We were surprised to have gotten what we thought was a great sleep. After, the normal morning routine, enjoying some eggs and noodle; we headed out for the Golden Mount. We purchased a BTS day pass for 130 baht and took the BTS to the National Stadium, about 6km in about the same amount of time; pretty efficient especially considering it was rush-hour.
From there is was a short walk to the Khlong Saen Saeb river boat; which we had read was not a normal tourist experience. It wasn't bad if you don't mind jumping on and off a small boat that more like slows down at the stops rather than stopping. Because the canal is only about 30 feet across, you have the potential of getting quite wet when passing other boats. I'm pretty sure the boat operators actually try to splash each other with the disgusting water.
The boat takes you to a short walk past some tuk tuk stands and into the 'Wood District'. Carpenters fashion the most amazingly detailed doors in all shapes and sizes. Looks like you could have any design custom made; I wonder what shipping to Canada would be?!?
The Golden Mount cost 20 baht four tourist and is a 'short' 150 foot climb. It was getting extremely hot (43 with the humidity) and getting to the top was draining. We were rewarded with amazing (smoggy) panoramic views of the entire city. Part of the Buddhist experience is ringing the large iron bells; which I couldn't resist the deep sound it produced. Probably rang 50 bells before the tour was done. We drank cold water and contemplated our next move.
We originally were going to do a recommended walking tour, which brings you around to a bunch of popular museums, bridges, wats, the wood district and a swing. Because we had walked from the boat through a portion of the tour we decided to go directly to the giant swing. The road to the swing, Bamrung Meuang, was extremely busy with traffic! That wouldn't have been an issue if there was a side walk. It has two lanes that are squeezed between building and about an 18 inch shoulder. The traffic is careening past, probably at only 60Km an hour, and you have to turn sideways to not get hit when a large truck or bus passes. Interesting experience if you are an adrenaline junkie; I'm not!
An interesting part of Bangkok is the stores are concentrated into districts. As I noted above with the wood district, there are pockets of specialized stores. Among others, we walked through a steel fabricating district close to China Town, Electronics, jewellery, restaurant supply and today the Wood and Wat Supply. Yes, you want to build a Buddhist temple, you could even buy a wax statue of a monk. Walking past him was creepy.
We made our way past one of the locations for the past protest; each of the buildings were surounded by several layers of razor wire. The area was clean and there was no signs of unrest other than the security; albeit there is probably the same level of security in Washington DC on a normal day. The walk to Cha Tien was extremely hot; probably only a couple kilometres but we were getting dehydrated. We stopped in a park adjacent to the Grand Palace and enjoyed two bottles of comparatively expressive water; 10 baht as apposed to 6 at 7-11. We needed it!!!
The ferry to Wat Arun was interesting and only cost 3 baht each. The river today was far busier than it was yesterday with our boat having to make many stops to accommodate long-tail boats speeding past. One of the boats sounded like a “Japed-out” Honda with its stereo just a thumping.
Wat Arun cost 50 baht and really was only climbing up the narrow, steep, stairs to the view of the river and city. If you are not a fan of ladders, which neither Tim or I are, the climb is quite hard on the nerves. The view was worth it; but the entire experience was only about 30 minutes. We scuttled back onto the ferry; took an additional boat back to Central Pier and the BTS to our Hotel. The heat had done us in!
We enjoyed a swim on the roof-top pool; but it wasn't enough to stave off the heat headache. After drinking a bunch of water, we took a nap. The jet leg, lack of sleep, and dehydration pretty much made for a crappy feeling for the night. We wandered around MBK mall for and hour, and about 4 bottles of water before we were able to shake the 'sleep f@cked' feeling. I had an extremely delicious crepe filled with sweet bananas, thick cream and chocolate drizzle; all for 50 baht. So far, the best thing either of us ate.
MBK appears to be an amazing shopping experience; however, there really isn't a lot in the mall. The entire fourth floor is basically dedicated to cell phones and tablets; seventh floor to a theatre and speciality food; and one floor with mostly furniture. There are many clothing and souvenir booths, but the clothes are mainly for small sized girls, printed Ts and name brand items. We were able to acquire a new, and quite nice well build North Face back pack; very happy we bought good bags before we came.
Our night ended early with both of use hitting the hay by 9pm. Hopefully, we can shake the jet leg soon!
