{"id":1331,"date":"2013-07-02T02:29:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T09:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2013-07-04T20:25:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T03:25:43","slug":"let-the-games-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=1331","title":{"rendered":"Let the games begin."},"content":{"rendered":"

Bangkok – known to the Thais as Krung Theep or the City of Angels, and home to over 12 million people.<\/p>\n

People should not come to Bangkok expecting to unwind, and we are no exception. \u00c2\u00a0Mrs. Columbus and I have been here before and typically just skip the city all together, but our travel buddy Erica is a first-timer so it gives us an excuse to come back and see a few things that we did not have time to see beofre, but on their own would probably not have brought us back.<\/p>\n

Our flight over was very uneventful and everything was on time and according to plan! \u00c2\u00a0We arrived in Bangkok at about 11am local time and Erica was waiting for us at the airport (she arrived the night before on a different flight) right where we expected, and after getting some local SIM cards for our phones we hopped a taxi into the city. \u00c2\u00a0My experience with taxis at the Bangkok airport has been mostly a miss, usually getting over charged a flat rate, but this time we finally got things figured out on how to get the driver to use the meter!<\/p>\n

Normally we have stayed in one of the more mid-range tourist areas but this year Mrs. Columbus got a little more\u00c2\u00a0adventurous and we are staying just off of Khaosan Road<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0More commonly known as Bangkok’s ‘backpacker ghetto’ the 3 or 4 square blocks around Khaosan is where all the young gap-year travelers and backpackers converge for the cheap guesthouses, street food, and bars. \u00c2\u00a0Soi Rambuttri is a couple of blocks over from Khaosan so it is not quite as busy, but there is still lots of nightlife and backpackers around, although even with my rouge-like ability to blend in there is very little chance of anyone confusing me for a backpacker \ud83d\ude42 \u00c2\u00a0Our hotel is a\u00c2\u00a0pleasant surprise as I was a little worried what we might get for $20\/night in Bangkok (our last trip here we spent double that for a Holiday Inn and Mrs. Columbus was very<\/em> unhappy) but the place is clean, well located, and so far looking very promising.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-004145-1280R\"<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0\"20130630-004153-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Given that we don’t plan to be in Bankgok for long we have set out a fairly busy agenda, so on arrival to our hotel we get our packs stowed away and hit the street. \u00c2\u00a0We have decided to see if we can find a couple of the more famous temples in downtown Bangkok and head off towards the Grand Palace<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0in search of Wat Pho<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and Wat Arun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rather than take a taxi or fall for any of the tuk-tuk scams we decide the walk will be nice and allow us to explore some things along the way. \u00c2\u00a0By the time we get near the Grand Palace it is about mid-afternoon and the palace closes at 3:30, so we decide to maybe save that for another day. \u00c2\u00a0Wat Pho and Wat Arun are right nearby though and have longer hours so we will be able to get both of those in before dinner time!<\/p>\n

Our first stop is at Wat Pho. \u00c2\u00a0Known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the grounds house a variety of temples, Buddha statues and shrines but the highlight is the reclining Buddha. \u00c2\u00a0Images of the Buddha in reclining position are not overly common and that coupled with the sheer size of this one contributes to it’s landmark status. \u00c2\u00a0At over 50 feet high and about 160 feet long it is one of the largest Buddha statues I have seen, and a bit awe-inspiring to stand beside it.<\/p>\n

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\"20130630-020603-1280R\"<\/a>\"20130630-020633-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like most of the temples in Thailand, inside the Wat it is considered offensive for people to wear short pants and for the ladies additionally offensive to have their shoulders and upper arms exposed so for my traveling companions the requisite cover garb is kindly provided by the temple staff \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"20130630-020300-1280R\"<\/a>\"20130630-014043-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were told that Kim made Erica promise to not adopt or smuggle any stray children home from the trip, but it seems that she stops for every stray cat we see, and being clever animals that they are I am sure they see the weakness and head straight to her! \u00c2\u00a0I am pretty sure that declaring pets at customs would prove to be an issue.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-014344-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-015806-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next it is off to Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of the Dawn. \u00c2\u00a0This temple dates from the early 1600s and is across the Chao Phraya river from the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. \u00c2\u00a0Thankfully there is a pier just down the street and a ferry that crosses the river and back for a paltry 3 baht (about $0.10) and runs about every 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

Wat Arun is built more in the Khmer style (tall spires) instead of the traditional Thai style (buildings with tall peaked roofs and ornate carvings) and stands out as quite unique. \u00c2\u00a0It’s position right along side the river adds to the scenery and the views are impressive. \u00c2\u00a0There are a couple of flights of very steep stairs going up the outside and the climb up is a little intimidating, but the views from the temple are spectacular.<\/p>\n

\"20130630-024639-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-030442-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-030657-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With every climb up however there is a climb down however, and from the top the very steep flights of stairs look like a good chance for a foreigner to test out their hospital insurance!<\/p>\n

\"20130630-030628-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-030650-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-030922-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-031327-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After wandering around the temple grounds and a stop inside to get a blessing from a monk we return to the ferry to get back across the river. \u00c2\u00a0We had planned on going to Chinatown to look around and get some dinner but I had not really done much research on where to go there and in hindsight it turns out that a little bit of internet time up front would have been a good idea. \u00c2\u00a0It seems that the landscape in Chinatown changes depending on what time of day it is, with the shops and retail vendors being the main focus in the daytime and then in the evening when the shops close the street vendors and food carts all roll out. \u00c2\u00a0As luck would have it we arrive at about the same time as the transition is occurring, and so it appears to us as we have missed it all.<\/p>\n

It was getting late in the day anyway and by now we had walked about 5 miles in the hot tropical sun, so rather than wandering about hoping to stumble on something we decided to walk back down by the river and take the river boat back to the area where we were staying. The river boat is a great bargain – it is basically bus service that runs along the river and you hop on and pay your fee, 15 baht (about $0.50), and then hop off at whatever stop you like. \u00c2\u00a0You need to stay sharp and be ready though because the whole stop takes about 30 seconds or so and if you are not ready to get on or off when it’s time, then they just move on without you. \u00c2\u00a0We watched at one stop as a couple of foreigners lazily wandered their way to the back of the boat and by the time they had gotten there the captain had already pushed on, and there is no backing up!.<\/p>\n

The trip along the river is interesting and the views are quite impressive. \u00c2\u00a0We even lucked out as we happened to go by Wat Arun as the sun was setting for a postcard moment!<\/p>\n

\"20130630-044309-1280R\"<\/a> \"20130630-044744-1280R\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By the end of the day we are totally wiped out, and by the time we stopped for a foot massage after dinner not a single one of us managed to stay awake while during our end of the day reward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bangkok – known to the Thais as Krung Theep or the City of Angels, and home to over 12 million people. People should not come to Bangkok expecting to unwind, and we are no exception. \u00c2\u00a0Mrs. Columbus and I have been here before and typically just skip the city all together, but our travel buddy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[9,8],"class_list":["post-1331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summer-2013","tag-bangkok","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1331"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1426,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions\/1426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}