Wat Arun, Seedy Areas and off to Ranong

Wat Arun

Wat Arun

Bangkok, Thailand

14/01/13 – 15/01/03

I needed to change to a cheaper hotel today, but I had problems finding anywhere with room. After a fruitless two hours of walking around in the sweltering Bangkok heat I gave up and went to Tuptim, a little joint I’ve stayed at before on noisy (but fun) Rambuttri Street parallel to Khao San road. I spent the rest of the day working on the blog and researching Burma, I planned to go to the visa office tomorrow to get my Burmese visa.

In the evening I got the usual free entertainment of the local breakdancers who come to Rambuttri to show off their moves to the music pumping out of the bars. They are really good, spinning, flipping and even doing sychronised moves, occasionally making way for the odd tuk tuk – very entertaining! The next day I completely failed to get up in time to go to the visa office, my sleep pattern was really out of whack and the loud live music next door didn’t stop till 1am. I spent another day bumming around. In the evening I was sat in a restaurant and a tipsy man from Laos started talking to me, practicing his English. He is an English teacher and told me it was a relaxed place with nice people and said if I was ever near his city I was welcome to meet him. Love the Asian hospitality!

Wat Suthat

Wat Suthat

16/01/13

I again failed to get up in time to go to the visa office, I had suffered from insomnia the night before. I was pretty annoyed, another day wasted! I went to the post office to send some memory sticks to my parents with all my photographs on them. The stick I’d bought on Khao san road turned out to be a copy and corrupted all the files on it – annoying as it was 20 quid down the drain and no refunds! Welcome to Thailand! The Thai post office was easy to use, the staff spoke English and it only cost about 50p to send them to the UK, bargain! This way my photos from the last 6 months would be doubly safe.

I heard from my friend in Bangkok, Marc, the tour guide who works in South East Asia. We for a catch-up drink. He’d just come from a tour in Burma but advised me against going. He said there were so many tourists that all the sites were jam packed, and there is so little accommodation that some travelers were turning up to find every room in town taken! They then had no option but to go to the local monasterys and give a donation to spend the night on a hard floor or mattress there! In addition, the accommodation prices had risen to over $30 a night in most hotels, some as high as $50 a night!

Monk at Wat Ratchanatdaram

Monk at Wat Ratchanatdaram

It sounded crazy and I agreed if I was to go to Burma I would come back and do it in the low season instead when it would be quieter and cheaper. Marc offered to show me the view of one of the famous Bangkok temples, Wat Arun, down by the river. We walked for about half an hour to the dockside across from the big old temple. We walked through a maze of busy tourist markets to a floating jetty on the river. The sun was setting and the cunning jetty owners try to charge you for taking photos from there. Marc quickly whisked us away before they caught us!

Wat Arun

Wat Arun

We walked through a seedy area where prostitutes were sitting on plastic chairs on the corners, waiting for customers later at night. The place was full of ugly little motels for dubious purposes. However it was also host to a nice restaurant that Marc goes to with his clients sometimes. The rooftop there was a nice reprieve from the noise and offered a good view of the Golden Mount lit up in the twilight. We had some good food, a duck curry, star bean salad and beef liver which considering I don’t like liver was actually pretty nice.

17/01/13

With Burma off the agenda, I spent the day researching where to go next. Marc had suggested Ranong on the South West coast, close to the Burma border, and its nearby islands of Koh Chang and Koh Payam. I decided to head there and check it out. I had a week to burn before I’d return to meet my friend Paul from Manchester and his wife Amy who were due in Bangkok on their honeymoon. The rest of the day was spent in a valiant attempt to buy a waterproof case for my little underwater camera (!). It had broken in Nepal and the repair guy said it should have come with a rubber case, (it didn’t) which protects it from the water pressure. I took a local bus to the commercial area of Pathum Wan, very busy and full of giant malls and shoppers of all nationalities. I tried in a big electronics mall with no joy, they directed me to another one – a mighty modern posh plaza mall. In there all of the camera shops, even the Panasonic affiliated ones had nothing. Damn it, a wasted journey. I did get to see the most modern part of Bangkok though and also a little look at the famous but small Erawan shrine, overshadowed by skyscrapers and on a busy crossroads. I didn’t have any wish to come back to this part of Bangkok though.

The Democracy Monument

The Democracy Monument

In the evening I attempted to get a bus to the Southern Bus Station to get to Ranong, but the only correct bus whizzed past us, looking full to the brim. With my time running out I got an expensive taxi to the station which turned out to be right on the edge of the city, about 45 minutes drive through heavy traffic. At the bus station I bought a ticket on a local VIP night bus and settled back in the massage seat (!) to enjoy a really cheap western action film dubbed into Thai. As normal on the local buses they turned off the lights really early so I used my camera light to read until late. There was only one other westerner on the bus. We stopped at 1am for a meal at a bus terminal, just as I was falling asleep. The meal is included in the ticket price so the passengers, ever-eager to get their money’s worth, staggered out like zombies and we ate a bog standard buffet in the VIP room of the station. We continued onwards, but I only caught a few hours sleep, it was pretty uncomfortable.

At around 4am we arrived at Ranong bus station. I got out with the western girl who was in her early 30s. We got into a Songtaow (truck taxi) which took us to the pier for the island ferries, 15 minutes away. The price was double but as we were a captive market we didn’t have much choice despite arguing with the driver. The pier was deserted but the lights were on and a TV was showing western programs. The girl, Anna, was Italian. She ran her own little bar in a town on the Italian coast close to Croatia and was heading to Koh Chang to meet a friend of hers. We chatted for the next few hours as a few more tourists arrived by taxi, and zombied out to the boring transport history programs on TV.

Monk at Wat Ratchanatdaram

Monk at Wat Ratchanatdaram

Temples of Bangkok

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

12/01/13-13/01/13

Today I sorted out laundry and went shopping around the super-cheap Khao San road stalls, haggling hard to get some summer clothes, guide books and a hat. I was planning to head to Burma (Myanmar) next and started to research it. I discovered I’d need to go to their visa office in Bangkok in advance. That evening I got a fish foot massage, if you’ve not seen them, it’s a tank of little fish that you put your feet in and they eat your dead skin. I have very ticklish feet and right from the start it was almost unbearable! I sat there laughing my head off as everyone passing by laughed at me! I did endure the full 20 minutes, I’d been told it gets less tickly but it never happened! Never again! I followed up with an oil massage which was very relaxing. I stayed up really late drinking and walking around Khao San road (which is one big party at night). I passed a McDonalds and got the craving, I hadn’t had junk food for ages. One dirty Big Mac later and I was stuffed but happy!

Wat Suthat

Wat Suthat

The following day I moved to a better hotel and after some internet went exploring in the afternoon. I walked twenty minutes to the east to check out some temples I’d read about. The first, the mouthful of Wat Ratchanaddaram is built in an impressive tiered style like a castle, painted white with brown spires, each level getting smaller like a pyramid. Inside it was subdivided into a grid of corridors, the distance between each crossroads matching the number of steps it should take to meditatively walk. The interior was filled with information about Buddism. From the top level the views were nice over the area and I spotted the Golden Mount, a golden spire on a hill to the east.

The tiered temple of Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

The tiered temple of Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

 

View from the tiers of Wat Ratchanatdaram

View from the tiers of Wat Ratchanatdaram

 

I noticed these monks speaking English to a tourist and I asked if I could get their photos. They were visiting from another part of Thailand.

I noticed these monks speaking English to a tourist and I asked if I could get their photos. They were visiting from another part of Thailand.

 

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan

 

The hilltop temple Golden Mount (Wat Saket)

The hilltop temple Golden Mount (Wat Saket)

I continued past the old city wall by some old colonial buildings to reach the Golden Mount (Wat Saket). The small hill was encircled by a wall and the road inside that was lined with small temple buildings. There were a lot of tourists and Thais here. The hill was covered in trees, and a flight of steps curved upwards passing through them. Statues were placed amongst the landscaped undergrowth. Half way up was a row of big bells which people rang as they passed, and a big gong, which made the air alive with sound. A monk’s incantations were piped through speakers all the way up the steps. At the hilltop the trees cleared to show a good view over the city, especially towards the commercial district with all its skyscrapers.

Bongggggg

Bongggggg

 

Reaching the top of the Golden Mount

Reaching the top of the Golden Mount

 

View from the top over the commercial district

View from the top over the commercial district

A temple building was at the summit, full of small buddah statues and people milling around. Monks sat giving readings, and vendors sold various materials for offerings. In the centre of the building narrow passages led to a golden statue which many worshippers were putting gold leaf on.

All around the top offerings were being made

All around the top offerings were being made

 

The gold leaf encrusted statue at the centre of the Golden Mount

The gold leaf encrusted statue at the centre of the Golden Mount

 

Descending the staircase back down the Golden Mount

Descending the staircase back down the Golden Mount

Back at the bottom of the Mount, I walked through the old streets to find a road where they make traditional monk bowls, called Baan Bat. Unfortunately when I arrived the buildings were shuttered up. I walked back towards the city centre, crossing a canal and reaching a park where locals were relaxing, doing fitness and yoga (there was even an outdoor gym). After the park I happened upon a big impressive temple, Wat Suthat. Inside the main temple was a really big golden Buddah statue, with Thais sitting and praying to it. The walls were covered in ornate paintings.

Old town

Baan Bat

 

Wat Suthat

Wat Suthat

 

Wat Suthat

Wat Suthat

 

The big Buddah inside Wat Suthat

The big Buddah inside Wat Suthat

 

Outside the temple was a giant gate-like sculpture called The Swing. Across the road from this was a big square with a huge picture of the King of Thailand. In front of it a load of police were doing drills, some in full riot gear.

Police drill in front of the Kings image

Police drill in front of the Kings image

I walked back to Khao San road and that evening went to meet a Dutch guy I’d met that morning who had invited me to join his friends that evening. Annoyingly he never showed, so I just chilled out there on Rambuttri Soi for a while. It’s a great place to soak up the atmosphere and people watch, all the restuarants have tables at the street side and are peppered with coloured lights. As I was getting ready to leave a woman came to my table and asked if I wanted to join them. They’d seen me alone all evening and thought I might want some company. Very nice of them! I joined them; an English lady and her boyfriend, and two girls from New Zealand. I spent the evening hanging out with them, they were a good laugh, and we ended up drinking cheap cocktails in the street bars with plastic chairs and getting quite drunk. Classic Bangkok evening!

Wat Suthat

Wat Suthat