Southeast Asia

Woke in the middle of the night with my right eye itching, knew immediately that i had conjunctivitis, took 2 antibiotics and used an antibacterial wipe on my eye. i think that helped a lot because it was much better by the morning. Wondered if i would have to find a hospital to get a prescription for Chloromycetin, but it turns out prescription drugs are very easy to come by in bkk. An email from dad told me the active ingredient in the drops i required and i found them in the local chemist for 30B.

Didn’t head out until after lunch because i was feeling lazy. Decided to go to the national museum. Caught the skytrain as far as possible and then a tuk tuk who charged me 90B and dropped me in the middle of nowhere. Had to get a metered taxi the rest of the way. Was running out of time so i decided to go straight to the grand palace since it closes at 3:30. Entry was an outrageous 250B but it turned out to be worth it. i was completely blown away. I’m not sure what i expected but it wasn’t that. The place was huge and every inch of it shimmered with gold and coloured mosaic tiles. Photos do not do it justice.

Also saw the emerald Buddha. Didn’t think i would run out of time, but i managed to and by the time i walked to the national museum they were closed. An information guy on the corned suggested few Buddha’s i go and see and since i had nothing better to do i let him get me a tuk tuk. i have discovered that tuk tuk drivers get little coupons clipped if they take you to certain places and with the coupons they can get free petrol from the government. i didn’t mind very much since i was getting a 2 hr tuk tuk ride for only 40B. Saw the temple of the standing/sitting/reclining Buddha’s, it was ok, I’m a bit over the temples. More interesting were the about 20 monks cleaning every square inch of the Wat.

Next i saw the big Buddha which was great, the name is far from an exaggeration. it stand over 32 meters tall and 11 meters wide and is covered with gold mosaic. They were clearly setting up for a festival of some sort and they had very loud Thai music playing. There was a little girl dancing under the archway of the Wat and when I pulled out my camera to take a photo she got really excited.

After visiting 4 shops i had no interest in buying from just so my driver could get his coupons clipped i told him id had enough and he dropped me at the nearby docks. there were some great markets set up at the docs and i stocked up on water because it was only 5B. Got on a boat with no hassles & went all the way down the river as the sun was setting for only 13B.

All the lights from the shore looked so pretty at twilight. By the time i got off the boat it was almost dark and i was at the main pier where the water ways connect with the skytrain. i had obviously stumbled across peak hour since you could barely move at the station or on the train. it surprises me to find that without fail, people give up their seats to the elderly on every form of public transport. the skytrain at night is beautiful, there is so much colour and vibrancy to bkk with all the lights and noise. There was a grand opening of a new shopping centre at Siam where i had to switch trains. i went to have a look at the festivities, there was a big band, dancing and a light show, but it was impossible to move and i gave up and headed back to the hostel.

Went and got dinner with Derek at one of the street vendors just outside the hostel. Chicken and rice with a great sauce and a huge bowl full of chicken soup cost only 25B. It was delicious. I have extended my stay in bkk for another night.

Tags: Thailand

This entry was posted on Friday, December 9th, 2005 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.