Days 1-2: I left Phoenix at 6 am on August 1st, and arrived at my hotel in Bangkok's Chinatown around 11 PM (on August 2nd). After I checked in to the
Grand China Princess Hotel, I looked around the area briefly, then collapsed on the rock hard bed for the night.
Day 3: I got up early and wandered through the streets of Chinatown but most stores were closed and the markets were just starting to set up. This picture was taken from a pedestrian bridge early in the morning - BEFORE traffic got heavy. I found the fabric market and wandered through that for a while, then flagged down a tuk tuk to take me to the historical sites of Bangkok.
The reclining Buddha (
Wat Pho) was enormous. Too bad they were restoring the murals on the walls... the scaffolds were everywhere! I also visited the
Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keo (The
Emerald Buddha)
I hired a long tailed boat to drive me up and down the river and canals. It was pretty fun. One of the places I stopped was the
Royal Barge National Museum. This is the front of one of the barges.
Another place I stopped was across the river at
Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). This temple was huge, and the detail on the outside was incredible!
This picture shows a close-up of a section of Wat Arun. The outside was covered with tiles and dishes!
View of Bangkok from the river. If you saw what I did, you would know why the river and canals were brown. People were using the river for EVERYTHING. I saw people standing in it washing clothes, bathing, swimming, and fishing. I also saw one woman empty a pot of rice in the river, and a man standing on his back porch urinating into the canal.
After I had spent the day sightseeing, I headed back towards my hotel. I ended up on Memorial Bridge, which I crossed, then crossed back after walking around on the other side of the river for a while. From this vantage point, I foolishly thought my hotel was within 10 minutes walking distance. I nearly got heat stroke walking to it. A cool shower, a long nap, and a Thai massage went a long way to helping me feel normal again.
Day 4: I learned my lesson about the heat, humidity and pollution yesterday, and hired a tuk tuk to take me to the different attractions. About six blocks after I negotiated a price to go to the
Golden Mountain, he pulled over and asked if I was interested in hiring him to drive me to various sites and pay him by the hour. I asked how much. He said he would do it for 100 bahts (about $2.20 US) per hour. I thought that sounded very reasonable, so agreed without further bargaining. After I saw everything I wanted to see, and asked him to take me back to my hotel, we HAD to make the obligatory stops at the tailor and gem stores. It was actually kind of fun. I found something wrong with everything that they showed me, so didn't buy anything from them.
One of the places I visited was the Golden Mountain. When I got out of the tuk tuk, the driver asked if I planned on going to the top. When I said yes, he cautioned me that "There are many steps and you are very fat." Gee, thanks! So much for his tip! There were about a zillion tiny steps around the outside, but because they were so small, it was quite easy to skip every 1-2 steps on the way to the top.
The temple itself wasn't all that exciting, but there was an interesting view of the city from the top.
View of Bangkok from the top of the Golden Mountain
After leaving the Golden Mountain I went to the
Giant Buddha, which really was giant. I think this is the second tallest Buddha in Thailand.
Another wat I visited that day. The walls were covered with beautiful murals. Later in the day, I caught a flight to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand.
Days 1-2: I left Phoenix at 6 am on August 1st, and arrived at my hotel in Bangkok's Chinatown around 11 PM (on August 2nd). After I checked in to the Grand China Princess Hotel, I looked around the area briefly, then collapsed on the rock hard bed for the night.
Day 3: I got up early and wandered through the streets of Chinatown but most stores were closed and the markets were just starting to set up. This picture was taken from a pedestrian bridge early in the morning - BEFORE traffic got heavy. I found the fabric market and wandered through that for a while, then flagged down a tuk tuk to take me to the historical sites of Bangkok.
The reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) was enormous. Too bad they were restoring the murals on the walls... the scaffolds were everywhere! I also visited the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keo (The Emerald Buddha)
I hired a long tailed boat to drive me up and down the river and canals. It was pretty fun. One of the places I stopped was the Royal Barge National Museum. This is the front of one of the barges. 
This picture shows a close-up of a section of Wat Arun. The outside was covered with tiles and dishes!
View of Bangkok from the river. If you saw what I did, you would know why the river and canals were brown. People were using the river for EVERYTHING. I saw people standing in it washing clothes, bathing, swimming, and fishing. I also saw one woman empty a pot of rice in the river, and a man standing on his back porch urinating into the canal.
After I had spent the day sightseeing, I headed back towards my hotel. I ended up on Memorial Bridge, which I crossed, then crossed back after walking around on the other side of the river for a while. From this vantage point, I foolishly thought my hotel was within 10 minutes walking distance. I nearly got heat stroke walking to it. A cool shower, a long nap, and a Thai massage went a long way to helping me feel normal again.
Day 4: I learned my lesson about the heat, humidity and pollution yesterday, and hired a tuk tuk to take me to the different attractions. About six blocks after I negotiated a price to go to the Golden Mountain, he pulled over and asked if I was interested in hiring him to drive me to various sites and pay him by the hour. I asked how much. He said he would do it for 100 bahts (about $2.20 US) per hour. I thought that sounded very reasonable, so agreed without further bargaining. After I saw everything I wanted to see, and asked him to take me back to my hotel, we HAD to make the obligatory stops at the tailor and gem stores. It was actually kind of fun. I found something wrong with everything that they showed me, so didn't buy anything from them.
One of the places I visited was the Golden Mountain. When I got out of the tuk tuk, the driver asked if I planned on going to the top. When I said yes, he cautioned me that "There are many steps and you are very fat." Gee, thanks! So much for his tip! There were about a zillion tiny steps around the outside, but because they were so small, it was quite easy to skip every 1-2 steps on the way to the top.
The temple itself wasn't all that exciting, but there was an interesting view of the city from the top.
View of Bangkok from the top of the Golden Mountain
After leaving the Golden Mountain I went to the Giant Buddha, which really was giant. I think this is the second tallest Buddha in Thailand.
Another wat I visited that day. The walls were covered with beautiful murals. Later in the day, I caught a flight to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand.
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