OK so this is the 4th time trying to write this and is now Day 5- having issues with all my text being deleted.... (So the font may be different)
We walked over to the Ratanakosin district with the plan to visit the Grand Palace and other temples in the area. However we only saw the Palace from the outside instead visiting Wat Pho temple across the road. The main attraction is the reclining Buddha and according to the guide its the oldest temple in Bangkok. Here we managed to spend around 3 hours visiting the main attraction and exploring areas of the temple. Thai people, guides and monks all have free access however it will cost tourists B100 (£2) at the entrance which comes with a free water coupon. We brought our own 1L bottles and were glad we did as the free water is in a tiny bottle and other drinks are priced higher than 7- Elevens that can be found everywhere. Although the reclining Buddha was amazing to view I preferred exploring around the temple in the courtyards where you can see the beautiful architecture and there are little fountain/ponds dotted around- it was rewarding to find little things rather than following the crowds to the attraction.
At the temple we also experienced the sudden downpour of rain to go with the season we are travelling in. Crowds swarming into the attraction to avoid the heavy rain. We decided to wait it out under a small tree and continue our exploring once the rain died down.
In the evening we walked to the Chinatown district for food on Yaowart road. We joined the lively street in search of food and were quickly whisked onto a table shared with an older Thai man as soon as we chose a food stall. Here we tried our first Thai phat thai for B40 (80p) and it was SPICY. I spent the meal wishing I enjoyed spicy food as it was delicious and gulping down a bottle of water. We on!y explored the top part of the street as we were desperate for food so there might have been more happening down the street. This was one of the most exciting street food areas we saw in Bangkok (with a man adding something to the fire and a huge fireball exploding into the air) and well priced so well worth a visit.
