Day 79 - The Reclining Buddha

The initial plan for today was a full-day visit of the main attraction in Bangkok, the Grand Palace. But in the morning a strong thunderstorm convinced us to change plans and plan a shorter visit to the Wat Pho temple, the temple of the reclining Buddha. Being rated the number one attraction on TripAdvisor, the reclining Buddha temple is somewhat crowded, but fortunately not so overcrowded by - mainly Chinese - busloads of tourist than the Grand Palace. On our way to the reclining Buddha we walked along the large white walls of the Grand Palace and heard warnings through loudspeakers not to pay attention to fake police officers that lead you to a wrong place: “Do not trust anyone around the Grand Palace.” OK...

 

We stayed three hours in the Wat Pho temple, exploring not only the hall with the huge lying Buddha statue, but also many huge stupas covered with beautiful porcelain from China. In the large Buddha hall you hear strange sounds which you understand only by walking along the back side of Buddha: a long row of coconut (?) bowls in which people throw copper offering coins that you can buy on site.

Because the walking way from the Wat Pho to the hotel is quite Long after three hours of Sightseeing in the humid air, and because it is said that all Thai Tuk Tuk drivers rip you off, we took the public express boat back to our hotel. Quite loud (the man that fixed the boat to the pier communicates with the boat captain by whistle that blows your ears away), crowded but fast and cheap: 40 Baht only for one person, no matter how long the distance is (100 Baht = 3 CHF).

In the evening we had dinner again in the Hotel restaurant, not only because the dishes are tasty and interesting, but also to listen to the live music of two singers and guitarists, again.

What I learned? I will never eat Marmite again in my entire life. My thoughts during breakfast: “I want to try Marmite, but I don’t wanna buy a whole glass in case I don’t like it. Now a opened glass stands in front of me, so why not try it? Just a lil bit…..” And that’s why I tried Marmite which was the biggest mistake ever. How can ANYONE enjoy THAT thing?! I tried only a pinch and got the shock of the day: all my face muscles contracted eating that sour bitter barbecue beef spread. Gosh.