Day 18 - Bangkok

Today we didn't get an alarm call from M & D - I actually called them because we were worried that it was Singapore Day 1 all over sgain when we didn't get woken up until midday!  But that wasn't the case, we had just woken up early because of the time difference between Malaysia and Thailand.

We got dressed sharply and went down to breakfast.  Breakfast was good, I liked it.  Mine mainly consisted of pancakes, roast potatoes and chicken sausages.  Then out.  First we went on a ferry across the river Chao Phraya to catch a bigger boat to take us to the Grand Royal Palace.  It.  Was.  Amazing!!!  It was so beautiful with porcelain temples, a jade buddha, and gold EVERYWHERE!!!  We spent lots of time there because there was so much to see.

  After a full dose of beauty and culture, we were going to walk to another temple but we got suckered in to taking a Tuk-Tuk ride that promised to take us to every temple you could ever want to see for 20 Baht (about 50p).  After s short and scary ride, dodging in between holiday coaches and driving towards on-coming cars at top speed we got to our next stop - the Standing Buddha which was ginormous but not as ginormous as the packet of peanut brittle we got outside it! 

Next the Tuk-Tuk took us to a suit shop where they tried to convince Dad to buy a cheap knock-off suit and when Dad explained that he was as scruffy at work as he is on holiday they almost started crying and walked off in a huff.   Our Tuk-Tuk driver was a scam artist who tried to explain that he had to take us to lots of souvenir shops to get a special petrol coupon from the government because it was Bangkok Tourist day so our next stop was a jewelry shop selling mainly sapphires, dismonds and rubies.  After lots of walking around we bought a tigers-eye bracelet for Dad and a jade elephant for Lil, I even got a jade tortoise thrown in for free!

After the jewelry store we had another nerve-wracking drive to the Reclining Buddha where we said goodbye to our Tuk Tuk drivers.  Now, this buddha WAS huge.  The soles of his feet were amazingly decorated with Mother-Of-Pearl and he was all painted gold.  We exchanged some notes for lots of coins to put into a long row of donation pots.  Because so many other people were also doing this it made a lovely rattling noise which made the atmosphere in the temple awe-inspiring.   When we left th temple we had a bit of a walk about and saw a notice which warned us not to hire Tuk-Tuk drivers who take you to discount jewelry stores - too late!!!

Next we went to the Wat Arun temple which had very steep steps all the way to the top, so steep that when one lady got to the top her flip-flop fell off and fell all the way  down to the bottom, then she cried!!  At the top there were great views of the river and the barges going along it.  

All templed-out we got back on our tourist boat to Khao San road where we had dinner.  We had beautiful Thai curries and rice and spring rolls and Pad Thai.  There were alot of stalls selling great t-shirts so we're going back tomorrow to buy them all (I've got dibs on two) ;). We couldn't buy them when we were there cos none of the flipping bank machines would let us get out money (more than 50 baht) but on the way home we finally managed to find one that would.

Now we're back at the Ibis in the bar.  I've just downed 2 Fantas and I'm ready to sleep.

Adios

George