Day 104 - Wat Pho and Churches

In a country known for its heavy presence of the Buddhist religion and numerous temples sprawling throughout its cities, it was nice to step away from it and see something else – a church! Maco had to go to church today, so we found one along the Chao Phraya river – the beautiful Holy Rosary Church right next to a schoolyard. It makes me wonder how these students and their families came to Christianity. Were they converted amongst all the Buddhists in the city, or was it already their religion to begin with?

We stayed for a short while, before heading along the Chao Phraya river again to Wat Pho. This would be another day spent almost entirely getting from one place to another on the river. The roof of the structure housing the reclining Buddha was being renovated, and with a donation, tourists could write their wishes on a roof tile, which would then be included in the new roof.

Wat Pho is not only a famous temple, but is also known for its massage school. I got a dose of the massage skills on my first visit here with family, but this time around, I went to a massage place just outside of the temple grounds with graduates from the school. It was probably the most painful, but also the best massage I'd ever received. These women really know how to apply pressure on your tense muscles to relax them. I think I was on the brink of tears a couple of moments during the hour long session from the pain. If you could only get one massage while in Bangkok, I'd really recommend getting a Wat Pho massage, as it is the best value – only 250 baht for one hour.

Refreshed and ready to explore some more, we took a tuk-tuk to Khao San Road so that Maco could get a dose of the backpacker scene. Still crowded like the other times I visited, and still full of foreigners, I sought out a Lonely Planet – India guidebook for my future travels. I managed to find a used 2007 version for a very good discount. I was reluctant to purchase it because it's literally bigger than the size of a brick, but thought I would really need it to navigate such a huge country.

The sun set soon after and we quickly headed back to the commuter boats to get a ride back to our hotel, since I didn't know when the boats stopped operating at night each day.

Holy Rosary Church

Plinking Coins into the Alms Bowls at Wat Pho

Grilled Pork

Day 103 - Wat Arun and the Cabaret Show

My friend Maco and I stayed at a hotel near the airport yesterday since he arrived at around midnight. Today, we checked into a hotel on Silom Road since it was closer to everything, including the subway, sky trains, and commuter boats along the Chao Phraya River.

The hotel was a little farther away from the main Silom area and infamous Patpong area, which was both good and bad. It was more peaceful with less street peddlers, but it also meant we'd probably have to take tuk-tuks to get to the market areas.

It rained most of the afternoon, so we stopped by some of the stores near the hotel, including some Afghan jewelry stores, which had some really cool rings that I'd never seen before on my travels. Usually, you'd see the same touristy souvenirs in multiple countries. Maybe I'll see them again the closer I get to Afghanistan.

Once the rain stopped, we took a boat towards Wat Arun, which I had already visited with my family at the beginning of my trip. I figure I'd play tourguide again since Maco hadn't visited Bangkok in a long time. We made it to the temple 10 minutes before closing, and luckily, we didn't have to pay the entrance fee, which definitely made Maco's day after he bought an expensive ring earlier in the day.

At the end of the night, we headed to the Caberet show that I went to about a month ago with my other friend from Vietnam. This time, we got front row seats, but even close up, many of the ladyboys looked genuinely like women!

Wat Arun

Ladyboy Cabaret

Day 66 - Myanmar Embassy and Wat Pho

Woke up early to head to the Myanmar Embassy to apply for my 30 day visa to the country. I booked my flight for July 31, since I had to be out of Thailand by that date. I plan on visiting for about three weeks, give or take. Getting out of Khao San road using local transportation is difficult because there aren't any subways or sky trains near the old city. It's a good spot for you to visit some of the famous temples and the Grand Palace though.

I ended up taking a boat down the Chao Phraya River to get to the embassy. It was a convienent and quick way to get around a city full of gridlock road traffic throughout the day.

Afterwards, I met up with Quang at Wat Pho, which I had already visited with my family over a month ago. It was cool to see everything again though. You get to see some of the things you missed the first time around, when it was blazing hot outside. The weather today wasn't too bad and we got to explore the grounds a little more.

Afterwards, we took another boat ride down the river to Chinatown to grab some food and check out some of the bargains at the wholesale markets. By the time we wanted to leave, there was rush hour traffic and no taxi would take us back to Khao San road without paying a premium, so we took the boat back up.

We ended up getting lost along the river because the boat didn't stop at our pier. We took a couple transfers back and forth along the river, until we reached yet another University. For some reason, I feel like I always get lost at a university. Luckily, we were able to walk our way back to our hotel.

At night, we met up with Quang's friend, who took us to Silom road, where we had dinner and went to the infamous Patpong district to see what was offered there...