MASSIVE “SQUIRRELS”, RECLINING
BUDDHAS and FERRYS |
| Santiphap Park |
Here are a few quick
notes from our first days in Bangkok, before our tour of the country with
Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) begins.
We arrived in Bangkok early
Sunday morning, after twenty-four hours of traveling from the east coast of the
US, and a lengthy layover in Doha Qatar. Thankfully we were able to check in
early at our hotel. We had paid for an extra night at the Bizotel, the same
hotel OAT uses for our time in Bangkok and the friendly staff there were very
accommodating.
Bangkok is exactly 12
hours ahead of the east coast of the United States.
With OAT there’s a trip
leader and even before our arrival he was communicating with us throughout the
trip via ‘What’s App’ and after we napped a short bit at the hotel, we acted on
some of his recommendations.
CASH IS KING
Nearly everything
purchased so far in Bangkok has been with cash. Banks offer the best exchange
rates, but we arrived on a Sunday and were wary about the exorbitant fees ATMs
charge for withdrawals, so we exchanged money with the front desk at the Bizotel.
That was a mistake, their rate was horrible. When we went to exchange more
money on Monday the Western Union gave us over 350 THB more for the same amount
we exchanged with the hotel.
DRAGONS AT THE PEACE PARK
 |
Monitor lizard at
Santiphap Park |
Santiphap Park is a
very short walk from our hotel along the same road. The name translates to
Peace Park and visiting this urban oasis was a very good suggestion by our OAT
trip leader. It is an 8-acre park with several ponds, a meandering running
track, meticulous grounds and an array of beautiful flowers.
Thailand is close to 95%
Buddhist, but I guess the country celebrates St. Valentine’s Day as well, as
there were several displays of hearts meant for picture posing.
We saw some runners and
some families strolling and quite unexpectedly we watched Thailand’s version of
park squirrels. Monitor lizards are common in the parks of Bangkok and were walking
around on the grass near one pond.
Ominous, with their long tails and slithering tongues, the critters
pose no threat to humans unless cornered or threatened, and they will eat fish,
frogs, rats and dead animals. The ones we saw were about 3 feet long from nose
to tail, but they can get bigger.
We gave them plenty of
space.
RUBBING YOU THE RIGHT
WAY
 |
| Looks legit |
Sex tourism is big
business in Thailand, but you can go for a regular massage with no happy
ending. As per our trip leader’s recommendation and his assurance that the
place was legit, we visited the Palace Massage establishment across the street
from our hotel. For 1,100 BHT we each got a one-hour hot oil massage, which is
about $32 USD total for the two of us.
REMEMBER, DO NOT DRINK
THE TAP WATER
We bought a case of
water for the room and one beer. It cost 170 THB at the local 7-Eleven. There
are 14,000 such convenience stores in all of Thailand. I cannot stress that you
should never ingest tap water. Don’t even use it for brushing your teeth. When
you purchase water from a vendor on the street, usually for 10 THB, make sure
the seal is intact.
We take a daily
probiotic supplement to ensure our gut health. Not sure why there isn’t a
better water filtration system; it was the same in Vietnam and Cambodia; but
just go with the precaution.
The alternative is not
pleasant.
A TALE OF TWO TEMPLES
 |
reclining Buddha at
Wat Pho |
Leave it to Janet to
find something interesting to do on our lone day off without the tour company.
I would have been happy to laze about the hotel and maybe walk around the
neighborhood, but she decided we would visit the Wat Pho temple after breakfast. The hotel's concierge arranged a taxi for us and also suggested after our visit to Wat Pho we should visit Wat Arun, across the Chao Phraya River. To reach the second temple we would take a ferry.
WHAT FOR?
Well, what for Wat Pho?
Well, because it has the largest reclining Buddha statute in Bangkok and the temple
complex houses the largest collection of Buddha images in all of Thailand. Also
located on the grounds was a primary school and a traditional Thai massage
(ouch) school. Scattered throughout the grounds were statues of those evil masseuse
contorting their clients. I had a gotten a That massage in Hanoi and I’m
surprised I still have all my limbs…seriously. |
| Thai massage statues |
As we wiggled through the
grounds dodging countless foreign and domestic tourists and monks, we were constantly
taking off our shoes to enter yet another temple of a particular Buddha in a
show of respect.
The main “attraction” at
Wat Pho though was indeed the massive reclining Buddha and there was a steady
stream of visitors shuffling through the building, photographing the nearly 151-foot-long
gold leave covered statue with 16-foot-long feet whose soles were decorated
with mother-of-pearl inlays.
 |
feet of the
reclining Buddha |
The statue made the 300
Baht CASH ONLY entrance fee worth the price.
OH, ANOTHER TEMPLE?
Directly across the
Chao Phraya River from Wat Pho is the massive Wat Arun, one of Thailand’s best-known
landmarks. Wat Arun translates to Temple of Dawn. Its central spire, or prang,
rises over 250 feet looming majestically over the river, the spires covered in
colorful porcelain.
To reach Wat Arun we took
a short ferry ride for 5 Baht each, our boat dodging barges, tour and long
boats plying the river. Foreigners are charged 200 Baht CASH ONLY entrance fee,
but they also give you a bottle of water.
 |
| Wat Arun |
A very popular pastime at
Wat Arun is to rent period costumes and hire a professional photographer to
snap your picture in various regal poses. Outside the grounds of Wat Arun are
several rental shops. We first saw this activity at the Citadel in Hue Vietnam.
NEGOTIATE
The concierge at the
Bizotel arranged for a cab to take us to Wat Pho and told us the price would be
200 Baht and to get back across the river to the hotel would be 300 Baht. He
told us not to get in the cab until the price is negotiated. On the return we
did just this. The cab driver said 400 Baht, but he agreed to our counter of
300.
BIZOTEL BANGKOK
Busy first day despite
the jet lag.
More to come.
Thanks for reading.
Love Janet and greg
 |
| WAT ARUN |
 |
| A "prince" strikes a pose |
Monitor lizard in Bangkok
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