Best Friends, Buddhas, Bikes and Beer

Thailand

New Years 2012/2013

December 23 - 26

Bangkok

So I left Doha with a profound sense of relief - it had been a trying first term. I was to meet Alex, Gemma and Sarah - 3 of my favourite people in the whole world, in Bangkok in just a few hours. Though i had a direct 6 hour flight and they had a significantly longer, two leg journey, I was riddled with jealousy that they were flying out from Christchurch together. Despite being relatively well traveled, I have never been on a big international flight with anyone but myself, or Mother and Father, and it is something I really want to do. 

I arrived in Bangkok just after 6pm and it was already pitch black outside. As I taxied into the city, it was quite surreal - it is hard to gauge the culture and get the feel of a place in the night time. I pulled up to the hotel and settled in to wait the two hours until the others got there in a little restaurant opposite the front doors. Of course, they got dropped at the other entrance and my beady eyes didn't pick them, until they walked in looking for me. We formed a scrum in the middle of the tables as I tried to hug them all at once.

We had a few drinks at the restaurant and headed down to some of the busier streets for a look-see and a couple of cocktails. Our hotel was basic, but very clean and the breakfast was outside by the river, which was really lovely.

The view over my breakfast noodles (blergh)

Our first day we had a guided tour of Bangkok, and after reading the wrong sign and being 30 min late, we set off in the fabulous tuk-tuks to the Golden Mount.

Alex and I were huge fans of the tuk-tuk after India, and the Thailand ones are significantly more sedate (or 'safer' - bah) which we found a bit boring, but had open sides and were a bit cuter with curled stainless-steel bars and patterned vinyl, which we did like.

The Golden Mount (Wat Saket - Wat means temple) is a Buddhist temple on top of a man made hill in the centre of Bangkok. The entire hill is encased in concrete to stop it eroding, and the area has been a religious site since the 1700s, and is of significant importance to Thailand - featuring prominently on the 2 baht coin. The temple itself was a little underwhelming, but the view over the city was breathtaking and panoramic, so naturally, I took the first Pah-Nor-RAH-mah of the trip!

From the left: Alex, me, Sarah and our Thai guide.

After our early morning ascent, we walked through the massive flower markets, surrounded by mountains and valleys of flowers, literally as far as I could see.

After leading 4 girls through a giant market of pretty things we couldn't buy, our guide took us to the famous giant reclining buddha at Wat Pho. The original site was the centre of traditional Thai massage, but the modernised health complex is completely eclipsed by the reclining buddha in the biggest of the numerous buildings of the Wat. The 300 year old golden effigy is 15m high and 43m long, with designs on his feet that are inlaid with mother of pearl. The huge hall rings constantly with the sound of people dropping 108 coins into the 108 bronze bowls lining the walls that indicate the 108 characters of the Lord Buddha.

The Chinese influenced stone guardians of the entrance to the temple grounds.

Sarah's sexy violent-lime-green modesty robe, modelled in the tourist pose.

Group shot, with the House of the Reclining Buddha through the trees. From left: Sarah is an accountant, Alex manages an office that specialises in IT for schools, Tori is just plain awesome and Gemma is a pharmacist.

After Wat Pho we had the most delicious doughnuts for lunch, and wandered off towards Chinatown, catching a boat down the Chao Phraya River and feeding the catfish on the way.

Enjoying the teeming mass of hungry seafood. (Where are my legs!?)

We saw the Golden Buddha which is believed to have been made in the 13th century, however, in the 18th century it was plastered over and painted, to prevent it's theft, and over the years moved around various small temples in Thailand. In 1955, it was being moved yet again, when it was dropped and some of the plaster chipped off and the much more valuable golden statue was revealed. The statue is very obviously not pure gold, being quite silver to look at, but is still very impressive.

Once we hit Chinatown, it was night time, and we were fascinated by the selection of paper goods you could burn to give to your loved ones in the afterlife. We had dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown, and after plying the wait staff, we managed to get every single condiment they had - starting the need to hunt out this soy-sauce with chilli-floaties in every place of eating we came across. It was the Green Sauce of India all over again.

I have all I need, right here!

 The next morning was christmas day! We woke up and got dressed in our party-best:

Gemma, me and Sarah feeling athletic.

And headed out into the city on push bikes!

Feeling the heat and the length of the ride towards the hottest part of the day.

Biking through the streets of the city was one of the best ways to really get a sense of the harmony and culture of Thailand and I loved wobbling through the tiny alley ways and over the canals that were so far from any other tourists.

Alex feeling excited about the beautiful river side boardwalk.

My highlight of the day was stumbling across this old village temple next to a backyard carpark and asking our guide to stop. Despite needing a bit of renovation, the old site was stunningly looked after and obviously regularly used by the local community.

Wat Arun facade

We finished our tour after we had stopped at the stunning and ornate Wat Arun. We did not have the time to go inside, but the exterior was just outstanding. After rehydrating, we took the long way home over the river and went back to our hotel.

After a bit of a break, we changed and headed to a nearby restaurant for Christmas Dinner, where we discovered the deliciousness that was Garlic Pepper Chicken, of course with Floaties Sauce.

Alex and her Bum Bag, staying classy.

That night we went to the Vertigo Bar in the fancy hotel part of town, which was about 40 minutes in a tuk tuk, but wow, was it worth it. On the 61st floor of one of the tallest hotels in the area, you could see a full 360 degree panorama, and it was quite teetering, and completely sensational, despite the outrageous drinks prices and tiny table.

On the way home we finally had a hair raising tuk-tuk ride, but the driver got a bit bored by our girlish screams and resorted to following the road rules after about ten minutes. However the streets of Bangkok by night were beautiful to see. So far, Thailand had impressed!