If your enthusiasm to explore Bangkok is stymied by a shortage of time; if you prefer tramp alone through the underbelly of a city rather than endure the robots that organize conducted tours, please take a look at Wikitravel’s “One Day in Bangkok”.
http://wikitravel.org/en/One_day_in_Bangkok
I found it very useful. The itinerary takes you through the medieval districts of Rattanakosin, through its winding canals to gleaming golden pagodas; through the touristy sites along the Chao Phraya River, for a grand finale at the legendary pubs of Patpong.
At Wikitravel, Jpatokal covers quite a lot of action for one day. But if you have the enthusiasm you can actually squeeze out much more – especially if have at hand a copy of Nancy Chandler’s quirky, hand-painted guide-map.
My day started at Sukhumvit Soi. I walked out of my hotel, past Cowboy Soi to the BTS Asok station. A 100B rail pass goes a long way and my first ride took me from Asok-Sukhumvit through Nana, Phloen Chit, Chitlom and Siam to Ratchathewi.
Jpatokal’s directions are perfect – you come down from Ratchathewi, cross a small bridge across the Saen Saep canal and hop on to a boat speeding westwards. The canal is murky & narrow but is wide enough to let two boats through. They have plastic curtains to protect you from being drenched by boats speeding past in the opposite direction. But unless you stand and look over the sheets you are likely to miss interesting sights along the way - Jim Thompson’s House (the Yank who made Thai Silk so famous), Bo-Be Market, the back-streets and the towers of Siam business district.
There is no point asking the boat guys for a ticket to Golden Mount terminus. The local name is something else. So just buy a 10B ticket and get off the boat when you are nearest to a large golden pagoda.
It’s a nice view from the top of Golden Mount aka Wat Saket. Thousands of brass bells chime in the wind and you get a nice overview atop Rattanakosin of the urban sprawl of Bangkok. From here, instead of taking a taxi I walked all the way to the National Museum, the Grand Palaces and Wat Po.
The pavements are wide open and there are plenty of refreshment stalls along the way. There is a nice bookshop at the Democracy Monument circle – this is where I picked up my Nancy Chandler Guide, and some Thai instrumental music CDs.
Despite all warnings I fell for a tout - a smooth-talking fellow just outside the Museum. I was reading the map to get my bearings when he approached me with the friendly nonchalance of a passerby. He assured me that everything in Bangkok shuts down for a lunch break and that I could use time to see how his ancestors lived in the “real-original” city across the river. He even haggled fares with a tuk-tuk driver but when I reach the boat station at Phra Pin Klao, a mammoth white boat lay waiting on the quay for gullible Firangs. Dark windows, tables set for a 2000B lunch and no sign moving across the river. I hurried back to the museum and found it wide open -- no lunch break.
The museum has around seven sections in different buildings so it takes a couple of hours to see everything. Unlike the museums in India, everything seems to be manned by student-volunteers. It’s nice to see them in their bright yellow-T’s, explaining intricacies of Mekong-delta art & architecture. Other students are busy restoring old paintings and copying intricate motifs. The Museum café is a good place to grab a coconut ice cream.
From here you walk past Thammasat University – a hotbed of all those angry student protestors you see on TV – to the Grand Palace area. This area is jam packed with tourists. After visiting the Emerald Buddha Temple and a couple of palaces, I got a bit tired of the crowds and all the gold and grandeur.
A walk along the peripheral walls of the Palace leads you to Wat Po where you have a large reclining Buddha. Interesting… especially those 108 auspicious symbols on his 20 feet wide “feet”. But a more practical place to visit at Wat Po is the Massage School. It is tucked away in the rear, at the end of an elaborate Chinese garden dotted with statues of hefty warriors glaring down at you.
The school is sparse – a reception counter, and a hall lined with about 20 cots. The students – again in yellow-Ts - start the massage after a few minutes of deep prayer. A 30-minute ‘dry-massage’ for 250B is worth a thousand grand palaces! The pier at Tha Tien was not easy to find. It sits on a rickety wooden platform; tucked away behind shops selling spices, dry fish and mementos. The Chao Phraya River Express boats take you on a cool, breezy trip downstream, past Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) and new hotels to Tha Oriental (N1). This pier is rickety and partially flooded but once you are on terra firma, the road leads to straight the Oriental Hotel.
http://wikitravel.org/en/One_day_in_Bangkok
I found it very useful. The itinerary takes you through the medieval districts of Rattanakosin, through its winding canals to gleaming golden pagodas; through the touristy sites along the Chao Phraya River, for a grand finale at the legendary pubs of Patpong.
At Wikitravel, Jpatokal covers quite a lot of action for one day. But if you have the enthusiasm you can actually squeeze out much more – especially if have at hand a copy of Nancy Chandler’s quirky, hand-painted guide-map.
My day started at Sukhumvit Soi. I walked out of my hotel, past Cowboy Soi to the BTS Asok station. A 100B rail pass goes a long way and my first ride took me from Asok-Sukhumvit through Nana, Phloen Chit, Chitlom and Siam to Ratchathewi.
Jpatokal’s directions are perfect – you come down from Ratchathewi, cross a small bridge across the Saen Saep canal and hop on to a boat speeding westwards. The canal is murky & narrow but is wide enough to let two boats through. They have plastic curtains to protect you from being drenched by boats speeding past in the opposite direction. But unless you stand and look over the sheets you are likely to miss interesting sights along the way - Jim Thompson’s House (the Yank who made Thai Silk so famous), Bo-Be Market, the back-streets and the towers of Siam business district.
There is no point asking the boat guys for a ticket to Golden Mount terminus. The local name is something else. So just buy a 10B ticket and get off the boat when you are nearest to a large golden pagoda.
It’s a nice view from the top of Golden Mount aka Wat Saket. Thousands of brass bells chime in the wind and you get a nice overview atop Rattanakosin of the urban sprawl of Bangkok. From here, instead of taking a taxi I walked all the way to the National Museum, the Grand Palaces and Wat Po.
The pavements are wide open and there are plenty of refreshment stalls along the way. There is a nice bookshop at the Democracy Monument circle – this is where I picked up my Nancy Chandler Guide, and some Thai instrumental music CDs.
Despite all warnings I fell for a tout - a smooth-talking fellow just outside the Museum. I was reading the map to get my bearings when he approached me with the friendly nonchalance of a passerby. He assured me that everything in Bangkok shuts down for a lunch break and that I could use time to see how his ancestors lived in the “real-original” city across the river. He even haggled fares with a tuk-tuk driver but when I reach the boat station at Phra Pin Klao, a mammoth white boat lay waiting on the quay for gullible Firangs. Dark windows, tables set for a 2000B lunch and no sign moving across the river. I hurried back to the museum and found it wide open -- no lunch break.
The museum has around seven sections in different buildings so it takes a couple of hours to see everything. Unlike the museums in India, everything seems to be manned by student-volunteers. It’s nice to see them in their bright yellow-T’s, explaining intricacies of Mekong-delta art & architecture. Other students are busy restoring old paintings and copying intricate motifs. The Museum café is a good place to grab a coconut ice cream.
From here you walk past Thammasat University – a hotbed of all those angry student protestors you see on TV – to the Grand Palace area. This area is jam packed with tourists. After visiting the Emerald Buddha Temple and a couple of palaces, I got a bit tired of the crowds and all the gold and grandeur.
A walk along the peripheral walls of the Palace leads you to Wat Po where you have a large reclining Buddha. Interesting… especially those 108 auspicious symbols on his 20 feet wide “feet”. But a more practical place to visit at Wat Po is the Massage School. It is tucked away in the rear, at the end of an elaborate Chinese garden dotted with statues of hefty warriors glaring down at you.
The school is sparse – a reception counter, and a hall lined with about 20 cots. The students – again in yellow-Ts - start the massage after a few minutes of deep prayer. A 30-minute ‘dry-massage’ for 250B is worth a thousand grand palaces! The pier at Tha Tien was not easy to find. It sits on a rickety wooden platform; tucked away behind shops selling spices, dry fish and mementos. The Chao Phraya River Express boats take you on a cool, breezy trip downstream, past Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) and new hotels to Tha Oriental (N1). This pier is rickety and partially flooded but once you are on terra firma, the road leads to straight the Oriental Hotel.
I did not find anything distinctive about the Oriental or its “famous Bamboo Bar”. Five-star hotels are just the same everywhere… the same immaculate uniforms, artificial smiles, spotless floors and obscene price tags. There is so much more character on the streets.
Back on the streets, I helped myself to some steaming hot street food, ambled through some malls, explored Patpong and got back to Sukhumvit sometime after midnight, thanking Wikitravel for a day well spent.
Back on the streets, I helped myself to some steaming hot street food, ambled through some malls, explored Patpong and got back to Sukhumvit sometime after midnight, thanking Wikitravel for a day well spent.
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