The very grand Grand Palace, the not so grand Soi Cowboy and more getting lost

Hi Internet! Bangkok has been an incredible whirlwind which I am about to leave (may have already left by the time I post this). Phuket, here I come in a few hours (or may have arrived by the time this goes live)! But before I leave Bangkok (to return later as I am not done, and this is my departure city), let’s review.

Friday, I went to the Grand Palace. Well, at least that was the plan. I took the trains exactly as the rest of the internet instructed and even took the correct, cheaper ferry to head to the Grand Palace. Unfortunately, I miscounted the stops and ended up alighting at Wat Arun. Something I only realised when the entrance fee was only a tenth of what I was led to believe! I was not planning on visiting this temple but as you can see, it is very beautiful, so not a bad blunder at all.

The downside to my little mishap was alighting to the Grand Palace in the middle of the day with the full force of the sun beating down. I was struggling and I am not built for that kind of sun, but everyone there, no matter their nationality, no matter their hue, everyone was sweating, fanning and drinking copious amounts of water. In fact, the drinking water taps all had long queues as everyone was refilling bottles or taking sips from mugs provided.

The Grand Palace is actually a series of compounds with the beautiful, striking Emerald Buddha Temple and surrounding buildings, monuments and murals, the Royal buildings (much of this is off limits and only the outside available to the public) and the Museum of the Emerald Buddha Temple (really a museum of the entire compound and palace artefacts). The entire experience is quite mind-blowing (and I am not saying that because of heatstroke!), the majesty, the intricacy, the beauty of every part of the buildings and monuments is quite breath taking. The detail of the artistry is just remarkable, from the largest structure to the tiny elements of the painted mural, it is all gorgeous. The compound is really an unmissable part of a visit to Bangkok!

Then onto the less good news, I managed to get lost again on Friday night. The less said about that the better. But for the record, totally Google Maps fault. How on earth is an English speaker meant to find their way when they are putting the street names on the directions in Thai? The irony of this sorry tale is that when I went back the next evening, through my own, normally faulty sense of direction and the completely useless maps, I had actually gotten quite close to my destination. Sometimes my capability with direction is not as awful as I think…or let’s put it this way, better than Google Maps clearly incomprehensible directions.

On Saturday night I decided to take a walk to Soi Cowboy as it is one of those other Bangkok Bucket List places that you are supposed to go. Now it was not highest on my to-do list but because of time on Saturday night and having to wake up early on Sunday for my flight, I was not going to do a faraway night market and use up all of my energy.

Before anyone says, “But what did you expect?” I knew that Soi Cowboy was the bar and Go-go district and I am not unaware of what that means. However, walking down that street, there was not a hint of irony, humour or fun. Frankly it was downright seedy and creepy with throngs of ladies dressed in very little, mostly just underwear and heels with painted faces, pawing at all the men as they passed, to get them in their bar’s door and drinking. I was one of only 3 women there who was not working, and the other two had male partners, with their hands held firmly in tow. I was the only woman there on my own. I felt out of place, not just being alone, but mainly as a female person not there to work and frankly, peddle flesh. The ladies felt grim and the men either gross or overwhelmed and the whole thing seemed very sad. It is not that I am prudish but there was not an iota of fun there at all. I took a photo at the back end of Soi Cowboy and I was not unhappy to see the back of it for a moment. Quite sad that something so famous felt regressive, out of place and simply not in keeping with the ways of the world in 2019.  

But overall Bangkok was great and I will see it again in a few weeks. For now, I am in Phuket and what a saga it was getting to my hotel…more on that in the next post. Where will the red hat get to next?