Our first destination on this trip was Bangkok, capital of Thailand, a city of about 8.3 million inhabitants, alive and hectic. Here we took some time to relax, after the stress before departing, as well as to plan the rest of our trip.
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| Ratchadamri avenue, in the heart of the financial district, shopping and hotels in Bangkok |
Our accommodation was a bit away from the city center, but well connected to the "Sky Train". As we were not at the center every day, it was nice to live in a more native ambient, away of the masses of tourists and people in the street trying to sell you something or offer you a tuc-tuc.
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| The typical "Tuc-Tuc," tricycles used as taxi |
We really liked the people of this country, they are general very polite and pleasant. Even the people who are dedicated annoy tourists are bearable, and generally with a "no" and a smile, they let you go, or in the worst case, with a "No" + smile + 5 seconds ignoring them.
We arrived at Bangkok around 7:00am. But that first day in Bangkok where not much productive, because we spent it all, to reach the hostel, get some food and rest. We had a long trip: We left Barcelona at 6:30pm to Abu Dhabi, with a stopover in Rome, and spent the night on the plane, to arrive in Abu Dhabi at 6:45am. Keep in mind that there are 3 hour time difference and therefore, the night went very short, between take-off dinner, advancing the clock for 3 hours, breakfast and landing, there was not much more than a couple of hours to sleep. Once in Abu Dhabi, we took a bus to Dubai, where we spent the whole day. After another night flight to Bangkok, with also a couple of hours of effective sleep, and advancing the clock 3 more hours, we were exhausted.
The next day we started with a visit to the Myanmar (Burma) Embassy, where we arrange our visas. Then, we went to the center (from our accommodation to the center, we had more than one hour journey between "Sky Train" and boat).
We discovered the peace and silence of the Buddhist temples. Especially the contrast between the hectic traffic of the street and the quietness that you feel inside. It seems incredible that these two worlds are separated by only a few meters.
We wisited the วัด บวร นิเวศ วิหาร ราชวรวิหาร (Wat Wihan Bowon Niwet Temple), and we loved it. Maybe, just because it was the first temple we visited, perhaps because we found an oasis of peace in that chaotic city. Somehow, we spent a long time within the Temple and its surounding.
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| Phra Puttha Chinarat, Wat Bowon Niwet Wihan |
Like any tourist who comes for the first time in a distant country, we also were "victims" of a well know trick: We were about to reach the "Golden Mountain", when a man approached us and told us that it was closed because there were a ceremony that lasted an hour, very kindly, he showed us on the map a few temples that we could visit while we were waiting. Despite being relatively close, walking would take a while (Bangkok is a big city, and all distances are far), so he offered us, to take us there with his tuc-tuc, and bring us back again to the "Golden Mountain". The whole tour would cost us only 40 Baths (proximately one euro). He explained that he can offer us this cheaper price because some shops gives him commissions to bring people to their shops, we would not have to buy anything unless we wanted, just have a lock for around 10 minutes was enough. After thinking about it a bit, we accepted.
Frst we saw the "standing Budda", after this, he took us to a tailor. We thought, well ... a tailor ... we do not know what we will do here, because certainly we will not buy any suit. When we entered, a man approached us, and "accompanied" us during the whole time. Those 10 minutes were eternal, we didn't knew what we were doing there and we where not interested in anything. It was certainly an uncomfortable situation, and even more uncomfortable was leaving the store without buying anything. We don't know why, but our tuc-tuc driver decided to skip the rest of monuments and shops, and lead directly back to the "Golden Mountain". Perhaps he also realized that it was not our style. In any case, we where thankful that we finished this horror. and we took the lesson for next time, do not believe a stanger telling you that a monument is closed if you do not see with our own eyes.
After this story, we went up to the "Golden Mountain", were we met Xabi from the Basque country, a boy from New Zealand and a German girl, who came to us telling that we had been locked there. But we ended up finding a open door to exit.
Together we ended up walking to Khao San Road, also known as the backpackers Street: Lots of tourists, shops, drunken people and noise.
The next days we spent in Bangkok, we went alternating days staying at the hostel, visiting the markets in our the area and work, with sightseeing in the center.
One of the places that are a must in Bangkok, is the complex of the "Grand Palace" and the Emerald Buddha Temple (วัด พระ แก้ว, Wat Phra Kaew).
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| Emerald Buddha Temple (วัดพระแก้ว, Wat Phra Kaew) |
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| Emerald Buddha Temple (วัดพระแก้ว, Wat Phra Kaew), with Xabi |
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| Emerald Buddha Temple (วัดพระแก้ว, Wat Phra Kaew) |
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| Emerald Buddha Temple (วัดพระแก้ว, Wat Phra Kaew) |
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| Grand Palace |
On the way to the center, the boat passed in front of a pagoda that we wanted to wisit: Wat Arun, located on the other side of the river and we happen to make a visit there.
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| Wat Arun |
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| Wat Arun |
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| View over the Chao Phraya river, from the Wat Arun |
Not far from the two previous places, there is the Wat Pho. It houses the Reclining Buddha.
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| Wat Pho |
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| Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho |
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| Wat Pho |
In Thailand there is a lot of street life. Everywhere there are many stands and food places that invade the street.
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| Stands in one of the streets of Chinatown |
- December 5th: the King's birthday
The 5th December is a very special day in Thailand: the anniversary of his Majesty the King, who is revered and loved by a very large majority of Thais. The city is decked and large crowds of people wearing yellow shirts gather in central Bangkok in a solemn and festive atmosphere.
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| Celebrating the birthday of the King, with candles in the center of Bangkok |
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