So today, Jenny and I decided to go to the Royal Palace in Bangkok. Sounds like a simple statement however when you know very little Thai and have no clue about the transportation it may turn into a crazy adventure (especially when you read the map wrong).
So we started at Chaengwattana (which is the major street our soi stems off of) and grabbed the 166 with the yellow sticker in the window (the ones with yellow stickers go on the express way to Bangkok) so far so good except that it was a very crowded bus and some of the turns we took jostled the bus quite a bit. Then we arrived at Victory Monument which is also a main bus loop with four bus stations and a million buses going in and out. We asked at information how to get to Wat Phra Kaeo and were told to take bus 503, we found it easily enough and we were on our way. Now this is where things stopped going as planned, I guess we jumped the gun and got off the bus a little too early and accidentally got off at Wat Benchamabopitr (Marble Temple). We did wander around the Marble temple area (which was beautiful and when I find a capable computer I'll post some pictures). There is a monastery beside the temple and there were many orange robed monks walking around. After wandering around the grounds of the Marble Temple we looked at a map and decided it wasn't too far to just walk to the Royal Palace (we had waited for a bus for a little but it didn't come so we didn't stick around). So we walked, and walked, and walked and walked and walked some more. After about an hour to and hour and a half of walking in the full sun we asked directions, it would seem we were walking the complete opposite direction! So then as advised we waited for bus 60 as we waited about seven buses with the number 23 came by (no exaggeration) and a few 50's, 90's and 505's and finally when we were about to hail a cab one arrived and we got on. On the buses here they have a person who takes your money and gives you change and a ticket and they charge you different amounts depending on where you're going. We told the man Wat Phra Kaeo and he was very nice and told us exactly where to get off. Oh as a side note Jenny learned how to say "I am not Thai" so that when people tried to talk to her in Thai she could tell them she didn't understand, it didn't stop about three people from asking her for directions but she did manage to get rid of some confusion by learning that statement. Anyway we finally arrived at the Palace but not before being accosted by these people wanting us to feed the pigeons. Ok, if any of you ever go to the Royal Palace know that it is the largest tourist area in Bangkok and that people will try to sell you stuff and you have to be aggressive if you don't want it. I said no to feeding the birds (large swarms of pigeons creep me out and I didn't want to be covered in filthy birds) but they were very pushy and even when I folded my arms to keep them from forcing the bird feed into my hands they'd shove it into the crook of my elbow. At one point they threw some feed at my feet and there were birds every where it was really creepy and I felt like if I moved I would step on the birds and what if I pissed one off and it pecked at me. Finally we just put the bird feed on the ground and ran away because we couldn't see any other solution for it.
When we got to the Palace we went to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaeo), it was beautiful. There are bells hanging from the roof over hang of the buildings and so their is always a sweet soft tinkling sound in the background. All of the colors are very rich and most things are shiny or reflective (a lot of gold and small mirrors). I saw the Emerald Buddha (but you can't take pictures of him) and learned that his outfit changes depending on the season, in the summer (which is now) his head is ornamented and he has an ornamental outfit (I'm guessing because of Songkran). I think in one season he wears nothing and the other two he wears a robe but each time it's worn a different way.
We walked through the grounds a bit but we were exhausted from the heat and our long pointless walk so we decided to get the bus home. We asked directions to get back to the monument so that we could catch the 166 because we knew that would take us home. However the woman we asked asked us where we were trying to get to after the monument and we said Nonthaburi, I think that that was a mistake because then she told us it was much easier to get to Nonthaburi via water taxi which was a five minute walk from the Palace. The reason this was a mistake is because we didn't know how big Nonthaburi really is and she didn't know where in Nonthaburi we needed to go. We did follow her direction and took the water taxi, it was a fun ride and I would take one again if I knew where I'd end up. Once we got to Nonthaburi we had no clue where we were and couldn't find Chaengwattana, I asked someone and she didn't understand me so she got this guy in a white t-shirt to come over and help and he took us to a van taxi/bus thing and he got on with us. I've seen these vans before and as far as I understand they have a route (like a bus does) but they'll drop you any where you want along that route (like a taxi) and it would seem they charge a flat rate. So we got one with this guy in a white t-shirt and wrote down the address we were trying to get to and he made some phone calls and we rode in this van for a really long time and then he got us to get out (it was at a place we'd seen before so we knew we were closer to home) and he got us across the insane intersection and then put us in another van taxi/bus and told them where to drop us off. And then he left us, he was really nice and helpful but I never even learned his name. Finally we got home and man am I sun burnt, yipes! The sun here feels so mild you don't even realize that you're burning. I'm like the reddest little tomato and the reddest fire truck.
On Friday nights the Baha'i community runs children's classes for the children of the soi and I went to help even though I was feeling a bit sun sick. I helped with the kids who were around 7-11 years old and after they had asked me with many giggles where I was from, how old I was, if I had siblings, and whether I had a boy friend one girl asked me why my face was so red... boo for my burn. I guess the kids haven't seen a paler person like me burn like this before, they tried to reassure me that soon I'd be dark like them and I wouldn't turn red any more. One girl did tell me she though I was beautiful I guess that should count for something, but wow do I ever look silly in this shade of red (I think red must only be cute when your blushing, and when it doesn't cover your entire face).
That was my day, I learned a lot about transportation and I've nearly taken every type of transportation (since I've already taken a couple of taxis) all I need to do is take a Tuk-Tuk and a motorcycle taxi... oh and the one with the bench in the back of a pick-up truck (it has a specific name but I can't remember it). I think I'll be taking the pick-up truck one to get to work, I was told to take that or the bus 166 that doesn't have the yellow sticker in the window.
Also I read a web page that said that they drove on the same side of the road as North American's, they don't... and every once in a while I accidentally try to get into the driver's seat instead of the passenger's. Ooops.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home