Another great way to get to know a city? Public transportation! Day 2 of my Bangkok holiday started with a short walk (this time only 10 minutes) to the BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System, otherwise known as the "Skytrain") This train system is very user friendly (farangs included!), and it's clean & has plenty of AC!
My plan for the day was to explore the city from the Chao Phraya River, so I took the train to the Central Pier where I picked up a tourist boat day pass for 150baht ($5.00) and with this pass I could ride up & down the river to my hearts content, getting on & off as much as I pleased.
Here I am seen holding my transit map at the start of the day...smiling, fresh, ready for my adventure!
Deciding to get on a boat was a big decision as I suffer from motion sickness very easily, but with the size and type of boat, I was ok.
I decided to ride all the way to the last pier, then work my way back and honestly, there was interesting sights to be seen at all of them (I think there were around 10 piers in total). At the last pier, there's an area known as Khao San Road, a spot that became well known as "backpacker central" because of the inexpensive guest houses available for budget travelers. It's kind of like hippie central...I took the short walk to the thick of the area and turned right around...not for me! The streets and sidewalks are way too crowded, plus it was REALLY hot & I was hungry. I found a restaurant called "Joy Luck Club" (one of my favorite books & movies) that advertised vegetarian food. I walked in to discover a quirky family run spot & ordered one of my favorite dishes in these parts...vegetarian massaman curry, they won me over with the bear shaped rice (seen below missing his arm) it was absolutely delicious & very unusual, it was served with crisp fried onions on top. I drank a very refreshing mango smoothie & while I enjoyed this delicious meal, Allison Krause was playing...I was the only one there, I smiled to myself and thought "I want to remember this moment," enjoying yummy, fresh food listening to sweet tunes, off on my very own adventure...
I made my way back to the boat and got off to see Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn. Since the piers are all on one side of the river and Wat Arun is on the other, you get off the tourist boat and board a ferry (3 baht) to cross to the other side. The temple was not crowded at all, in fact I don't think I've been to a temple here with so few people, so that was nice. I can't believe I did it, but I climbed the stairs as high as you could go all the while remembering a the famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote to do something that scares you each day...I was scared! Those stairs were STEEP! I've included a few videos I took while I was there.
This was an amazing experience...Temple of the Dawn, I loved it.
After I took the ferry back across & got back onto my tourist boat I was exhausted, covered in sweat & at the same time elated, it started to rain & the fresh, cool water felt so refreshing. The sky looked like this...
I have a picture (not ready to share yet) of how I looked at the end of the day...after walking, taking the train, riding boats, walking some more, climbing very steep stairs, more boats, more trains & another walk...I was a hot mess!
But, after a nap, some yoga & the best Indian meal I've ever tasted...I looked like this, it's kind of dark & Fuad is hard to see, but I think you can see the joy in my eyes. Having 2 days to explore Bangkok on my own while my wonderful husband worked was priceless to me. I have a new understanding & appreciation for this city and I'm glad. My husband flies off every week to spend time here...I don't want it to be a big mystery, I want it to feel like home.
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