Bangkok is an incredible, busy city that never sleeps. We arrived late in the evening and the streets were packed. We stayed in a guesthouse near Khao San Road…which is known as the backpacker district.  Our 1st day we walked to the Grand Palace which wasn’t too far from where we stayed and we were drenched in sweat by the time we got there. It was sticky hot! Not to mention that there are hardly any pedestrian crossings and tons of cars and motorbikes!  We waited for a Thai person to dart across the street and followed quickly behind. The Grand Palace was amazing…it left you speechless.  So overwhelming with all the detailed statues and structures glinting gold and jeweled colors. The grounds were huge with one ornate building after another. Did I mention it was hot? The Palace is a sacred place with many temples and Buddhas (one of the most famous here is the Emerald Buddha) so you have to be appropriately dressed with skirts down to our calves and shirts with sleeves.  To enter the temple with the Emerald Buddha you must also take off your shoes. It was a very spiritual experience with people from many different cultures, including the monks dressed in their orange robes, kneeling down in prayer and meditation. We also visited another temple, Wat Pho, which has Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha. It was huge and so beautiful!  Over 150 feet long and 50 feet high!

From there we headed to the river to try and catch a cool breeze and a ride. We got on one boat and we were all excited as it pulled away from the dock but that was short lived as we realized we had gotten on the wrong boat…this one only took you across the river to another amazing temple. Luckily from that side we were able to catch a large gondola down the river…it felt so good to be on the water with the breeze; a temporary relief from the heat. We got off the river and hopped on the Skytrain which was a great way to see the city…the views were amazing and there was AC!

The day flew by!  It was already after 6pm and we needed to get back to the other side of town to meet Trevor and Richard (friends of friends that didn’t know each other but both live in Bangkok) but it had taken us awhile to get here via the gondola and Skytrain…a taxi wasn’t a good option either since it was prime time traffic. A quick look at the map and guidebook we discovered a smaller river with a public water taxi, the Khlong. For only 8 baht (about 25 cents) you jump on a long skinny boat packed with people (mostly Thai)…it was fun and fast! Racing down the narrow canal with other Khlong’s heading in the opposite direction…there were sheets of plastic on the sides that you pulled up while passing other boats so the passengers don’t get too wet. We arrived back to our side of town in no time and hopped in a tuk-tuk (a small motorized taxi) for a short ride back to our hotel where we met Richard and Trevor.  Over dinner we were able to pick their brains on where to go and what to see in Thailand…1st hand traveling advice is priceless! Plus Trevor just finished writing the Cambodia guidebook for National Geographic so we got some great advice on where to go when we get there as well.

We had a great 1st day in Thailand and managed to try many new means of transportation.