Bangkok: Day 1

Thailand Travel 1 Comment

This morning was our last supervised portion of time in Thailand, thanks Moh; it was fantastic to have such an enthusiastic, friendly & knowledgeable guide through Vietnam, Cambodia & Bangkok. Our group met at the hotel’s reception, after a buffet breakfast. Probably the best breakfast we’ve had so far! There were 6 of us on the tour (plus Moh), a great bunch, a pleasure to travel around Southeast Asia with. We began our morning by walking to the marine terminal, a short 1km walk from the hotel, this would be our starting point for the river / canal tour through central Bangkok.

On route to the harbour we glimpsed the roof top bar featured in Hangover 2. We heard it was expensive…

Within ten minutes we had met the captain of our long-tailed boat, donned our life jackets, and headed off upstream.

I’ve never seen more florescent life jackets, H wearing her vest with pride!
The view was pretty spectacular, we were told that the river was usually much busier.
We met another long-tailed boat leaving the canal system that adjoins the river.
These yellow beasts were sucking up floating debris, and possibly / probably dredging.

We headed off the main river, into the network of canals. Fortunately the boat we met had triggered the lock, and we were able to sail through without any delay.

One thing we noticed pretty early on, was the size and power of the engine our long-tail boat was holstering. It was a powerhouse, in a similar style to the strimmer-like outboard motors that we had seen in the floating village in Cambodia.

The engine was the size of a man, with the power of many men.
We travelled down a series of canals like this. All fringed with different and interesting things.
Back on the river we headed a little further upstream, and docked at a similar stack of tyres.

With hard ground beneath our feet, we wandered to the Wat Pho temple complex. The complex was known for its giant reclining Buddha statue, and four towering structures that paid homages to previous kings.

From wide canals to narrow streets!
These pointed structures contain the ashes of various members of the royal family. There are four bigger structures which celebrate specific kings.
Is the bird a CCTV camera or is the CCTV camera a bird?
The walls inside the temple of the reclining Buddha were beautifully hand painted – floor to ceiling.
The Buddha’s hair reminded me of the conical pecan praline creams that M&S do.
Donations took the form of small change, into some 108 ‘lucky’ buckets.
Iterations of Buddha, each with a different expressions, depending on the political / economical climate at the time of their construction.
Hermits were celebrated too. As spiritual people that practiced homeopathy, taught yoga, etc.
The complex was full of colour and ornamentation.

After a few hours walking around Wat Pho, we settled for some Pad thai. Probably the best Pad thai we had in Bankok. This version of the dish had a glass noodle base, fried egg, spring onion, bean sprouts and a crushed peanut topping.

Veg. Pad thai.

We headed back to the hotel to grab our bags, wish our group farewell, and transfer to another hotel nestled beside Rambuttri – a hub for street food, markets and a stones throw from the Grand Palace,

Vehicle two in the Tuk Tuk convoy.

After settling into our new hotel, we headed out to explore the neighbourhood.

Next came Ethos, a glorious vegan / vegetarian restaurant set back from the main road in a nice quiet lane. The atmosphere was incredible, we opted for the low level / floor seating.

A view of Ethos from the lane. An ambient lighting heaven!
Hatti grabbed a fresh guava juice, I went for the natural kambucha – a fermented drink.
The vegan Thai green curry was superb. It certainly packed a punch too!
The green tomato like things are Asian aubergine, less squidgy that the larger purple eggplant.
The finale; a dense chocolate sponge, with chocolate sauce, coconut cream, and banana slices!
The quiet lane outside Ethos.

After dinner we explored a bit further North, to walk off the grub, and looped back around… magically ending up directly beside our hotel!

James

One Response to “Bangkok: Day 1”

  1. The canals look so quiet and peaceful. The narrow streets actually look friendly and inviting. Bangkok looks like a very fascinating city. XX

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