On Tuesday I ventured out in search of two things – the Amulet Market and Wat Arun. I have a complex about hailing cabs in countries where I believe they will try to rip me off, but there wasn’t going to be any other way for me to get to where I had to go, so… I went out on Suan Phlu and hailed a cab to Saphan Taksin. The driver didn’t speak much English, but asked “BTS?” to confirm. When I mentioned something about the boats on the Chao Phraya, he nodded “Yes.” He turned his meter on immediately, so there was no problem. When I exited the car, he directed me to go straight to catch a boat. Unfortunately, the first boats I came upon were intended for tourists because they had a huge sign stating something about “tours” and showing all of the stops. Plus, the price was higher than I’d heard for the local boats. I didn’t feel like wandering around any longer, so hopped on to one of the touristy long tails and headed down the river. Most of us were getting off at the Grand Palace stop; Wat Arun is directly across the river from the Grand Palace stop, so requires another boat. I did, indeed, get off at the Grand Palace stop, with intentions of crossing the river to get to Wat Arun. First off, there’s no ladylike way to exit those boats. They simply pull up to the dock, you grab a rope attached to the inner tubes attached to the sides of the dock and haul yourself over, although one of the guys working there might be kind enough to lend you a hand. Once I was on the dock, I started wandering through the market area, however, and told myself that I’d put off Wat Arun for a little while. As it turned out, I wandered through the market and then a bit further. Soon enough, I found myself right at Wat Pho, the site of the Reclining Buddha. Since I’d enjoyed seeing that Buddha so much in October, I didn’t mind seeing it again at a more leisurely pace. In addition to paying my respects to the Reclining Buddha, I walked around the grounds snapping lots of photos. A young Japanese tourist was causing quite a stir amongst the Thai school girls present. The tourist was walking around the temple grounds in a short skirt, midriff baring top and platform heels. She “covered” herself with a long black see-through jacket of some type. All of the Thai school girls were staring in disbelief, as they whispered and laughed amongst themselves. I recalled that the Amulet Market was in the vicinity. When I asked a man for directions, he informed me that it wouldn’t open until 2:00 p.m. or thereabouts. In the meantime, he convinced me to take a tuk tuk ride with one of his friends to take me to some other temples, as well as their commissioned stops – jewelry stores, tailors and certain restaurants. I didn’t mind. The first stop was the Lucky Buddha. While seated inside, there was only one other person there. The Thai man began conversing with me about where I was from, how long I’d be in Thailand and what I planned to see. When I mentioned one of the jewelry stores, he began showing me some of his very impressive rings, which he’d purchased over the years at that very same jewelry store. I was mostly admiring his very thick gold necklace, however. He told me that he’d bought it more than ten years ago for 48,000 Thai baht; it was now worth more than double that amount. Because of his superstitions, he’d adorned it with about six gold Buddha pendants. I joked with him that, in the event of a boat capsizing, he’d sink straight to the bottom of the ocean with all of that gold weight! According to him, the Thai way is to begin buying gold at a young age. When the price goes up, you sell it. Whenever you need money to buy a house or start a business, you sell it. I admitted to never being able to part with any of my gold! The next stop was another temple. I couldn’t quite understand what the tuk tuk driver was saying, but I thought he was saying something about the “marble” Buddha. This temple had several Buddhas – Chinese, East Indian, etc. – lining the courtyard. One was even a very anorexic-looking “fasting” Buddha. After that temple, we were off to the first jewelry store. I’ll cut to the chase and admit to buying a rather overpriced 18K gold ring with a small cornflower blue sapphire and four small diamonds. The salesman was very, very kind and persuasive! At another jewelry store I purchased a pair of silver earrings set with semi-precious stones. At the final jewelry store, I bought a 23K gold ring, which was the best deal of all. If only he’d taken me to that jewelry store first! I ran through the tailor shop, but didn’t want anything made and had no interest in their souvenirs or pre-made clothing. The restaurant that he took me to was old with eclectic décor. I was the sole customer. The chicken larb, however, was excellent and quite spicy. My tuk tuk tour did certainly end at the Amulet Market. Though there were many fascinating amulets, I didn’t feel informed enough to make a purchase. Besides, the heat and humidity were affecting my decision-making skills! I finally took a cab back to the condo to shower and rest a bit. As you can see, I never made it to Wat Arun!
My friend, D., and I were having dinner at Le Isaan that night. We met at the restaurant, which is across from the condo I was staying in. We had chicken satay and bruschetta, shrimp in yellow curry and chicken with basil stir fry. I won’t even mention my two glasses of wine and the complimentary shot provided by our waiter!
Afterwards, I had to go back to the condo and pack. My shuttle was coming around 3:00 a.m. to take me to DMK for my 6:00 a.m. flight to Denpasar. I tried to use Uber in Bangkok, but there were no cars in the area. I also tried to use GrabTaxi, but it would only work on my phone. Since my phone isn’t reliable abroad, I didn’t want to risk it. My last option was Bangkok Shuttle, which cost more than the others, but was easy to make a reservation on-line. A private car picked me up promptly at 3:00 a.m. and got me to DMK in plenty of time for my flight.
