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Bangkok certainly proved to be a fascinating city. The sights are hugely varied. We made our way to the Grand Palace (do enjoy the music if you click through!), which really takes some viewing: A large number of beautifully ornate temples and buildings that took up most of a day visiting.

We visited Wat Po on leaving the Grand Palace, avoiding the many ‘helpful’ people between the palace and the temple who were all keen and eager to advise us it was closed, and by coincidence they knew of a shop where you could by cheap gems/cheap shopping/good tailor (delete as applicable). Successfully at the temple, the reclining Buddha certainly looked quite pleased to be entering Nirvana. A five meter grin shines down on you as you walk in the entrance. We dropped 108 coins into the bronze bowls behind the Buddha after making a donation. It seems these 1-satang coins dropped into these bowls symbolise the 108 auspicious characteristics of the Buddha, and it’s for good fortune as well as (handily) to help the monks keep up the wat.

The ferry ride back to the hotel was fun, and we travelled up the river in the opposite direction the next day, when we returned to visit Wat Arun (the temple of the dawn). Stunning stuff, but despite having been in hot climes for almost 2 weeks, we made the silly mistake of visiting the temple at exactly midday. At 37C in the shade, we were walking about in the bright sun. Whilst we didn’t hang about, and were properly covered up, it was still very hot work.

Bangkok is stunningly beautiful in places, but also horrifying in others. We saw more desperate poverty in the few days we were in Bangkok than we’d seen in all the rest of our travels. We visited the big weekend market, and seeing a man with deformed legs dragging himself around the market to beg for money brings the desperate poverty this city has starkly to your attention. With little or no social security for those unable to earn money, it’s a desperate plight many people face. It also brings into sharp relief the amazing standard of living we benefit from in Britain and the rest of the ‘developed’ world.

The ‘wildlife’ in Bangkok also made itself known to us. We were at a nearby restaurant where we had a lovely meal and watched some Thai dances. Previously we’d taken a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel, but on our last night I’d neglected to bring instructions for the driver as to the location of our hotel. So we walked back. It wasn’t far, I said. Little did I expect to see the cockroaches all over the pavement. Poor Frances (with open sandals on), did not take too kindly to this. We got back in double quick time.

So, after a 12 hour long-haul flight back to London, and a short flight up to Glasgow, we’re back. We’re all but over our jet-lag now, and have checked our post to find nothing particularly awful has happened, beyond some idiot at Hertz charging us for petrol in New Zealand, even though I returned the car full.

Last night we went out on a ‘jazz cruise’ along the Clyde on the Waverley. Very nice it was too, although the locals along the side of the river weren’t always waving politely back at us…

After three months traveling the world, we’ve been universally made to feel welcome, but in Glasgow the locals seemed less than enthusiastic to see people enjoying themselves on a river boat. Or maybe - as Frances’ brother suggested - they’d just heard my English accent….

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 3rd, 2004 at 9:40 am and is filed under Travelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.