Oh man, my feet hurt. I walked another 7 hours today, and the last two days of walking have resulted in band-aids on 4 of my poor little toes. But I have 5 days of work ahead of me to spend sitting and healing, so I don’t mind too much.
Today, I took a tour boat down the Chao Phraya River and explored the Grand Palace.
A ticket for unlimited rides for a day on the river was only 100 baht—definitely a good deal. I spent a while just hanging out on the boat as it went up and down the river, taking pictures of the fishing and tour boats, wondering how people managed to live in the wooden houses leaning precariously over the water without falling in, and enjoying the cool breeze. My guidebook informed me that once I got off the boat, the palace would be just a few meters to the right. However, those few meters between the pier and the palace were completely crazy. The moment I got onto the street, there were thousands of people milling around thousands of street stalls covering the sidewalk. The traffic was terrible. Many people were holding handkerchiefs over their faces to block the smell of the exhaust, especially from the mopeds that tend to drive something like this as they weave between cars: gasbrakegasbrakegasbrakegasbrakegas. Traffic policeman in Bangkok always wear hospital-style masks under their helmets. Bangkok is not a clean city.
The majority of the street hawkers were selling religious goods and old Thai coins. The only thing I bought was a sort of slushie. Shaved ice, tiny squares of what looked like black jello, and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I found it very refreshing, despite the mysterious addition of the black jello.
At this point, I was already feeling rather overwhelmed by the heat and the crowds. Although there were fewer people once I got inside the palace, the heat was several times worse than outside due to the bright reflective surfaces everywhere. When I bought my ticket, I got a map of the palace, but didn’t look at it once because 1) the humidity started to tear the map the moment I tried to pull it out of my purse and 2) sweat kept running into my eyes, so I couldn’t see much of anything anyway.
The little I could see of the palace was gorgeous though! Everything is covered in gold and jewels, and the entire complex glitters and shimmers in the sun. When I couldn’t see because of the sweat in my eyes or the harsh reflection of the sun, I just squinted and took a photo of the vague outline so that I could look at the detail later. I love digital cameras.
After I left the palace, I’m ashamed to say a street hawker successfully ripped me off. I bought a souvenir from him for about 160 Baht. Then, as I walked up the street, I found the same thing for sale for 50 Baht. Not much of a difference when you convert it to dollars, but the principle of the thing hurt! Next time I will canvas the neighborhood before buying anything that doesn’t have a set price!
On my way back through the crowds, I somehow missed the entrance to the alley that lead back to the port. Luckily, I wound my way through the streets to another pier that only charged 3 Baht to take me by boat to the first pier. I collapsed on the boat and drank 2 bottles of water in about 2 minutes. Have I mentioned that Bangkok is hot? I actually saw someone at the Grand Palace almost faint. Of course, the guy was a pale tourist, but I also saw Thai people hiding out in the shade with fans and drinks. One or two of them were even sweating, although in general they seem to be immune to perspiring. I overheard someone say the temperature was hovering around 100 F today. Ouch.
Back at my Skytrain station, I took a quick detour to locate my firm’s building for tomorrow morning. It was easy to find and is a mere 4 or 5 blocks away, so I won’t have far to go tomorrow morning.
1 comment:
Your poor toes! Maybe you can get some bacon band aids for them.
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