After Kathmandu, I landed at the Bangkok's airport. Quite a nice, clean and modern airport. It was a mixture of feelings feeling safe in Thailand, but leaving my friend Sampurna and his family in Nepal.
I still had to wait for my bags to come as I boarded a previous flight which had empty seats. My bag was coming in a flight one hour later.
Making time eating something, booking a hotel on the internet and whatsapping my friends and family telling them that I was alright, one hour passed and my backpack finally arrived to the band. I picked it up, I crossed customs, I went outside to get some Thai Bhats from an ATM machine (where almost all of them charge you a commission of 5 Euros) and stuck with 20 Euros in Nepalese Rupees which I couldn't change before leaving Kathmandu as all the services and shops were closed.
That night, I reserved a hotel (instead of a hostel) to make it up to me after the great incident. I needed to spoil myself and I couldn't have chosen better. That night, I arrived to the hotel from the airport at 9:30 p.m., ironically the hotel had no bar and a restaurant that closed at 10:00 p.m. but room service was still available until midnight. My dinner of that night was a Chicken Club Sandwich (with bacon as remarked by the kitchen guy for the Muslims or other non-pork-eaters) and a Mango Smoothie. After a hot shower and some zapping on the television I fell asleep as a rock.
Next morning I decided to take it easy and do some "shopping". I went t a nice Thai mall called MBK where you have all kind of stores, including stands with merchandise of local people. I finally had my backpack replaced and I bought contact lenses (much cheaper in comparison with Europe). After a morning/early afternoon of simplistic and superficial "mall-ratting" I decided to go for the serious stuff and see what Bangkok had to offer.
I was amazed to see how clean Bangkok was to my eyes (of course there is a fine of 2,000 Bahts if you litter the street). No car horns either. But when you are at the metro station on peak hours, you can get the feeling that you are in a city of 8 million people with a density of 5.000 inhabitants per square kilometer. But don't let this number overwhelm you (I didn't). Bangkok feels busy but it has to offer many things. I felt is as a city that I wanted to keep on exploring.
Going back to the sightseeing business, I went that afternoon to visit the biggest golden Buddha (and biggest gold statue of the world with 5.5 tons). The temple of Wat Tramit was nice to the eye but what it held in the inside was even more impressive. Once you enter the temple located on the third floor of the building, the massive golden statue appears in front of your eyes. It is an impressive work of art which shines endlessly for you. The story tells that this Buddha was covered in plaster for around 300 years to avoid it to get stolen. In the mid 20th century, while relocating the statue in the current temple where it is now, it fell against the ground cracking part of the plaster and revealing its real material: solid gold.
After such an amazing experience, I decided to explore the neighborhood of China Town next to this temple. Walking through streets with small restaurants (which I also had to try) and many blacksmiths, I ended up in the river. Crossing it in a ferry costs you 30 Bahts. Going to the other side offers you a Bangkok less touristy and more real.
That night, I went back to the pool of the hotel to freshen up and in the evening I was feeling like drinking a beer and see Bangkok's nightlife. An American girl I met on the metro station coming back to my hotel suggested me to go to some bars two metro stops from my hotel. So did I to surprisingly ending up in a bar where was full of male foreigners (middle aged) and tons of young Thai girls looking to have a good time. They had a very good music band and the atmosphere was fun. After 3 beers on happy hour (for men I guess), I decided to go back to the hotel so I could wake up early for the next day.
The next day I went to visit Bangkok's two main highlights: The reclining Buddha and Bangkok's Grand Palace. The reclining Buddha and its adjacent temples are just amazing. The Buddha has a length of 43m and behind it there are 180 bronze bowls where people normally would drop 180 coins so they can get good fortune. The temple complex next to the Buddha lets you enjoy the amazing and typical Thai architecture that we all know from the media.
The Grand Palace is an amazing place and the best is to visit it early in the morning, otherwise the heat will slow you down and drain you up. Besides that there is a dress code (no shorts are allowed), either you bring your long pants (trousers) or you get a free borrowed pair at the entrance. There is a lot too see in this complex and it is a simply amazing must in a visit to Bangkok. The highlight is the temple where a tiny emerald Buddha sits inside a temple (and this time, no pictures are allowed), so the best is to use your memory very good or the easy way is too find a lovely picture on Google Images.
After Lunch, I decided to head South and go to a non-touristy place. The LP (Lonely Planet) suggested the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan (name that I had to repeat myself 1,000 times so now I can remember it). I headed to the Victory Monument where all the mini vans are. 220 Bahts was the fare that paid and at 3:00 p.m. I was in a fast vehicle with air conditioning heading my next destination.
Ω
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario