Bangkok - travel diary - part 2

Bangkok again

Once our three days of trekking were over, we caught the train again for the capital. We had allowed ourselves another three days in the city before reaching the beaches of Kho Pha-ngan. The usual night train arrived in Bangkok early, even too early... at six in the morning we were already on the move, backpacks on our shoulders, to reach the super mega hotel booked earlier together with the entire package for Chiang Mai. The hotel was in the China Town area, a neighborhood we had not yet explored. After an abundant buffet breakfast (we ate an impossible amount, shameful!) we treated ourselves to a restorative nap and then headed energetically to the Grand Palace, one of those places you have to visit when you come to Bangkok. The building, or rather, the buildings are truly large, imperially so, no wonder. Everything is covered with a golden patina, which makes it super sparkly...

clearly they spared no expense in building it! Back at the hotel, we had an appointment with Sergio Segato, an Italian who moved to Southeast Asia about fifteen years ago. Sergio was among those contacts acquired before departure, and we were really curious to meet him and hear about his experience. It was a very interesting meeting, which gave us quite a few ideas and some valuable tips about Bangkok. Together with him, after a nice dinner that he kindly offered us, we went to visit one of the most beautiful temples in Bangkok, which, though it was late in the evening, was lit up as bright as day: this is Wat Arun, a temple that stands on the bank of the river that crosses the capital, the Chao Phraya, and lit up like that it really cut a fine figure. Right at the foot of Wat Arun we said goodbye to good old Sergio and went to visit another "characteristic" neighborhood, Pat Pong.

We don't want to dwell on describing this lively and unusual neighborhood, because it risks becoming embarrassing, but let me tell you, if you're passing through here, give it a visit! Fun!

The following morning, equipped with nothing less than a private car and driver, we had ourselves driven all the way to Ayuttaya, the ancient capital of the kingdom, to admire its ruins. It's a scenario we'd already seen at Angkor, in Cambodia, though on a more modest scale. Perhaps because it wasn't exactly something new, the visit wasn't superlative, though in any case, especially for some periods, it definitely deserves to be visited, given the not prohibitive distance from Bangkok. Back in the late afternoon, we prepared for the last evening in the capital, choosing the classic Khao San Road, where we had dinner and spent the night in a disco (until one in the morning, closing time for all "clean" venues in Bangkok).

The following morning, our last day in the city, we spent it visiting another majestic temple, according to Sergio the most beautiful in Bangkok, also famous for the massage school, which we took advantage of. This is Wat Po, known above all for the colossal reclining Buddha of exaggerated dimensions! Giant! After retrieving our luggage, we went back to the train station to set off this time toward the south, more precisely to Surat Thani, the docking port for the ferry that would take us to Kho Pha-ngan. Arriving at 4:45 in the morning in Surat Thani, the last effort before our well-deserved Christmas holidays awaited us. We first had to resolve a little bureaucratic problem: renewing our visa for Thailand.

The quickest and most painless (or almost) way was to cross the thin strip of Thai land that divides the west coast from the east, and then take a boat that would take us all the way to Myanmar. To make a long story short, avoiding further geographical details, we survived the wild driving of our driver, we entered Myanmar for about twenty minutes, and then came out with our passport enriched by another stamp; a procedure that allowed us to obtain a new monthly visa for Thailand... absurd but dreadfully true and necessary! Back in Surat Thani again with the same crazy wild driver, we finally boarded for Kho Pha-ngan. Finally!!!