Bangkok, Protests? Wats?

My first day in Bangkok was a success, I don’t really know that means, but it was one. I did have a couple fails, but they were mainly self induced. I had a brilliant plan in my head of how I was going to hit up a ton of wats (temples) and then go to the train station and pick up a train ticket to head to Nonh Khai on Wednesday. Well I managed to not bring my ATM card with me and only 800 baht (33 baht=$1) with the main temple costing 500 baht to get in. I then went to the two main temples and it was pretty nice to get there before the crowds arrived. I then took a ferry, 3 baht, across the river/canal to another temple with a really high tower with super steep steps (almost ladder like). There I spotted a site that made me ashamed to be an American, a dude wearing a Go-Pro mounted to his head with an elastic strap. SERIOUSLY THERE IS NO NEED FOR A GO PRO TO WALK UP STEPS IN A TEMPLE, it makes gapers wearing Go Pros while shredding groomed blues at Keystone (with their buddy wearing a cowboy hat) seem hardcore.

A view back across from the river, standing next to the GoPro guy

Pooping Pose!!!!!

It doesn’t matter how attractive you are, this is not acceptable

Sweet Shirt

I then realized that I was getting hungry so I crossed back to the other side of the river and bought some mango to sustain me until I found a place for lunch. I then started randomly wandering around and realized that my sense of direction in Bangkok is really screwed up. Normally I have a good idea of where I am and how to get back to my hostel, but in this city I have been completely turned around at least 4 times. In addition to having a bad sense of direction I am also being lame when it comes to food. I skipped a ton of street food and ended up in a restaurant for lunch and chowed down on some fried olives and pork with a coke (100 baht).

Lunch

I eventually made it back to the hostel and grabbed my ATM card and some cash. I then took a 25 minute tuk tuk ride to the train station (I paid 100 baht which I know is over paying, but I didn’t care). One taxi refused to take me because of the time of day and protests.

I picked up a train ticket and then wandered around Chinatown for a while. I ended up in a market street that was pretty sweet. I then took another tuk tuk (60 baht) to another temple area, the Golden Mound. I decided to walk back to my hostel knowing that I have to walk through two protest areas to get there directly. The protest areas were deserted with some tents and some people hanging out, but nothing like the media proclaimed it to be.