Day 1 - Sabbatical Has Officially Started!

Wow. Bangkok is a crazy city. In spite of the crowds, we saw some pretty spectacular stuff. 

In the morning, Benji and I were fully rested by 7:30 AM, allowing us to get up and start our day nice and early. We ate our complimentary breakfast at the hostel, which consisted of eggs and toast, with the option of “sausage” (pretty sure it was just a hot dog). In spite of the simplicity of the meal, it hit the spot. 

After leaving the hostel, we ventured up the street in search of the Grand Palace. We stumbled upon a couple of temples (or Wats) that seemed impressive, but we knew we didn’t want to “waste” our time on any temple that wasn’t on our agenda. We did, however, take a few minutes to check out an impressive statue relatively near the Democracy Monument. While we gazed upon the statue, a nice Thai man came walking up to us to ask if we knew who the statue was of. When we did not, he proceeded to tell us all about that king (Rama), as well as the newly appointed king, and a little about the current government state of affairs. He was a very friendly and engaging man. He then told us that the Grand Palace, the first stop on our agenda, was closed until 1 PM that day because the royal family was in town visiting. He also told us about a special government funded event happening that day where all tuktuks with yellow license plates (government tuktuks) cost only 40 baht (about 1.5 dollars), and they would take us to numerous sites of interest, including the Grand Palace, the standing Buddha, and more. He generously gave us his map and circled all the places he would recommend to go, and then he walked us over to the road, flagged down a tuktuk driver, and told him where to take us. It was incredible. I wasn’t sure whether or not to tip him, or if it was just his kindness and generosity that compelled him to help us. At the moment, he didn’t seem to pause and wait at all for a tip, so I ruled it as a kind gesture and took off in the tuktuk.

Once in the tuktuk, the driver took us first to a temple called Wat Sitaram. It was beautiful, but in retrospect it probably wasn’t worth our time. It was not nearly as impressive as temples we spent time at later in the day. After that, the driver took us to a clothing factory. The man we previously met at the statue had told us that there was a special deal going on at the factory, where custom suits would be incredibly cheap. We did not, however, realize that the tuktuk driver would be making a stop there. This made us suspicious that there is a set route that tuktuk drivers take to help encourage foreigners to spend money. Benji and I went inside, not knowing before we entered that it was said factory (aka custom suit shop). The salesperson immediately took to action and sat us down to show us a suit catalog and swatches of cashmere material that they could use to make any color suit that Benji might want. After Benji spotted a few nice blue hues, his interest was piqued. When we lamented about only being in Bangkok for one day, the salesperson assured us that the suit could be finished by 6 PM that day, and delivered directly to our hostel. Benji eventually gave in and had his measurements taken for his anticipated handmade suit. Although I was skeptical, I can say now that the suit is actually quite nice and well worth the money. 

After leaving the factory, the driver took us to the standing Buddha, which is a giant standing Buddha statue that towers over the temple grounds at 32 meters high. It was quite impressive, as was the beautiful temple that stood alongside it.

Our driver then attempted to take us to a tourism office, but we learned our lesson after the suit factor and assured him we already had our travel and tours all taken care of. I’m not sure if that changed the trajectory of our tuktuk ride, because it seemed like he then skipped a few places and just took us directly to the Grand Palace (in spite of it still being before 1 PM). We were a little uncertain of what to do at that point, but another very nice Thai man came up to us to provide recommendations. He suggested we get another tuktuk up to the Thai Boat company, and then charter a boat ride down the river to see many sites and ultimately land at Wat Arun. Wat Arun was high on our list of places we wanted to see, so we said what the heck, and let him call us another tuktuk. Luckily, the man bargained the tuktuk driver down to only 20 baht (60 cents, ish), which suggested he had our best interest in mind. 

After driving us there, the tuktuk driver walked us out to the pier, which I thought was nice. The price seemed a little steep (1400 baht), but it ended up being completely worth it. The boat was a long and skinny motor boat, which made for a pretty bumpy ride. We passed by a number of temples that were on shore, and at one point had a woman paddle up to us to sell us her goods. Benji and I bought a beer and a fan because why not. Near the end of the ride, we saw an enormous lizard sunbathing on a set of steps on shore that had to have been 2+ feet. Glad we saw it from a distance. Finally, we reached out final destination, Wat Arun. 

Before entering the temple, we both were pretty hungry and bought a freshly machete’d mango from a woman selling all sorts of fruit by the “gift shop” (all outdoor stalls of souvenirs). I silently said a prayer that the mango hadn’t been exposed to the local water, and then devoured the delicious fruit in less than a minute. We then made our way through the temple. It was quite beautiful, and mostly made up of a number of spires u pagodas. The outside of each pagoda was intricately decorated with what appeared to be painted ceramic. The temple was also incredibly tall, and had very steep stairs that you could ascend up to a certain point. The height of the temple was probably it’s most impressive feature.

Although Wat Arun was beautiful, we both were feeling pretty exhausted in the heat, and so we decided after about an hour of exploring to head back to the other side of the river and find a place for lunch. We used TripAdvisor and ended up finding a great little cafe called The Sixth, which had delicious Thai food and most importantly, air conditioning! Benji got Penang Curry with chicken and I got green curry with tofu. 

After we felt refreshed from the cool air and food, we headed out to hit our last temple of the day - Wat Pho. En route, we picked up a couple of popsicles and Benji decided to try a flavor that we were unfamiliar with, padanus. And he was pleasantly surprised. I went a safer route and chose Taro. When we finished our popsicles, we stepped into Wat Pho and, although it cost the most of any temple we’d visited yet (500 baht), we both agreed that it was well worth it. Wat Pho had some of the most beautiful spires/pagodas that we had seen. Each one was intricate decorated with colorful ceramic designs. Wat Pho is also more like a huge complex, rather than just one temple. There are 20 or so pagodas or chedi and 8 or 9 different Buddha’s, and of course, the impressive Reclining Buddha. The whole complex took our breath away and we were happy that we saved the best for last.

After Wat Pho, we were ready to relax for a bit, so we decided to grab a beer. I suggested one of the rooftop bars I had heard about that faced Wat Arun, and using TripAdvisor we found one that was highly rated called Amorosa. Seating was limited, but we found a couple of chairs that were right by the open window facing the temple. Although the view was ideal, those seats were in direct sunlight and quite uncomfortable to sit in. Luckily, two men who had a table further back saw us looking around and offered to trade seats. We were fairly certain they just wanted the front row seats (probably without realizing how hot they were). We gladly accepted and traded tables. We ordered a beer and a piña colada, and watched the sun set behind Wat Arun. It was perfection. 

Next up, we were ready to head back, shower up, and take a breather. Once we were ready, we checked TripAdvisor for a place to eat. By 8 PM, some restaurants were already closing, so we decided to wait in line for the famous Pad Thai place right next to our hostel - Thipsamai Pad Thai. There was a line to get into this place at all times of day, including when we arrived at 2 am the night before, so we knew it must be good. The wait probably took about 30 minutes, but the pad Thai was worth it. 

Last stop of the day - Khao San Road. Benji had been there briefly the night before, while waiting for my flight to arrive. He was immediately overwhelmed and knew it would be a better idea to wait for me. Unfortunately, we were both exhausted after our jam packed day of sightseeing, heat, and heavy Thai food, so we didn’t last long. We did a quick lap up and down the street to take in the sights. Khao San Road is saturated with crazy bars, drunken backpackers, and crazy street food and drink (think fried scorpions and laughing gas balloons). Neither of us were up for getting a drink, although I’m not sure we would have wanted to even if we had the energy. So instead, we retreated back to our hotel to hit the hay at a very reasonable hour. Sabbatical is a marathon, not a sprint after all.