Do almost nothing and do almost everything day

After – intentionally – and totally oversleeping on Sunday there was again no visiting the Grand Palace and Temples again. So turning around 5 times and sleeping till early afternoon sounded fab. But no low risk day for us. Even trying to work out is an adventure, if the machines start falling apart the moment you use them. Good substitute, hanging out in the pool. To top our do-almost-nothing day off we headed on a shopping and eating spree to Tesco, not far from the residence.
We spoiled ourselves with fantastic HotPot at Mr K, trying the tasting menus and mixing everything to our liking. Yummy. Expensive for Thai terms but we can live with that on and off. And then off to shop for what we need. Mostly water, water, water, fruits and some beers ;-)

Later that evening we proved that the Durian fruit is not as scary as its reputation. Firstly yes, the smell is not really enticing, but there are far worse smells in Bangkok that you encounter on a constant basis. And the taste, I wouldn’t need to have it on a daily basis, but I wouldn’t turn it down either. It’s an interesting taste, not really well, not really bad. Eatable when you are hungry or just curious. Don’t let the crazy stories fool you.

Grand Palace

Today we finally managed to get up in the morning. Off to the Golden Palace to see the famous Emerald Buddha in the Wat Phra Kaew Temple. A comfy and cheap taxi ride later we enjoy a Bagel – yes, I said it totally unasian Bagel – breakfast with great coffee right opposite the Grand Palace.

Emerald Buddha

Wat Phra Kaew is truly impressive. I love the colors everywhere, the decorations, figurines, gods and ghosts. The wall paintings are really great. I want something, not as violent, on a wall too. Let the everyone guess the deeper meaning behind it. I was also surprised at the multitude of languages tour guides showed people around. I never expected a Thai to speak Russian or French so perfectly. It sounded like the Russian I know from the background voice in the cartoon movies we watched. Very clear so even I could catch a few words. And plenty of other unrecognizable languages either. The most holy Thai image, the Emerald Buddha is nice, ornate and richly decorated. I’ve seen more impressive ones though. This one is as small as it is intricate. The surroundings attract more attention than the Buddha itself. Nevertheless it represents the spiritual core of Thai Buddhism and there’s a great story behind it, so no discounting there.

The Grand Palace itself is less impressive. One part is closed off for repairs, another part is closed for a funeral off I don’t know whom. All what’s left to see is a weapons collection and some other small stuff, so as one of Bangkok’s bigger attraction it disappoints today.

Since Taxis keep refusing to drop us to our next destination we hop on a Tuk Tuk. Udo’s first Tuk Tuk right and a pretty exiting one at that. He speeds, cuts off, cuts corners but gets us there in one piece and we have plenty of fun, especially enjoying the roof that’s plastered with Panda Happy birthday gift wrapping.

The Grand Palace ticket also includes a visit to see The Regalia, Royal Decorations and coins where we pass by. The best thing about the exhibition is the air conditioning, which is soooo refreshing after we’ve dripping with sweat for hours. 

With the 400 Baht entrance you also get the entrance to the Vimanmek Mansion little farther north. One of the Kings, I guess it was somewhere between Rama III to V had it built, it’s the largest Teak Mansion in the world and really, really beautiful. One of the few Royal places I visited in the world I could actually imagine living in. It’s got a quite homey touch and feel to it. It’s still used for some functions with royal guests, so if anyone has good connections up there, I wouldn’t mind receiving an invite to a Tea Party there.

The other big site there, the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall is closed on Mondays, so bad luck. There’s a few smaller buildings housing photos, clothes and other stuff from the royal family. They are pretty decent to visit but having to take your shoes off and put them in a locker and all your belongings in a separate locker at every building gets tiring, so we leave out 1 or 2. In the same area there’s also a Park, Zoo and the actual Royal Palace where the King and Queen live in (visiting not allowed), some more temples and statues. So we’ll be back here anyway at some point. Luckily we are in no rush to fit everything into 48 hours like so many Bangkok visitors.

The streets up to the Palace are all lined with fleets that are being decorated for the Queens birthday on August 12. Most sites are closed and I guess a big parade is in the making.

Last stop for the day is shopping and, finally, food at MBK. Udo needs a shirt for the university uniform today. It’s almost impossible to find but after searching forever and unsuccessfully trying on overpriced shirts we ask some students in uniform to bring us to their shop, and yeah we are in luck. We weren’t so lucky with dinner today. We find a place that has all you can eat for 69B on offer. We quickly find out why. It’s just untasty rice noodles where you can put weird sauces that only taste of different levels off spice over. An experience richer we quit that place and go to food court upstairs. Meet a Thai Travel Agent that gives us some tips on nice beaches around Bangkok (daytrips here we come). A quick dip in the pool before we hang out in front of the computers again… like good Internet addicts do.

Tomorrow first day at Bangkok University…