After breakfast we took a stroll through the Soi (laneways) of Banglamphu, heading for the river boat. The Soi are very cute, with lots of street vendors everywhere selling Pad Thai (again), other hot food, fruit, drinks, etc. We then got onto an express river boat that took us to the Ko Ratanakosin area – TEMPLES!! The first one we happened to stumble across was Wat Pho – some statistics for you… it’s the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok (dating from the 16th century), it has the biggest collection of Buddha images and houses the largest reclining Buddha in the country (46m long and 15m high, modelled out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf)!! We wandered around the grounds for a while, looking at all the temples and taking photos, saving the reclining Buddha until last. Very impressive!!
After leaving Wat Pho we decided to give a tuk-tuk drive a go, he reckoned for 40 baht he could take us to see some other temples… sounds pretty cheap, maybe too good to be true, but we get in anyway to find out. After a yummy Thai lunch he takes us to Wat Deesanu Garam, which houses a Buddha that is meant to give good luck if prayed to. Then we stopped at a tailor where it was “free looking” and they tried to get us to buy tailor made silk clothing “special offer just for today!” – very good prices but we just weren’t interested. The tuk-tuk driver then said “just one more, I get free coupon for fuel, and you get free looking”… after that our answer was always the same – no more free looking!
After a drive past the Suan Kularb Palace in Dusit we stopped at Wat Benchama Bophit, the Marble Temple. Unfortunately renovations meant that there was scaffolding on part of the outside, but the marble exterior was still pretty awesome.
We got dropped off back at the Grand Palace and then took a river boat back up to Banglamphu. After a rest and much needed shower at the hotel we headed back out to experience some of Bangkok’s nightlife.
