Ko Ratanakosin walking tour

Monday seem to become the new Sightseeing days. Two Mondays ago the Grand Palace Tour and all the other stuff, last Monday, walking all over Koh Samet island and this Monday full program.
The plan for the day is a walk through the older part of Bangkok, Ko Ratanakosin, where the most famous temples are. The day starts with a sweet little Moped-Taxi ride to the Skytrain, the Skytrain to the Ferry Boat Pier and the Boat to Ko Ratanakosin (Pier No. 9).  Bangkok Transportation Systems at its best.
The idea for the walk comes from the Lonely Planet, Bangkok Edition so I deserve no credit for the great and weird things we've seen today. Other than the reading and leading the way part of course. Today Laura is for one the token Finnish, with 2 Austrians and the assimilated German ;)

evaluating amulets

Our self-guided (Lonely Planet aided) walking tour starts right off the Pier through some markets, to the Amulet market. It's as it says, a lot of amulets, Buddha statues, various bracelets, necklaces, ornaments. Practically everything you can imagine. Mostly Buddhism related. To see all the amulets its nice, but if you do not know or understand their meaning it's more about copper and brass than anything else. What I personally liked better is watching the locals buy the amulets. They get tiny magnifying glasses out, evaluate them in detail to estimate their worth or see whether it fits in their collection.

Lunch over the River

Along the way you can also buy everything from the pharmaceutical side up to a complete 'new' set of teeths. The Tarot card readers seem interesting but as I walk past I guess there's not one here today that speaks English well enough to use all the wonderful adjectives to describe my prosperous future. All along the way there's small eateries and we find a very fine one, located over the Chao Phraya river. The woodden planks look stable and the food and drinks delicious. All the food tastes great and I fall in love with their Mint Shake. I could bathe in that it tastes soooo good. I hope I can find that at other places in the city too. May I dare to say that, that Mint Shake in the morning may replace my coffee craving...?
Eating over the river has other advantages too. You have a nice breeze, you can do great people watching and can feed your leftover food to the fish (they ate EVERYthing).

Coconut ice cream

Around here there's a few universities so there's students in their uniforms all over the place. Makes it look even more lively. There's more shops, more markets, more streetfood. Really nice area to hang out for a while. If it weren't for the scorching heat. As it seems we picked the hottest day in a while to go on the walk luckily there's shop awnings and trees around that make it a teeeny bit more bearable.

Laura shaking out her fortune

The walk leads further past Sanam Luang, the royal field. No idea what happens on this vast empty space, but it looks perfect for outdoor concerts. Walk by the Grand Palace and the thousands of tourist busses outside, past the City Pillar, Lak Meuang. All distances in Thailand from Bangkok are measured from this point.
What we've been looking forward to since the last two hours or so is the next stop, apparently the best coconut ice cream in Bangkok. Luckily the way there is described pretty well, it leads us through streets with no people, over a Klorng, the tiny waterways that haven't been paved over - yet, to a little residential area. The housing is two stories and very basic. Even though they may not be able to afford a proper roof or windows, everyone's got their satellite dish mounted. The people are outstandingly friendly, greeting us every time we pass by. And there it is, hidden on a corner, Natthaphorn the famed coconut ice cream shop. And delicious it is. I haven't tasted too many other coconut ice creams around so I wouldn't be a fair judge whether it's the best one, but this is daaaaamn good. And for 25 B a steal.

Reclining Buddha

A cocotastic experience later a trip back over the klorng again, past the Pig Shrine, yes you heard correctly, there's a Pig Shrine for a Queen born in the year of the Pig through the Saranrom Royal Garden towards Wat Pho. In the garden there's people jogging and working out in this heat. I am impressed. Wat Pho is a haven. Hardly any tourists. Very different from the crowds at Wat Phra Kaew. Wandering through the big grounds through various temple buildings and past uncounted numbers of stone statues and golden buddhas we grab our fortune through the shaking it out of a wooden box. My fortune is.... mysterious if you can call it that, but its a fun practice for sure. Pacing over the gigantic grounds of Wat Pho we look for the main attraction, the Reclining Buddha, which is quite hidden in the corner of the grounds. It's stunning and really impressive. Gold leafy 46m long and 15m high it rests peacefully among all tourists trying to catch a good photo. It was worth looking for.

Udo being interviewed

Laura heads back home from here and the boys give an interview to two Thai students who need to interview foreigners as an assignment. 20 minutes in the conversation they loose their shyness too. 
The massages in Wat Pho are famous, but overpriced. So we set out looking for a cool place with cool drinks. We find a hidden rooftop bar with fantastic views of Wat Arun but missing air conditioning, so sit down somewhere else. Since boats finish running soon it's off to the Pier and back. And a boat it's not full till it's full. About 60 people more than someone would say the boat is full, we head down the river, picking up ever more people along the way. Cozy ride indeed. On the way back home we observe some open air aerobics from the Skytrain, looks fantastic, maybe I'll actually join in one day.
After 11 hours of sightseeing there's most energy drained out. The plan to go to the Skybar tonight is delayed again. Let's see when we actually make it there.