Asian tour 3/4: Thailand, pure spectacle

At last, Thailand... at last, Bangkok! Air Asia flight from HK booked in Italy for a few euros.. and in a couple of hours I land at the lovely Bangkok airport, where you can already see the first statues of warriors.. a little appetiser of what you'll see in the magnificent royal palace. So it's fair to say that in Thailand, as in other places in South-East Asia, the first thing to learn is one thing: haggle over everything! So as soon as I got off the shuttle that took me into the city (Airport Express, taken on the lower level for 150 bath = €3) the typical haggling begins to get taken everywhere... taxi, motorbike or tuk tuk, whichever it is.. but it's guaranteed fun seeing who gives in first! If you've read any account of Bangkok the first word that comes to mind is probably Bkk = traffic, hehe...

in fact it's easy to see what chaos there is everywhere, given the endless number of vehicles around and the rain that so often batters the city. 30/09/09 After a quick look around the area the evening before.. the first day we set off for the Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaew of course.. the temple of temples; personally I would have stayed all day admiring it and taking hundreds of photos! You can get there any way you like; I chose to go by river, surely the cheapest and most characteristic way, since for about 20 bath you avoid the traffic and the smog of the roads and you also have the chance to see the less famous Bangkok, with the stilt houses along the Chao Phraya river and the poorer areas. The sight of Wat Phra Kaew is very beautiful, surrounded by very high walls (don't forget to wear long clothing; otherwise you can rent some before entering..

as happened to me!) and by all these temples surrounded by gigantic statues of warriors, animals and sorcerers... a spectacle for the eyes! The royal palace, beside Wat Phra Kaew, is the King's residence, and can be visited in part, such as the collections of royal arms and treasures. Having left (reluctantly..) Wat Phra Kaew, I go to see Wat Pho, practically next to the royal palace, very famous for the reclining Buddha statue, for just 50 bath, and since I was there I also took advantage of the massage centre inside it, to try the famous Thai massage: truly devastating! it almost feels as if they beat you in certain spots, but I must say that once it was over my body felt like new...

worth trying at least once for sure! After a quick snack (it's really all too easy to find food vendors everywhere), I start wandering the streets next to Wat Pho, one of the things I love doing most, that is roaming around aimlessly... among thousands of Buddha sellers, people carrying goods on their heads, tuk tuks racing everywhere and asking every second where you want to be taken, and magnificent little temples... I already love this country! I find myself in the Dusit area, north of the centre, and as soon as I see the zoo entrance I don't think twice about going in: the usual tiny entrance fee and so many animals to see... including a corner where they let you play with parrots, a skunk and snakes! I go home by MRT, the elevated metro, very comfortable and fast, though it only links the northern and eastern part of the centre and not the temple area.

The evening ends with a visit to the beautiful Vimanmek palace, built of gilded teak wood and the greatest example of this type of architecture in the whole world, a pity only that you can't take photos, and to the Sirocco Bar, on the 67th floor of a skyscraper (highly recommended for its elegance and the view of the city) and then to Khao San Road in the company of an English girl I met in the afternoon... the craziest and coolest street in Bangkok, packed with bars, disco-pubs, restaurants and street artists.. as well as the famous sellers of grasshoppers and cockroaches! 01/10/09 A day spent with Peipei, a Thai girl who lives outside Bangkok, who takes me first to Chinatown (where it practically no longer feels like Thailand) where I try to buy some souvenirs, but given how hard it is to choose the best offer..

in the end I buy nothing! My advice is to walk around the city to be able to see the Thai reality, but if you don't have time, take a tuk tuk... it's the best way to get around, there are thousands everywhere and they take you everywhere of course haggling, otherwise and above all don't forget, if you take taxis, to make them turn the meter on, otherwise they'll try to ask you for sky-high sums! If you're stressed by too much traffic, the ideal is to take refuge in the most famous park, Lumphini park, in the eastern part of the city, reachable by the MRT, where by the way I happened to see a calm alligator wandering peacefully in the park's open pond....

02/10/09 I book a tour to Kanchanaburi, a little town just outside Bangkok, famous because it has the bridge over the river Kwai (you may think of the war film that also won 7 Oscars) but not only, as I would discover later! 2 hours by bus and we arrive.. the traffic unfortunately is always present in every situation and they first take us to see the military war cemetery, then to the museum, where I have a very close encounter with an iguana! Then near the bridge, where you can also walk on it as it is still working 2 times a week; the usual ritual photos and, while I'm there, buying the famous Vietnamese conical hat that will accompany me for the rest of the trip! To my amazement the tour continues with a beautiful train ride on the Death Railway, a typical Thai lunch by the river Kwai and a lovely excursion to see the Saiyokno waterfalls.

03/10/09 I book a tour to Ayutthaya, to see the famous temples of the ancient Thai capital... the city is very beautiful, the temples are countless and scattered everywhere, and in the company of two Indian guys and a Hungarian girl we tour most of them; not to be missed is a large reclining Buddha statue, quite ruined, and perhaps the main attraction, the head of a Buddha wedged among the roots of a tree.. beautiful! the tour ends with a visit to the Bang Pa In palace, once the King's summer residence... really very pretty and well kept, definitely worth seeing. 12/10/09 On my way back from Cambodia I have more than half a day before returning to HK and boarding for Italy, so I go to see what I've missed in the city, starting with Wat Arun, the temple of dawn, truly stunning, especially if you happen to see it at dawn or sunset...

the Golden Mount, not far from the royal palace, a temple stands on a small hill and has a gigantic golden stupa and gives a lovely view of the city; Wat In (Wat Intharaviharn) where there is a bizarre 32-metre-tall Buddha statue; a wander through the gigantic MBK, practically a shopping skyscraper(!) and a last visit to Khao San Road, complete with a fish massage (so cool!) and one last Thai massage... goodbye Thailand!