The next morning I woke up and read a little in bed before taking my shower (man, "The Plot Against America" is not a book you want to be reading during an election season....). I went downstairs and had the hotel/hostel hold my bags for the day while I got my last little dose of Thailand.
I had lots of Bat left over, and I intended to spend it.
I was told that the Royal Palace was waliking distance, so I started off in the direction of the Royal Palace. It wasn't long before I was totally lost, looking at a map by the side of the road. A nice Thai gentleman stopped and told me how to walk to the Palace, but did tell me it wouldn't be open till the afternoon (which turned out to be true) and he suggested I go on a boat ride around Bangkok insteead. He hailed a tuk-tuk for me (which, I"m sure was in cahoots with him) and sent me off toward the boat terminal. BUT once I arrived at the terminal, the boat wanted $35 USD for a 1 hour ride. I refused. My tuk-tuk driver said he would bargain with me, but I told him I wasn't going to spend more than $20 for the whole day - and the boat driver wasn't willing to go that low. The tuk-tuk driver decided he would try to take me around to all of the usual places so he could get his coupon for a litre of gas. I thought - why not? A free (or cheap) ride and all I have to do is go to a few tailors - so I told the driver where I had been taken in the past and he took me to new places. He kept saying "nice woman. very luck for you to help me." I guess a lot of tourist get pissed, but if I get a $1 tuk-tuk ride for 3-4hrs and all I have to do is go to a few shops, who cares?
After driving all over town, looking at shops and touring various neighborhoods, the tuk-tuk driver deposited me at the Royal Palace when the palace re-opened for their afternoon tours. A nice morning, all-in-all. And the tuk-tuk drivers loved me, because I took pictures of the exteriors of all the stores I'd been taken to so I could show the drivers which ones I've already been to (where they couldn't redeem their coupon) - and the drivers would take me to new stores. A scam - but again, a mutually beneficial scam for all parties (I was temped to get a suit made if I had had more time!).
The Royal Palace had a steep entrance fee (like $15 - the price of my hotel!), but it was absolutly beautiful. I bought my ticket and then was confronted with a line of military men holding their Uzis (well, I don't know if those were the guns, they might have been M-16s, all those big guns look the same to me). I took a picture with some of the guns. I asked some british dudes to take the photo - they seemed to think it was super lame - but Thailand, I guess especially after the riots last year, seems heavily militarized and I wanted to capture that.
The highlight of the Royal Palace was the Emerald Buddha. People come from all over to worship at his feet - and he is adorned in fancy outfits which match the season. It was very moving to see all the people praying to the Buddha, who is said to eb the protector of Bangkok. This particular statue was found in Cambodia, and moved all around SE Asia (or was looted and expatriated) until it ended up in Thailiand. I spent a considerable amount of time watching people pray at this particular buddha - more so than the other buddha sites I visited the previous day.
The grounds of the palace also holds a replica of Angkor Wat. The replica is very, very detailed and quite large. Strange to think of, but Thailand and Cambodia could have been one country if history had blown in a different direction....
I wasn't able to see the reclining Buddha (fuck!) which was the sculpture I came to see. There was some official state dinner and they had that temple sectioned off. But, because of the state dinner I did get to see a military parade (with guns and tanks), and I did get to see a very elaborate changing o the guards. The Thai guards look exactly like the British guards with their red suits and large, fuzy, tall black hats. It was hysterical. The whole changing of the guards procedure probably took around an hour! I was thankful to have seen it.
I spent hours at the Royal Palace, and then walked back to the area of my hotel where I treated myself to a nice dinner of pumpkin curry and bitter lemon soda (man, I love bitter lemon soda and I've had it everywhere I traveled, but never see it in the states. Oh, on a side note - everywhere in SE Asia they will label things lemon when it is actuall lime. In fact, I think they only have one word for lemon and lime). After dinner I went to a reputable looking place and got a $6 1 hour long Thai massage. If you are unfamiliar with Thai massage, they yank you all around and move your body, move your joints - while its happening, it can be quite painful but it feels really nice once you are done. The massage was so nice, that I decided to go the extra mile and get the $2 pedicure before I left for the airport.
I collected my thing from the "Hi Joe" hostel (who had the least friendly staff of anywhere I visited), and signed up for a cheap shared taxi to the airport.
It was only once on the taxi to the airport did I meet another American - a dude from NYU who just graduated from Hunter college. He had just spent 3 months in India and was now the world's expert on all things Indian: "India is the most misunderstood place on earth. Let me tell you why..." Arrogance - I can see why the world hates us (or maybe its just youth?).
Anyway, I got to the airport in pleanty of time and checked in for my flight to Korea.
