Bangkok II

Waking up after such a rejuvenating night at a high-class hotel gave me the much needed rest I needed to take on a brand new day. We called a Grab to Wat Arun since we had missed it yesterday and the ride was pretty smooth. We had to take a ferry to the other side of the river. Wat Arun is one of the primary symbols of Bangkok and its sheer size and intricate design proves that it deserves that title. The main and central temple towered above us in the form of a pyramid like stupa. The whole temple was predominantly white but upon closer inspection, each tile, each corner and each layer of the entire area had a wide array of designs and imprints. It was still so early in the morning and we were once again lucky enough to have the whole temple all to ourselves, not even the monks were around yet.

We took the ferry back to the other side of the river to make our way to the Royal Grand Palace and the supposed Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew. A short walk turned into a long detour as they changed the entrance and we had to go on through a lot of twists and turns, even doubting if we were heading in the right direction a couple of times. We finally go to the entrance where there was a Covid checkpoint, they gave me a mask and we were able to go in to take a peek but only a peek since the entrance fees were too expensive for us. I ended up just making use of the royal toilets and we used their wi-fi to book a cab all the way to Wat Ben, the marble temple. I chose to skip the other temples as we had already had enough and we still had to go to Maeklong and Amphawan on the same day. Booking a cab has always been no problem, but getting there always seemed to work against us. We had trouble finding the exit of the palace and we were under a time pressure as our cab could leave us if we made him wait for too long. We were going around in circles and being told by the guards to go from one place to the next and the language barrier was't helping at all. We somehow found our way out to the meeting place but the taxi wasn't there anymore. Fearing the worse and resigning to our fate, I sat down and pondered what the possible course of actions were next. Jasper was very bummed to have missed the ride as it was already paid with his card and we were stuck for a while contemplating if we should just take another cab. A pink cab at the distance was grabbing our attention every once in a while and Jasper was thinking that it could possibly be the cab that we booked and went over to check. Turns out it really was the cab and the driver had patiently waited for us all this time, talk about lucky.

Wat Ben was the final stop in Bangkok. It was known as the marble temple and the outside gardens and bridges made for nice photos. The inside provided a lot of opportunities for symmetrical shots as well. After doing about two rounds around the temple, it was time to go to Maeklong. Unfortunately, we didn't have any access to the internet so we set off on a journey to find a cafe. It was Sunday and it seemed like most of the restaurants were closed so we had to venture further and further until we found a cafe that we could use as a base. We ordered some brunch and drinks and booked a cab straight to Maeklong. We were so far from the supposed van terminal and too pooped to try and find it. The journey to Maeklong was pretty long and it was a good time to wind down and just let the scenery of the country side unfold.Read more