Thelma and Louise Take on the World: Our first day out and about in Bangkok.

Monday was our first official day out and about in Bangkok. For some reason, our first day in any location results in one of two things and sometimes both: 1) we starve and/or 2) we get ripped off. Well, our first day in Bangkok was no different.

At first, things were going very smoothly. We woke up, had some crackers and such and headed out figuring we would grab a bite to eat when we got off the boat. So, we took the train to the river. We figured out the boat ordeal with a little difficulty, but managed to get on the right one. The boat stops at certain piers along the river with corresponding numbers…easy enough. We rode a good distance because the mansion, palace, and temple that we wanted to see were quite far away. Of course, the boat stops at every pier along the way; until we got to ours…they just skipped right over it. Awesome. So…we figure…okay…next one it is then…NOPE! The boat skipped the next 4 piers before stopping. Awesome. Finally, the boat stops and we disembark in totally new territory. Normally, there are lots of taxis and tuk tuks (glorified 3 seated 3 wheelers) ready to go everywhere you go. Just our luck, this stop didn’t have any. No food either. We knew at this point it was going to be an interesting adventure for the day.

We finally find a tuk tuk that can take us to the palace. We arrive at the palace safe and sound. Then, another tuk tuk driver tells us that the palace is closed and that he will take us to visit a couple souvenir shops, the temple we wanted to visit, a couple Buddhas of interest, and the golden mountain for 20 baht (~$0.70). I was a little hesitant and Thelma wasn’t necessarily against it, so we went. Our first stop was the Wat Benchamabophit Marble Temple. It was just what we had wanted to see. It was amazingly beautiful and ornate. Back aboard the tuk tuk we went! The driver told us that we were stopping at a nice shop and that we could spend any amount of time there. Great right? NOT! It turned out to be a tailoring shop and they were trying to sell us suits, dresses, coats, and shirts – all knock off big name designer stuff. That was when I remembered reading that scams usually start by someone telling you that a certain place is closed and that they will take you to something better and less expensive. Oh Boy!! We were glad to finally ditch the sales people. Back to the tuk tuk we went. Hopeful to see something cool next…we stopped at giant jewelry store. Awesome. By the time we ended our day at about 4 o’clock, we saw the Golden Mountain (a temple on a big hill with a giant golden roof), two temples, and some Buddhas along with 3 tailor shops, 2 giant jewelry stores, and 1 souvenir shop. It may have been 20 baht, but we saw a ton of crap and we were starving. We hadn’t eaten anything since our measly breakfast. It was an adventure we will never forget.

That night we treated ourselves to a movie – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. It was a surprisingly good movie and a great cap to our wonderful first day in Bangkok.

Long boat on the river.

Rama 8 Bridge.
Worlds longest single pylon
suspension bridge.

The express boat.

Our tuk tuk driver. The first one.

Thelma and Louise on the tuk tuk
adventure.

One of the Buddhas at
Wat Benchamabophit (WB)

The intricate ceiling of the WB
temple.

Look at all the Buddhas.

By far my favorite.
Buddha depicted during his long fast.
Amazing.

Inside the temple.

The main Buddha.
Bhumisparca Mudra -
Depicts Buddha harnessing
the power of the earth to meditate.
Right hand on knee fingers pointing
down with left hand in lap.