Bangkok 2nd day (August 4th 2008)

Back to blog again!!!Sorry if I hadn't updated this blog for almost 2 months. I was and still very busy with my study so it is hard to start writing again. But anyway, this is the second episode of our story in Bangkok.

It was a sunny morning and we were ready for another journey at 9 a.m. Our first destination is Wat Phra, which I believed is the greatest Wat in Thailand, and The Grand Palace. We took BTS to Saphan Thaksin station. It cost about 40 baht from Asok to Saphan Thaksin. We continued the journey by using Chao Phraya express boat. Yes, we used boat!!! The Chao Phraya itself, is a big river and full of water transportation, something you can’t find in Jakarta. The boat run slowly and sometimes I got the splashed water. After like, 15-20 minutes, we arrived at Tha Thien station. The boat’s fare is quite cheap, only 17 baht. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra is only a hundred meters from here.

Waiting for the train

Chao Phraya boat

If you’re a foreigner, you must pay 300 baht to go inside the wat and palace. Another thing you should know is to dress properly. Don’t use shorts and for women, please use shirts. Inside the Wat Phra, there are so many temples, monuments and Buddha statue. The complex is quite big and the temperature is quite hot, so I suggest don’t forget to wear hat and provide a lot of drinking water. The picture and the temple itself reminds me of Javanese culture. There are so many similarities between them. Then we moved to the Grand Palace complex. I don’t know if The King still stay there or no. There is also weapon museum inside the Palace.

Wat Phra

If you go to this place, you must try this pose

Panorama inside the Wat complex

The Palace

Our next destination is Wat Pho which is well-known for the Reclining Buddha and the origin of Thai massage. Wat Pho is not far from Grand Palace, so you just need to walk. The ticket cost us 50 baht, yeah much cheaper than Grand Palace. Once you go inside the complex, you can find the infamous Reclining Buddha statue. The statue is really big and looked great. In this Wat, you can find the authentic Thai massage. Well, I was really looking forward to it. So, I, kozzy, dewi and christo decided to took the Thai massage but kenneth, rio and yudi decided to continue to wat arun. We separated and promised to unite in Siam Paragon at 6 p.m. Christo and I really enjoyed the foot reflexiology which cost us 360 baht for 45 minutes while kozzy and dewi took the Thai massage which cost them 360 baht for 1 hour. After we finished with the massage thing, we continue our journey to Wat Arun.

The Legendary Reclining Buddha

To reach Wat Arun, we must cross the Chao Phraya so we took a boat a.k.a getek in Indonesia which cost us only 3.5 baht. Wat Arun is really tall. I believed it is the tallest wat in Bangkok. Wat Arun is also known as the temple of dawn. To go inside, we should pay 50 baht. We climbed to the top level of the Wat and the panorama from the top is really great. You can see Bangkok skyscraper, the Chao Phraya and the mega bridge from here. Inside the complex, you can find the souvenir marker which sold things like shirts,hat and another souvenirs. Actually, in this market you can find so many sellers that can speak Indonesian!

Reaching the wat arun by boat

The tall wat arun

on the top of the wat

Because it’s already 5 p.m., we must hurry to Siam Paragon. So, we once again took the Chao Phraya express boat to Saphan Thaksin and took BTS to the Siam station then we arrived to Siam Paragon. This mall is quite huge and quite luxurious, reminds me to Senayan City in Jakarta. In the ground floor, there is Siam Ocean World but we didn’t go inside because the ticket is expensive. After that, we went to another mall, Central World, to have dinner. Because it’s already night and we’re all already tired, we decided to rest and go back to the hostel. It was really fun day and also make us tired. This is our last night in Bangkok because tommorow evening we must go back to Jakarta.

fountain at siam paragon

Bangkok Day 2
BTS for one day 120 baht
Chao Phraya express boat 30 baht vice versa
Grand Palace ticket 300 baht
Wat Pho ticket 50 baht
Thai Massage 360 baht
Lunch and snack 120 baht
Wat Arun ticket 50 baht
Dinner 80 baht