Bangkok
We went downstairs and across to the other building for breakfast a little after 7:30 am. After breakfast we went back to our room, called Sophie for her birthday, and prepared for the day.
Our designated time to meet the guide was 9 am but we went down about 15 minutes early and spied a young man holding a sign with our names on it. ‘Ken’ introduced himself and explained that he was filling in for the guide who had been assigned to us but was ill today. He asked if we minded walking – perhaps he sensed we were not so young. We assured him that we did not mind some walking so he led us out of the hotel and down Sukhumvit 11 to the sky train station where he bought tickets to a station near the river.
We rode two stations west, changed to the other line, and rode several stations south to the river. There we left the train and walked to a nearby ferry wharf. We had just missed the one we wanted so we had a 20 minute wait for the next. Much of that time was spent watching the variety of watercraft on the river and the tall buildings around about.
When our ferry arrived we rode it up the river to China Town. Ken asked if we wanted coffee. We did, so we paused at a nearby coffee shop where we had coffees and Ben had hot chocolate. As we sat Ken told us about his recent trip to China to see the ice sculpture. Temperatures went down to -25ºC.
Once we had finished our drinks Ken led us off into the market area of China Town. There were lots of interesting stalls and Majella made a small purchase. Ben was looking with interest and wanting to exchange some US dollars so he could shop but there were no open currency exchanges in or near the market.
We exited the market and Ken led us into the subway where we took a train a couple of stations on to Sanam Chai station. He was keen for us to see the decor in the station which was in Chinese style with lots of red and gold. Although our reason for going there was to visit the flower market we did not take the exit to the flower market but went out another so that we could enter the flower market from the street rather than in the middle.
Activity in the flower market was intense with stalls piled high with flowers in varying colours and shapes and people working on fashioning flowers into impressive garlands and other forms. A prime destination for flowers here is for temples where they are placed as part of devotions.
Ken bought us garlands that are intended for wearing on the wrist but which were too small for our wrists. He found some small lengths of plastic which we used to tie them to our wrists. At the far end of our walk down a street that formed one border of the market he bought a bunch of 10 lotus flowers and demonstrated how to peel back and shape the outer petals to present the bloom. Then he had each of us perform that process on three flowers. I may have been a failure since Ken did my third while I struggled with the second but Ben quickly mastered the art.
Ken then led us back up the street and around the corner to a riverside restaurant where we ate lunch. Majella and I had Pad Thai with shrimp and Ben had pineapple fried rice. The restaurant did not accept credit cards and I was short of the necessary cash. Fortunately there was an ATM nearby and this time my card and PIN worked so I was able to pay for lunch.
After lunch we walked a little way up the street and then Ken arranged a tuk tuk to take us to Wat Pho, a major Buddhist complex where ashes of four of the Thai kings are entombed. A major attraction is the 46 metre long reclining golden Buddha. Before going to see the Buddha we presented our lotus blooms in one of the smaller buildings. We had seen the reclining Buddha on our 2015 visit but it was still impressive. The large building is decorated with hand painted patterns on walls and ceiling, much of it in red but some in gold leaf. From there we walked through the compound where Ken encouraged Ben to emulate a yoga pose demonstrated by a statue. Then it was on to another temple in the compound where a ceremony was being performed in front of a large golden image of Buddha. All around were colourfully decorated buildings including many stupas (memorials in which ashes are deposited) especially those of the four kings.
From Wat Pho we walked down to the river where we caught a ferry to Wat Arun where the central feature is a large decorated tower. We walked in that area for a while, admiring the decorations on the buildings. There were people in traditional costume posing for photographs amid the buildings. We then went to catch a boat but apparently there had been some mixup and we had missed it. We waited about, enjoying an ice cream shaped like the ceramic decorations on the tower, until Ken was able to arrange an alternative.
Boarding the rocking small boat from the bouncing pontoon on which we stood was a challenge but we managed. The boat then took us upstream and off the main river channel into a smaller one. We paused to look at the museum building where we could see the royal barges and then continued upstream for some distance. Along the way we passed several more temples and many private residences from the very humble to the ornate. When we returned to the main stream we moored across the river from Wat Arun and walked to the subway station by which we had arrived in that area.
From there we took the subway to Sukhumvit station and then the skytrain to a station closer to our street. We walked back up Sukhumvit 11 to the hotel where farewelled Ken. We will have the other guide tomorrow. It was around 5:15 pm.
Ben waited in our room while Majella and I went to collect our neatly folded laundry from across the street. When we returned we went up to the pool to cool off. Majella struck up a conversation with a French couple who were retired and had just arrived to spend a couple of months in Thailand away from the cold of southern France.
For dinner we ordered pizza at the rooftop bar and took advantage of happy hour with Blue Hawaii cocktails for Majella and me and coke for Ben. After dinner we went back to our room to prepare for a slightly earlier start tomorrow.
