First day in Bangkok

What a great day…. My very first day in Bangkok and in Thailand.  All started yesterday with a long, very long journey to arrive here.  Due to the different timezones between Europe and Asia, it took nearly 2 days to arrive.  Leaving Valencia on Saturday morning arriving in Bangkok Sunday evening… 🙂  I must admit I had a long wait at Doha where I had to stay about 7 hours to get my connection.

After arriving to the hotel, a quick dinner, of course Thai and directly to bed….

After a good coffee in the streets near the hotel, I head to the BTS so get to the Thompson house, a few stops and there it is:

After the visit, direction the pear to get the “bus Boat” from the Thompson house direction the historical center.  It is a fact that connections with that part of the city are very poor, or at least not modern.  I arrive at Phanfa bridge at the edge of the old part of Bangkok.

Of course it had to happen … my first scam… Even I knew about it, as a newcomer and excited by all what I have to discover, I fell in the trap… Tuc tuc scam with visit of all the factories and tailors of Bangkok, preferably as far as possible of where I want to go…. 🙂  It cost me only 40 baht (1 Euro) but much more in time and energy….

Back to square one! Finally I can start my tour.

On my way to the royal palace and theTemple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Pra Kaeow) I am amazed by the atmosphere and all what is happening around me.  I realise it is all about the mourning of King Bhumibol Adulyadej who passed away last 13 of October.  It is impressive to see the entire people of Bangkok taking part to such a sad event.  To see how much they cared about the King and the respect and devotion they show.  Everybody is dressed in black or showing a mark of respect.  The entire society is involved, all ministry, governmental entities, the army and all their different corps and the private sector is taking part of it offering food, drinks, presents to all the population.  An entire path is organised around the Sanam Luang, an open field and public square in front of Wat Pra, with stations where people can stop and receive what is offered.

My initial plan was to visit the Wat Pra and the palace, but due to the circumstance it was partially closed.  I come to the main door where I am told the palace is closed for foreigners, but will be open the next day.  He offered me to visit the Wat Pho just beside.  It is when he finished his very nice speech and that we saluted each other the Thai way with both clasped hands in front of the chin and the mouth, bowing one to the other that I mentioned a local TV crew who just filmed us….telling me ” you were great”  🙂

I walk towards the Wat Pho on the large empty avenue.  All roads around the Palace are blocked to trafic.  Beside on the sidewalks little tents are placed with organisations offering free bottles of water or sweets.  I must say fresh water is welcome in the heat.

The Wat Pho with its larget collection of Buddhas, a stunning temple and of course the famous Reclining Buddha.

After a couple of hours walking around across the entire site, it is time to go back to the hotel.  A few negotiations later and a tuc tuc drives me back.  A quick shower, a cold beer at the bar of the hotel, a few notes in my book… well it is already time for dinner.  I walk in the surroundings of the hotel, cross one of the very animated red district of Nana and I walk towards Soi 3 to find a place to eat.  The place is recommended in my guide and it is an oriental restaurant.