Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

We would have a busy day on our hands again, as there was still lots to see and do in Bangkok before we would have to leave for Cambodia. The first time we had stayed in Bangkok we were very much in the south, and much of the famous things to see and do are located in the north/north-west of the city. Being nearer to the attractions was great as we could walk down to everything instead of having to navigate the metro or get tuk-tuks everywhere. The first place we went to was the Grand Palace, and very grand it was too!

Inside the Grand Palace, with dark clouds above...

We knew we were getting close to it as the number of tourists was increasing, and we wormed our way inside with all the other sight-seers. We didn’t know much about what was inside, but it was a fantastic arrangement of buildings, temples and statues. It was very lavish and well worth the entrance fee – something that I am glad to say we can now afford, rather than just trying to find the free stuff in the places we visit. We wandered round for a long time, in the searing heat, marvelling at everything around us. Eventually we came to a large temple where we had to take our shoes off, dowse our heads with water (optional) and join the queue to get in. This, we thought, was the infamous Reclining Buddha. But it was not. It was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and it was still a great sight, even if it wasn’t quite what we were expecting.

Splendid!

We moved on to find the elusive Reclining Buddha, which according to the map was just down the road. However, the maps that we had been using in Bangkok were less than perfect as they missed off many minor roads. Not far down the road we came across the entrance for the Reclining Buddha and paid our 100 Baht admittance fee. We also got a small bottle of water for free, which was a great little bonus as the heat was still in the early 30’s. As we milled around the outside of the temple we noticed a couple of raindrops hit the floor. It was time to get inside, as there was another rain shower coming, as we had become used to in Bangkok by now. We queued up to get inside the temple, in an attempt to beat the rush when the heavens opened. We took our shoes off and put them in the natty little shoulder bag we had been handed, and entered the temple.

Ummmm, me.....in Thailand

It was incredible. A huge golden statue of the Buddha lying down on its side. It was hard to get a feel for how big it is because the temple that it is housed in is relatively small and the large pillars block out a full view of the statue. That said it is still an amazing experience and a must-do if in Bangkok. We had made it inside just in time too as the rain began to pour down outside. We took shelter from it for 20 minutes before realising that it just wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. So we headed out in our wet-weather gear and saw the rest of the complex, whilst I tried my best to not aqua-plane along the wet marble in my Old Navy flip-flops.

The Reclining Buddha, innit.

Once the rain had stopped we grabbed a quick bite to eat in a little restaurant just outside the Reclining Buddha temple and debated whether to get across the river to see the Temple of Dawn. By the time we got down to the river it had started raining again so we decided to leave it and head back down Khao San Road to see if we could find a travel agent that could get us to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next day cheaply and easily. By doing it ourselves we would need to be up at 4 in the morning to catch the early 3^rd Class train to Aranyprathet, then get a combination of buses and tuk-tuks to get to our hotel in Cambodia. So getting someone else to arrange all the details would be great. And James was after another cotton shirt too.

Rain. On a lily pad.

We trawled the various markets and made some ludicrous offers for lots of tat, but not to the point where it would be insulting to the sellers. We had priced our trip to Siem Reap with a travel agent at 400 Baht each maximum, so anything under that would be great. Whilst I was looking at some small Buddhas James popped his head round the corner claiming that he had a deal for 300 Baht. We took their details and said we would be back later, but something just didn’t sit well with us, so we used it as a starting point for bartering with the others. By the time we turned up at the last travel agents James had got his shirt, and we had got the price down to 250 Baht, but it still seemed a bit dodgy. When the young guy behind the desk offered us 300 Baht I said we had been offered 240 by the company over the road (a small white lie) and then the older woman knitting in the corner said “OK” for 240 Baht. This place seemed better, maybe just because they had a proper office and all had matching black Ferrari t-shirts on. As we were finalising the details with her an older guy walked in and took over mid-sentence from her. We managed to arrange a late pick-up from the hotel at 8pm and be taken all the way to Siem Reap, which sure beat a 4:00am start with no breakfast! So, with tickets booked we wandered back to the hotel with a smile on our face and a skip in our step.

That night we left the hotel and saw the guys at reception who we had spotted when we had left that morning, or so we thought, we couldn’t be sure. At the traffic lights of the main road we sensed the two coming up behind us, and sure enough we heard, “you guys are from Europe also?”. The guys were from Germany and had just landed in Bangkok that morning. They had ended up at our hotel as they had been told by the tuk-tuk driver that the hotel in Khao San Road they were heading to was full of crime and not good, so he had driven them to our place. Another scam, but these guys knew nothing about it and were so tired from their flights from Frankfurt that they just wanted to get somewhere and rest. We chatted as we headed to Khao San Road for food and trinket-shopping, but I felt James’s telepathic link suggesting that we should send these guys off on their own and maybe meet up with them later. We managed this without too much awkwardness and found a good place to eat.

Khao San Road...in the rain

One heck of a spicy dish and a large Chang later we wandered round for a short while before deciding to head back, grab some food and drink for the journey to Siem Reap and get one last Chang “for the road”. Once inside the local 7 Eleven we bumped into the two German guys who we had ditched only a couple of hours earlier. They were grabbing an early night and we all went back to the hotel and then said our goodbyes in the lift as they headed up to the 5^th floor. We didn’t feel bad about ditching them, it was just that we were knackered and needed to get focussed on getting our stuff together to leave Thailand on the morrow.