So I set off on my now familiar MRT to Hua Lamphong station; turn left; cross the road; through the txi drivers' car park; across the little bridge over the canal; left down the road with the two dogs sitting almost in a fan and then to the hazardous roundabout.
I crossed three roads which I thought was about the correct number looking for the temple before each crossing. I still couldn't see it. With the wonders of iphones and a particualrly wondrous app I'd downloaded I checkeed out the temple in relation to where I was. I was supposedly on top of ot. I looked up to my left across the road and - well you couldn't miss it.
The 5.5 ton gold Buddha was a sight to behold. Too big to steal was perhaps the logic. Apparently it had been covered in stucco to keep it out of the clutches of the Burmese and was only revealed in all its magnificence when dropped from a crane years later. An impressive sight and a nice easy to see temple.
That accomplished I set off for my usual river bus pier (Rachawong) to Tha Tien pier and then the ferry (3 bart!) across to Wat Arun. The temple gets more amazing the closer you get to it. It is inlaid with ceramic and glistens in the sunlight. The key feature is the tall (over 200 ft) central prang (tower), surrounded by four small prang.
You can climb a certain way up but the stairs getting increasingly sheer to the point that I was not sure my knees would thank me for the final increment of altitude, so I stuck at the mid level. Also on the sight were other buildings, most notably the Ordination Hall.
After Wat Arun, I repeated yesterday's water bus to Central followed by the skytrain and MRT, punctuated by a visit to Boots at Silom to get something for a dry cough that I had developed.
That evening I decided to set out to Sukhumvit to check it out. It turned out to be a bit like Ho Chi Min's District 1 - the centre of the travel scene; and of the red light industry. It boasts the Nana Plaza, reputedly the largest sex complex in the world. Unlike District 1 it includes a fair number of deluxe hotels as well as the more basic. I had originally planned to stay in the area and was more than glad I'd changed my plan. It's a bit like staying in San Antonio or Magaluf - fun for some but not for me. I'd rather drop by if I want to. Anyway, I walked around for a while looking for somewhere nice to eat and had almost given up when I came across a very animated restaurant in a side street called Suda. The guy in charge as welcoming and I decided to stay. Glad I did. The meal was great and served in a good atmosphere. Later I checked it out on TripAdvisor and it had generally good reviews but one or two sniffy people saying the food wasn't genuine. If it looks Thai, tastes Thai and is in the capital of Thailand, that's genuine enough for me.
I headed off back to quiet-ville three stops down the line on the MTR, still thanking whatever had caused me to ditch my original choice and seek out the Lumphini. The problem was that at the time of choosing I had no real concept of Bangkok and only got confused by the maps that gave no clarity. It was a real case of needing to get there to gain an understanding.
At which point I took my cough and cold to sleep.
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