Bangkok -- Day 3 -- Grand Palace and Shopping

After an elaborate breakfast, I set out early for the Louis Pasteur Snake Farm, now known as Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute. This is one of the principal places for toxicology research in Thailand. From my Sktrain stop (Saphan Khwai), I went to Siam Central Station and switched trains to get to Sala Daeng. From there it was a brisk 20 minute walk to the snake farm. I met Jessica from the guest house and we watched a slide show on venomous snakes as well as a live demonstration. It was very informative and impressive. See the picture on the top. Brave guy, eh? It's a Burmese python and picture taken by Jessica. Thanks Jessica.

From there I went to see the pièce de résistance of Bangkok tourism, the Grand Palace. It was to open to the public only at 1.30 pm, so the museum staff, who, by the way, are extremely helpful, directed a tuk tuk driver to take me to yet another Buddhist temple, this time the Mount Buddha (I wasn't impressed). It's fun riding these tuk tuks, although Ralph Nader would have a fit since these are truly "unsafe at any speed". It is a pollution nightmare, rickety and noisy. The only thing going for it is that it's cheap to ride for short distances. Most of these tuk tuk drivers are not locals, don't speak any English and don't know the city too well either. Tuk tuks are mostly for show and meant to con tourists into needless shopping. The drivers get "petrol credits" from the government to "promote tourism". So if you take one of these, don't feel too bad about not paying much.

The driver was a real nice, polite guy and helped me to a local roadside stall for lunch, although he refused to join me when I asked him to. I had a wonderful meal (some transparent noodles with chicken and plenty of basil as well as chilies) accompanied by 3 diet cokes -- it was hotter than hell, both temperature-wise and food-wise. I was sweating even more, but, what the hell, I enjoyed the food. It was heaven! I finally returned to the Grand Palace in time.

This is the residence of the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest serving Head of State, having been on the throne since 1946! Words cannot do justice to its grandeur, although on the minus side it's expensive to enter -- 500 Baht. It is a sprawling campus, housing many current and previous royal residences, including Wat Phra Kaew, the so-called Emerald Buddha. It's easy to get lost in the opulence and the majesty of this palace. It's one of those things -- you have to be there.

Having completed these, I caught a cab to the clothier I had mentioned in a previous post and had my suit and jacket re-fitted. I spent an hour or so there, but the cab driver, Boo, waited all the time for me to come out. He agreed to take me the next day to the famous floating market, an hour and a half from Bangkok. (More on that later) I asked Boo to recommend a good place for yet another Thai massage and he did not disappoint! This time around, it was only 350 Baht. I had agreed to and paid Boo 200 Baht for his assistance.

Anyway, I was tired, yet relaxed and went to a seafood place that looked good. I should have known better. I saw the price for a crab (170 Baht) and was thrilled beyond belief. So, I pointed to a crab still in its shell, picked up some vegetables à la carte and ordered all of it. The restaurant advertised seafood any style I wanted, so I said chili pepper crab. After the great meal came the sticker price shock -- 3200 Baht (~ 90 USD)! After asking if there was a mistake, I realized that the price was 170 Baht per hundred grams, and the vegetables? Some ungodly sum. RTFM really!

After this costly mistake, I went back to the guest house for a beer or two and met Darren. I informed him about the trip to the floating market and fortunately, he agreed. Wow! A small victory after a disastrous meal. So it goes. Good night!