We woke up at 4 AM on our second day. Jet lag, apparently, has no respect for vacation. By 5:30 we’d given up on sleep and were wandering the streets of Banglamphu as the city stirred to life around us.
Monks in saffron robes moved silently down Soi Rambuttri, collecting alms from shopkeepers who knelt barefoot on the pavement. A woman was already deep-frying pa thong ko — those little Thai doughnuts you dip in pandan custard — and the smell pulled us in like a tractor beam. We ate six. No regrets.
The Grand Palace & Wat Pho
By 8 AM, the heat was already building. We joined the river of tourists flowing toward the Grand Palace, paid our 500 baht, and spent two hours craning our necks at chedis covered in gold leaf and mirrored glass that glittered like disco balls in the morning sun.
But honestly? Wat Pho was better.
Fewer people, more shade, and the Reclining Buddha — all 46 meters of gold-plated serenity — lying there with an expression that seemed to say I’ve been here since 1788, you can calm down now. The soles of its feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl depicting the 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha. We stood there for ten minutes just looking at them.
Thea got a foot massage at the Wat Pho massage school afterward. “Therapeutic,” she said. “Also slightly painful in ways I didn’t know feet could experience.”
The Chao Phraya
We caught an orange-flag express boat from Tha Tien pier just as the sun started to dip. The Chao Phraya at dusk is a different river than during the day — the water turns bronze, the temple spires catch the last light, and the city’s chaos somehow feels like music.
The Andaman farewell — our last sunset before heading south.
What We Learned Today
- You cannot eat just one mango sticky rice. It is physically impossible.
- The Royal Barge Museum is worth the 100 baht just for the air conditioning.
- Tuk-tuk drivers who say “I take you to Lucky Buddha, very cheap” are not taking you to a Buddha.
- The best pad thai we’ve ever eaten came from a cart with no name on a street we couldn’t find again if we tried.
Tomorrow we head south. But tonight, Bangkok still has a few surprises for us. 🛺