December 18, 2007 Temp: 34C Steps: 18500

Our first day of touring………..Note the number of steps – we were wiped!! Left home around 9:30 AM and walked to the Skytrain (about 25 minutes). Took the train to the river boat area (another 20 minutes) and then collected all the info for traveling the water taxi system on Chao Phraya River. For about $1.50 each we were able to travel the whole distance (1 hour each way) return. The scenery along the river front is so varied. There are high rise hotels and condos, government buildings, business', temples, lovely homes, and rundown old places. Loads of river traffic from ferries to longtail boats to tugs pulling huge barges. The end of the line was a place called Nonthaburi (at pier 30)and it’s probably a Thai only suburb of Bangkok. We decided to get off and wander around the town for awhile to see what it was like. The main street was pretty much like any other main street in Thailand. Shops, 7/11 stores every 2nd block, food stalls........There was a huge market going on which reminded us of the markets we wandered through in Chiang Mai. They sell absolutely everything at these markets. Although the meat is all laid out there in the heat of the day it looks really nice and fresh. It was a very busy area. I think most Thai people shop daily for the food supplies such as fruits, vegies and meat. We stopped at one of the local 7/11's and got some water and an ice cream and headed back to the boat. Once on board we decided our next stop to get off would be at Pier 13 (which is called Banglamphu). My Lonely Planet guide said there was a shuttle boat we could take to get to the Royal Barges Museum but apparently not. They tried to sell us a 800 baht trip(100 baht is around $3.00) and we said no thanks. And away we went to investigate the area. This is the tourist mecca and I’d forgotten how crazy it can be. So many people, so much traffic, so many smells, so much noise and oh so hot. In a new area you are always consulting a map or a guide book and as soon as you do this someone is at your side offering “friendly” advice. Meanwhile they’re really trying to sell you something. Or someone will stop you on the street and ask where you’re from. When you say Canada, they immediately say they have a friend, family member, whatever living in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. As soon as they start asking you how long you’ve been here, where are you going you should just say I’m just walking around, getting exercise. Again they are just people trying to get you to sign on a tour or ride in their TukTuk. Once you get the hang of saying no it becomes easy. Of course they always approach me and it takes me awhile to get out of the conversation cause I hate sounding rude. So now I’m in practice and will just say no and keep walking!! At the pier where we got off the boat was a lovely park and Phra Sumen Fort which was built in 1783. We didn't spend much time there but will go back as there is also a walkway that zigzags along the river for quite a way. We decided to walk down a street that turned into another huge market and then we had no idea where we were so just kept walking. We decided to follow a sign that said 1200M to Golden Mountain but we didn't make it that far as we came across this temple called Wat Ratchanatda. The guide book says it’s stunning at night but I’ll never know. Within the grounds there is a restoration of Loha Prasad – the metal castle - built in the mid 19^th century. It was pretty impressive looking with its 39 metal spires. We were able to walk up a teak circular stairway of 94 steps to get to the top. It was quite a sight, you could see for miles. The only problem was that there was no English translation of anything. There were a number of other things to see in the area but it was getting close to 4:00 PM and we decided we’d better head out. From the top of the metal castle we were able to figure out where we were and managed to get back to the pier without any difficulty.
Got a great shot of the Rama VIII bridge. Those golden lines going out from that steeple thng are actually cables that hold the bridge up. Tom and I had watched a documentary on TV about the building of this bridge. It was quite a feat as I recall. Stopped at Siam Paragon (where we had to change skytrains anyway) and had an Indian dinner of butter chicken, chicken tikka marsala, saffron rice, garlic naan and samosa’s. It was soooo nummy. By the time we got home it was going on 7:00 so we just called the kids and said see you tomorrow. That area of town (Banglamphu) is where a lot of the main tourist sites are so I expect we’ll be traveling back there many, many times. Where Jennifer lives, it’s totally different. It's like a little community where people live and work or commute to work. This street (Thong Lor) is mostly high end, many Japanese and full of wedding shops. There are no “tourist” sites and of course you pay a little more for everything. I love being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle when it’s short term but for us and 3 months this way is definitely the better way.