I’ve spent about four months now in Bangkok, but up until last week, I hadn’t bothered visiting many of the city’s main tourist attractions. It’s felt great to more or less stick to one place for a while, make friends, and be without feeling like I need to go see another church, temple, or ruin. Over the last couple weeks, though, I’ve started to feel the itch to get out and start seeing stuff again. The first manifestation of that itch was a day spent on Bangkok’s waterways and in its temples. Here are some pics from that day.
I’ve got my visa and I’m going to Myanmar (aka Burma) next month. Woo hoo!
On the river boat heading to the old part of Bangkok. I have to say that this (along with the canal boat ride I took later in the day but didn’t get any photos of) were surprisingly enjoyable. I haven’t been to many cities with regular river transportation options, so it was a novel experience for me. And each ride cost only about 50 cents.
Looking at a newer part of Bangkok from the river boat
Wat Arun. “Wat” in Thai means “temple.”
So the steps up the side of Wat Arun are the steepest I’ve ever seen on a building. They’re spectacular, and there’s no way people would be allowed on them in the US.
Looking down the Wat Arun steps
Looking south (downriver) from Wat Arun
Looking east (across the river) from Wat Arun. The Wat Pho complex is visible above the river in the middle of the photo.
Looking north (upriver) from Wat Arun
Looking up at Wat Arun is like looking at one of those old Magic Eye illusions from the ’90s.
Closeup of the tilework of Wat Arun
The spires of Wat Pho
The reclining Buddha of Wat Pho. I don’t know how many Buddha statues I’ve seen between the years I spent in China and the months I’ve spent in Southeast Asia (hundreds?), but this is one of the coolest I’ve seen. It’s huge. Much bigger than I thought it would be. It’s 50 ft (15 m) high and 141 ft (43 m) long—that’s roughly half the length of a football field.
Reclining Buddha is looooong.
After exploring Wat Arun and Wat Pho, I had to go to world-famous Khao San Road to buy a bus ticket. Khao San is where all of the grubby backpackers stay, and it’s gross. So many dirty wannabe hippies. If you’ve been to Bangkok and your impression was based mostly on Khao San and its environs, I promise that pretty much everywhere else in Bangkok is better than that.
The one redeeming quality of Khao San Road is that the food there is cheap. I went to a tasty Israeli restaurant and got falafel, hummus, shawarma, a tomato salad, a mango shake, and a water for less than $9.
As promised, here’s the building that looks like a robot. And yep, it was designed that way.