So, today we were ‘day at leisure’, with no Pim to guide us, we planned our own itinerary….
After brekkie we caught the public ferry boat and sailed up the river to the first destination on our ‘plan for the day’, the flower, fruit and vegetable market! We managed to find it pretty easily (locals more than happy to assist) – and I have to say, I was totally blown away – such vibrant colours and awash with activity!
The stall vendors busily prepare stunning bouquets and orders for wholesale (though public can buy as well), mopeds and wheeled baskets rushing back and forth, an abundance of everything in quantities to leave any connoisseurs eyes popping! I was like a child in a candy store, taking many photographs of the stunning offerings, each image would look amazing on a calendar though greedily more than 12 pictures taken!
Once I could be torn away from this memorising place, we headed back to Wat Pho temple – today we took our time to take some lovely pictures complemented by a glorious blue sky – joining in the placing of coins into 108 pots which are meant to bring good luck I believe – each of my family members, friends and pets’ names quietly recited to the pots, together with the whole alphabet incase I had forgotten anything/one….!
Next we took a tuk tuk (after negotiating a fee!) to the Lumpini park where it would seem (typically unbeknown to us!) a demonstration against the current government was in full swing! We felt something odd was going on as people seemed quite ‘vocal’ and were wearing white masks plus barely any nice food stalls to be seen! (read about it in newspaper when we arrived back at the hotel – seems thousands of demonstrators there yesterday, good job we missed that!). After buying a ‘packet of crisps’ (!?) we sat in the park next to a lake and watched turtles pop their heads up and what can only be described as a dinosaur (!) – a massive lizard thing, float passed and stick his rather lengthy tongue out at us! We were about to leg it but thankfully he drifted on!
Another tuk tuk to shopping mall! Much like any other here, all designer stores, far too expensive for an item yearning to be ‘one off’ and with a new Lamborghini shop on top floor together with other exceptionally pricey cars, not your average shopping experience! Outdoors the heavens opened up so a dash to sky train and negotiated our way through the rail system back to our hotel!
I have to say, their railway carriages put ours to shame, so spotlessly clean and with our regular sign suggesting you give up your seat to the pregnant lady, here replaced with one for a monk – differences not just the décor then! A fantastic day out – Bangkok has (now we have adjusted to the culture and hustle bustle!) won us over … Don’t need to return as ‘kinda done it, but ‘tis lovely seeing real life today….
Evening time, (all credit to the concierge referring to ‘the area’ husband asked to visit (in my embarrassed absence!) as ‘the night market’) we ventured out to the famous Patpong Road for a final glance at Bangkok – and vibrant it definitely was together with quite an ‘eye opener’! With a grubby ‘menu’ offered to us both outside most bars (sorry, I had to read to aid research!), depicting with sketch drawings exactly what might appear from orifices during a show (!), we now believe all we heard goes on here, together with witnessing the offer of much fake stuff, including ‘ladies’!
The prostitution is so in your face down any side street with such young girls wearing a numbered plastic disc on their matching attire, whether that was to select one in order (like vehicles at a taxi rank) or to ease language barriers, remains a mystery to me. I have to say, I feel we have done the extremes of Bangkok now and I believe that I have figured out what may have confused many travellers – having visited temples and observed the size of removed sandals (as is customary outside prayer areas), Thai women have tiny feet – these ‘ladies’ in tight skirts have massive boats! Simples! If you really want to know, just look at the feet!! Homework done ✔
