and uniforms, and some mock crime scenes. Having studied criminology at university, I found the exhibition interesting. As someone who believes in social justice, I thought some of the quotes should probably be hung in the staff entrance to every police station in the world, particularly those about the police role being to keep the community safe not being merely to arrest people. But I digress. There were no foreign signatures in the guest book that I signed … all the names and comments were in Thai but I would definitely recommend these two museums to anyone visiting Bangkok. They are literally across the road from the grand palace near Dusit Zoo.

Speaking of Dusit Zoo. We went there too. Don’t listen to the touts outside the zoo – it is not closed and you do not need a guide. Just walk in and enjoy the animals. The first area we came to was the koala sanctuary so naturally I had to be ironic and take photos of my home country’s national icon. The zoo was quite large and was centred around a large lake where some huge catfish (amongst other fish) lived alongside water dragons and turtles. For about 10 baht you can buy a loaf of bread to feed the fish. The fish are pretty aggressive with each other when they are fighting for the food. As far as zoos go, this one is pretty nice to walk around. The animals don’t have a huge amount of space but what space they have is clean and animal-appropriate. The bears have a jungle space with a fish pond, the giraffes live in a sandy-grassy area with food branches hanging from tall poles to mimic trees, the monkeys have plenty of height and play equipment to swing from. It’s certainly not the horrible cruel cages I saw in the small zoo I visited in Korea. We ended up spending about two hours there just walking around looking at everything.

We were going to catch a tuk tuk back to the river but ended up walking there and then across the bridge to the other side where we saw the Chinese Buddhist temple and the wat with the red windows. Here we walked along local streets where houses are built on stilts in the water. The thing that has struck me most about Thailand is the greenery. Everywhere we looked there were flowers and plants growing in pots. It certainly takes the edge off the fact that we were in a big city. We ended up walking another 20km today around Bangkok. It’s our final day before we head up to Kanchanaburi. I think we covered the city pretty well.Read more