Touring Bangkok's Temples

Today we got up around 11am as I was still feeling ill. Neither of us had had a particularly great nights sleep due to the people we were sharing with so we were fairly tired.

We decided to visit some of the temples on one side of the city. We set off walking and it was very hot. The first temple we got to was Wat Rajaburana which had a big white and green tower type thing out the front. We weren't actually able to go inside the main building but we had a wander round the outside.

The second place was probably one of my favourites. The sign said "Khao Mo or a replica mountain of Prayurawongsawas Temple is located in the middle of a large pond. It is a rock garden surrounded by a number of miniature chedis and stupas, cathedrals, pavilions,  and rare plants. It has been a place of peace and tranquility in the monastery for more than 180 years". We sat on the side of the pond looking up at the mini mountain feeding turtles. It was quiet and green and peaceful. I could have sat there all day.

Wat Prayurawongswat was just next door. It had been restored in 2013. It had a large white stupa which you could go upstairs and in to. Inside was a little temple. And then we had to crawl through a small gap to get out. I'm not sure why.  I'm also not sure why we couldn't have just gone out the way we came in but oh well. In the ground there's was a whole load of stalls and lots of people were praying as today is the last day of Songkran.

Our next stop was Wat Phitchaya Yatikaram. It was a big temple with some fancy white turrets. We wandered round inside the temple and round the outside taking pictures. There must have been some watery event going on there earlier and the floor was soaked. I almost slipped over. There was lots of people praying.

Next we headed to Wat Kanlayanimit. It had a huge gold Buddha inside. We had a look round and then went round the grounds where there was lots of things going on. We saw a purple lion dance which we only briefly watched before heading on to the next and final place.

Wat Arun was probably one of the most elaborate temples we have seen. There was four decorated white towers round the outside with a big one in the middle, which unfortunately was covered in scaffolding. There were bells hanging off the towers, and the two square buidings at the sides, chiming in the wind. It was quite beautiful. We wandered round taking photos and then headed out the back where we sat and watched what one would assume was a traditional Thai song/dance/acting performance with about 6 characters; 2 people and 4 dragon type creatures. We watched for a while and then got a tuktuk home.

We had survived all day without getting a soaking but on the tuktuk ride home we encountered several people at the side of the road with big buckets. We were nt prepared or dressed for it and we got very wet. Wet leggings make for uncomfortable walking. Thankfully we had considered that it might happen this morning and all our stuff was wrapped in plastic bags.

We got back to the hostel around 6pm and just spent the evening chilling, as I am not exactly up for going out partying.

Songkran at Silom Road

We had a very lazy morning today. I started getting a sore throat last night and I woke up several times during the night with a sore throat and blocked nose and when I woke up around 7 this morning I also had a banging headache. We ended up just staying in bed until around 3pm before I eventually decided I'd just have to take some paracetamol and get on with it. The events at Silom Road apparently didn't start until 3 anyway so we weren't missing much. We got dressed and went out to find a tuktuk.

Before we could head out to join the festivities we had to see if we could find an open travel agents. Bring the genius I am I accidently booked us some flights for the 18th of July instead of 18th of April. I had got in touch with the airline and they told me I could change the flights for a fee either by going to the airport counter or by ringing the call centre, however the call centre would only take Thai credit cards. It was a two.hour journey to the airport and I don't have a Thai credit card. We weren't able to find a travel agents and ended up just booking new flights and losing the money. Next time I will be sure to check.

We got a tuktuk down to Silom Road to join in the fun. On the way we passed several tuktuks carrying other people with water pistols and we would shoot each other as we drove. Silom Road was longer and wider than Khao San Road yesterday. There was also a lane system in place, meaning you could walk one way down one side and the other way down the other side. There were people at the side of the road throwing freezing buckets of water over people. We got absolutely soaked again. We walked each way once and by the time we had done it was dark. We enquired about any evening events from several people and they all said there wasn't any so we just headed back to the hostel. I'm not sure if it's due to Thailand being in a mourning period for their late king or if that's just how it is.

On the tuktuk on the way back we were the victims of several ambushes by people with buckets of water and white powder. The tuktuk driver even stopped at one point so Lauren and I could get a soaking. We had no water left in our guns so we were completely defenceless. We arrived back at the hostel around 8pm dripping wet. We ended up making the floor of our room wet resulting in both Lauren and I slipping over in a similar place. I was wearing only a towel when I slipped and only just managed to preserve my dignity as I landed.

Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up feeling a bit better for the last day of the Songkran festival.

Soaking at Songkran

We got up late today, eventually leaving the hostel around 11am armed with water pistols and got a tuktuk to Khao San Road. It was the first day of Songkran festival today, which celebrates the Thai New Year, and what was originally gently tipping a small bowl of water over your elderly relatives to symbolise starting afresh and washing away the past year has evolved into an all out water fight. The street was closed to cars and there was hundreds of people with water pistols of all shapes and sizes shooting anyone and everyone. No one was safe. Naturally we joined in. We got an absolutely soaking but it kept us nice and cool in the heat. Several times we had to refill our pistols from huge buckets of water on the side of the road for the small sum of 5 baht. We sussed out that some of the water avilable for refilling was a lot colder than others and used that. We also figured out it was probably best not to start shooting people with more powerful and bigger guns than yourself.

During the water fight a band made up of drums and various trumpets/saxophones/horns came down the street leading to a huge crowd of people dancing and shooting water in the air where they stopped. It was so much fun and such a party atmosphere, it was fabulous.

We stopped for a drink and shared some chips before joining back in as the band came out again. 

At around 4pm we called it a day and headed back to the hostel to change and dry off. We had real trouble finding a tuktuk who knew where we wanted to go, despite having the name of the hostel and the address. Eventually we found one and we made it back.

We showered and changed and around half 6 went out the the square just round the corner that we went to last night.  It was a lot earlier so there was more stalls open. There was a stage and chairs, and a shrine with people praying in the middle section and then food stalls down one side and knick-knacks down the other. I got some dumplings and Lauren got some of the chicken I had yesterday which it turns out was actually pork. We sat down as the side and then some music started on the stage. It was quite mellow and no one seemed to be enjoying it. There was no clapping or dancing or anything. No enthusiasm at all. After a while we got bored as the music wasn't that great and returned to the hostel for the evening.