Monday, October 11, 2010
My primary goal today was to sort out my Myanmar visa and find out how long I’d have to stick around Bangkok. Since the Embassy didn’t open until 9am, I decided to get there around 8:30, but by the time I arrived, the doors were already open and there was a line. I got behind some people and tried to figure out the process. There were forms to fill out which were behind the desk and then you had to wait for a queue card to hand in the application. It didn’t make much sense and most people seemed confused. The guy behind me decided to go to the front and get applications so I was able to fill out the information as I waited. There was an American girl a few people in front of me who started policing the line since people started cutting. She kept explaining the process to people as she’s done it before. It was fairly chaotic.
When I got to the front, I handed in my application and asked for the express service. After looking through my documents, and being asked for a copy of my passport (which I just happen to have on me) I got my queue card. It didn’t take long before I was called to the desk. The guy reviewed my documents, asked a few questions, made me pay the 810 baht and told me I could come back on Wednesday afternoon to get my passport. Success! And not only that, but the turn-around time is a lot quicker than I expected.
I made it back to the hostel by 9:45am and Maggie and I decided to go sightseeing. We walked towards the waterfront and on the way stopped for sweet grilled banana, sliced pineapple and at Starbucks (I couldn’t resist as I hadn’t seen one since Beijing). We sipped our cold frappuccinos as we strolled to the river. The plan was to take a boat to Wat Pho, but there were men selling canal tours and Maggie convinced me that we should take one. So we had a private 1.5 hour long-boat ride through some canals, seeing the local part of Bangkok as well as some wats. We stopped off at Wat Arun (its most prominent feature is the 82-meter high prang, a Khmer-style tower) to walk around for half an hour before our boat dropped us off at Wat Pho.
Wat Pho (aka Wat Phra Chetuphon) is famous for its Temple of the Reclining Buddha, built in 1781 and housing one of the largest reclining buddhas in Thailand at 46 meters long and 15 meters high. The gold leafed Buddha was pretty impressive, especially the feet which have 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha. We walked around the other temples on the grounds before heading to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. It was already 3pm and Maggie and I were hungry but the Palace closed at 4:30, so we knew we had to push past the hunger. Starting at Wat Phra Kaew, famous for the Emerald Buddha, we walked around the temple grounds before checking out some of the buildings of the Grand Palace.
By the time we were finished, we were exhausted and hungry. We negotiated with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Khao San road and eventually found somewhere to eat. Even though we were full, the ice cream stand nearby caught our attention. Khao San was pretty busy and walking around made me glad I wasn’t staying in the area; it was very touristy and most of the restaurants seemed to cater to visitors. Maggie and I booked a day tour for tomorrow to the floating market and I’ll continue on my own to Kanchanaburi and the Tiger temple.
Our next stop was Siam Tower to check out the famous high-tech cinemas. Back in a tuk tuk. When we got there we didn’t realize that the Siam complex was so large and it took about 20 minutes walking through the huge shopping mall to find the movie theater. Sadly, the only movie we wanted to see, Wall Street, wasn’t playing for two hours and was only in the expensive theater. We debated for a bit and decided to splurge. I had a book, so I read for a bit while Maggie walked around the mall.
We went into the pre-movie lounge 30 minutes before the movie to enjoy our “free” soda and cookies. To our surprise, the massage chairs were empty, so we jumped in to relax. The theater itself only had about 50 seats, all in pairs with huge chairs, blankets and pillows. Such a fun experience as we curled up in our chairs to enjoy the movie. Previews and commercials lasted longer than they do in the States but the movie eventually started. At some point during the film I realized I had totally forgotten where I was and had to remind myself that I was sitting at a movie theater in Thailand. The movie didn’t finish until midnight and we grabbed a taxi back to the hostel.
It was such a wonderful long day in Bangkok. I’m glad I spent the day with Maggie and mentioned this to her numerous times during the day. I don’t think my experience in the city would have been nearly as fun on my own. Not only that, but we wanted to do the same activities and were willing to spend the money for them. Starting at 6:30am tomorrow; better get to sleep.
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