Since my body clock is still closer to America time than BKK time, I’m awake early, as I expected. My activity wakes up Pink. Pretty soon we’re playing around, and a pleasant round of morning sex ensues. After we finish I lay down with her for a bit and she drifts back off to sleep. I’m hungry, so I get dressed and head down the street to the breakfast buffet at the Nana Hotel. Always interesting to see the falang with their prior night’s bar fines. After eating I go back to my hotel and read for a while.

Pink and I had decided we were going to visit the Grand Palace today. She had wanted to take me there on my prior visit, but we’d never gotten around to it. She had asked me to wake her at noon, so about mid day I go in and wake her up. Coming to about half way she says 2:00 would be better and drifts back off to sleep. I lay down and nap with her for about an hour and a half. I wake up, look at the clock and decide it’s time to wake her too. We both get up and get dressed to go. That’s when she pulls me down on top of her on the bed and starts unbuttoning my clothes. I start taking her clothes back off – hey, seems like the thing to do. In short order we’re doing the nasty for the 4th time in the past day.

After freshening up, we grab a taxi and head over to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is actually a compound of government buildings and temples, as well as countless statuary. If you have any interest in Thai culture at all, it is a must see on a visit to Bangkok. Unfortunately it is hot out, and this is not a dry heat. Thankfully there are quite a few shady places around the palace. The most impressive thing to me at the Grand Palace was the mural that depicts the entire story of the Ramakian. The mural is in a walkway that stretches around the Palace, and must quite literally be hundreds, if not thousands, of yards in length. I can’t begin to imagine how long it took the artists to paint, but it is an amazing work of art. Here are some pics I got of the palace and a few small parts of the mural.










After we tire of touring the Grand Palace, Pink and I walk over to the riverfront, where there are countless food vendors. We pick up some chicken, pork and rice to take back with us. Pink thinks over our options for getting back to the hotel. Traffic is going to be really bad this time of day, so we opt to take a water taxi upriver a short way to the skytrain station. We find a longtail boat driver who’s willing to accommodate us, pay up and hop on board. Despite the oppressive heat on land, it’s nice and cool out on the river, especially when you catch some spray from the front of the boat. If the boat were a bit comfier I’d be happy riding along enjoying the sights like this all day, but the seats are just wooden benches, and you get the brunt of it every time the boat comes down on a wave. We get to the dock near the skytrain and manage to get off the boat without falling in the river, bags of food and all. A brief walk and soon we’re on the nice cool skytrain headed back toward Nana. About halfway back my phone rings – Porker and Woodway have arrived in Bangkok. They’re going over to Bus Stop beer bar on Soi 4 for dinner. We’ve already got food in tow, but I agree to meet them there as soon as we can for a drink. I let Pink know I want to go meet some friends at Bus Stop. She’s ok with that, but isn’t at all enthusiastic about staying for any length of time. As we’ve already got food in tow anyhow, I agree we’ll hang out for a few minutes and then make an exit.

In about 10 or 15 minutes we get to Bus Stop beer bar and thanks to Porker’s description of him, I spot Woodway in no time at all. After introductions, Pink and I order drinks and she excuses herself to go to the restroom (I think that’s why she didn’t want to stay long). We chat for a while about their trip over, our day and about plans for the trip to Pattaya the next morning. After a while Pink and I excuse ourselves and head back to the hotel. We grab some juices on the way in and have dinner in my suite.

We go to one of the bars down Soi Nana and shoot pool for a little bit. We’re both tired, so we don’t stay for long. Back to the suite where we both get showers and hop in bed. We snuggle up together and talk a bit, but being that we’re both tired from all the walking and the heat that day, by 10PM we’re sound asleep.

"Traffic is going to be really bad this time of day, so we opt to take a water taxi upriver a short way to the skytrain station."

There are larger, cheaper boats roaming that river constantly - usually priced about 8B/person. Yes, it stops at a few extra piers, but it's much bigger and far more stable (no broken tailbones). Plus, the pilot is Thai so you end up going pretty fast.

Good start. Looking forward to more.

E

Dude, you could make some money selling those touristy pics to guys that gotta make up stories for the folks back home about how they spent their time on their Asian vacations! It's pretty embarrassing how little I have actually seen of the countries I've visited, but I guess I burnt out on tourist shit during field trips in elementary school.

Excellent report, so far, and very eager to read more.

Great report. I appreciate you posting pics of some of the touristy things in LOS as I'm sure few guys take the time. There's this one stop on the riverboat ride where these Thai guys are messing with these pissed off poisonous snakes and all, pretty cool and funny show. After the Grand Palace, most of the temples start to look pretty similar. If you like temples, you should definitely check out Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

It looks like you missed Wat Arun. This is another temple with easy river access. Once you've been there you'll realize how many times you've seen it on posters and in pictures. Another one of those great touristy pics. Not as famous as Angkor Wat or Wat Phra Keao, but still something you should consider.

Another way to see Bangkok differently is to take one of the dinner cruises running on the Chao Phraya River.

Unfortunately, I went on this cruise with a slow, crappy lens, but even these gimped pics will give you an idea of what you can see. Long exposures from a moving boat SUCK. BTW, the first two pics are of Wat Arun:







E

Never stopped over by Wat Arun, but I did see it from the river on my first trip. Never have made it out onto the Chao Phraya at night though - that would be really cool during Loy Krathong - but probably damn near impossible to arrange with every other fool in Bangkok trying to get out on the river that night too. I thought about trying to hook up with the cruise coming back from Ayutthaya (a chapter not yet written), but it's about 3 hours, it's costly, and our "planning" was impromptu at best.

Oh yeah - snakes are on the way too.

PG

Great report as others have already said. Nice informal style . Wat Phra Gaow is impossible to photograph. No way to do it justice in single pics , but yours are nice indeed.

I had no idea anyone here was into " touristy " pics. I have about a million of them - all on something called film and prints.Anyone remember those ? Even have about 10 hours of videos of me and my ex wife touring the old temples in Chiang Mai and Ayyuthaya, also the bridge over some river in Khanchanaburi, and many other tourist spots in Thailand. I can set up a viewing if anyone wants touristy things.

Epi

The longtails are soo much more fun than the slow ole water taxis. It doesn't cost that much more.You're starting to sound like someone else now.
I actually had one dude let me drive his longtail for a while - for a price of course - like everything else in Thailand. That was a trip ! He even took my picture while I was driving like Evil Kneievel. The dude took over when I almost swamped a group of nuns getting onto a small boat at a dock by one of those thousand temples beside the klongs . MY bad - I was doin warp speed on this relatively small klong and never saw them !!

PG

Thanks for writing up a report that included the touristy stuff. Planning my next trip to LOS and was considering doin some touristy stuff with a couple a ladies from my first trip. Didn't realize there was that much to enjoy outside of Pattaya. LOL, with my one track mind and all.