Back In Bangkok

The sleeper train finally made its way slowly into Bangkok by half 1pm. Not bad, but it should have arrived at 9am. I had the day planned out. I had not booked a hostel as I had not had internet access for the last few days but I did not expect to have a problem getting a bed. Wrong. The first hostel I tried next to the train station was full, so I made my way across town to Mile Map, the hostel I had originally stayed in, in Bangkok. They were also full! But no worries, the reception lady walked me and another bed searching fellow around the corner to a side street I had not seen. Here, her friend John had a hostel. Well it was sort of a hostel. It had no guests, and it didn’t look as if he was trying to get guests. The dorm room was lovely and big, with individual lights and sockets, it could have been lovely. But the place had not been swept, and the floor in the bathroom had not been cleaned, there were no towels, bins or toilet paper. It was strange. Still it was 300B in a lovely air-con room. I don’t mind supplying my own toilet paper. The other lad left at 3am to catch a flight, so I literally had the place to myself for 2 nights. I had a front door key, when I wasn’t in, the whole hostel was locked up. The place had excellent wifi, so I was able to spend some time planning out the next stages of my trip. I think I am getting too used to this amount of privacy – the next dorm may be a shock.

I was much more of a tourist this time around. I visited the Grand Palace, which was once home of royalty, it is also home to the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. I almost did not go as the price put me off. At 500B (£12.50) it’s the most expensive attraction in Bangkok, but I really am glad I changed my mind. As soon as I got inside the complex I was awestruck. The immediate impact was far more breath-taking than say the Forbidden City in Beijing. First of all there was the glistening. The majority of roofs were gold covered tiles, and even with a thunder cloud overhead, these shone. Then there were the walls and columns that had tiny mosaic pottery and mini mirrored tiles adorning them. Then there were the Buddhist figurines, some of which looked alot like flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. I paid my respects to the Emerald Buddha (its made out of Jade) and it is quite tiny but sits aloft a really tall column. The thunder broke and torrential rain lashed down for 10 minutes but fortunately due to Buddha’s kindness I got one of the few undercover chairs to sit on and wait it out. Now if I thought the place shone before, when the sun came out, the temple roofs actually became blinding!As well as the Grand Palace, I also climbed to the top of Wat Arun. This is a Buddhist temple through the spire is covered with images of Hindu Gods. It is named after the Hindu God of the Dawn Aruna. I’m struggling with why alot of Thai Buddhist temples are dedicated to Hindu Gods? There are similarities between the two religions but giant noticeable differences too, esp the one God concept with the Hindu’s certainly do not go for. When I said I climbed to the top, I climbed as far as the steps go – you can just make out a pinkish band going around the temple – this is the top of the stairs. Its a good view over Bangkok.

Not content with the famous temples, I wandered up and down random Bangkok streets and found dozens more. There are temples everywhere, all of them incredibly elaborate. I also managed to find something that is exceedingly rare in Bangkok - and that was a quiet green space. A mini park, complete with fountain, pond and ornate bandstand. The tranquility wetted my appetite for more. I've had enough traffic, pollution and noise, its time to get into the countryside.