We spent the day in Bangkok on a walking tour devised by ourselves. We left the hotel and headed to China town. Many colourful temples, but we just missed a Chinese show at one of them. The costumes looked great! We followed the route of the river so we wouldn't get too lost. We stumbled across a huge flower market, with many different types and beautiful arrangements.
We continued near Wat Po and the Grand Palace before heading to Democracy Monument, passing hundreds of little nik nak stalls. Democracy Monument was full of people selling whistles, Thai flags and anti Government t-shirts. There was still a few protesters around, but tomorrow it may be a very different story! The backpacker hangout, Kao San Road was our next stop. It was full of market stalls selling clothes, cheap'ish' guesthouses and restaurants.
The journey back was made via the fast river ferry. Today, it wasn't too fast as it was really heavily packed with people, slowing it down a little. When we got off we caught the Skytrain (a metro system above the roads) to the area of Siam, packed with shopping centres. The Christmas decorations are stunning! A quick look around before we put our feet up to eat and listen to the live music outside. There were 2 great singers on the Singha stage, that kept us transfixed!
It was getting late now and we were flagging a little. Only one more place to see. Tonight in Lumphini Park there was a street show. 10 stages scattered all over the park, each with a different variety of street acts. As we had arrived fairly late, we only had time to watch a street puppetry performance. It was really good. We didn't understand all of it, but it involved an elephant made from a sheet, which was really clever!
A long day, but we experienced so many parts of Bangkok often not seen by the masses and we really enjoyed it.
We continued near Wat Po and the Grand Palace before heading to Democracy Monument, passing hundreds of little nik nak stalls. Democracy Monument was full of people selling whistles, Thai flags and anti Government t-shirts. There was still a few protesters around, but tomorrow it may be a very different story! The backpacker hangout, Kao San Road was our next stop. It was full of market stalls selling clothes, cheap'ish' guesthouses and restaurants.
The journey back was made via the fast river ferry. Today, it wasn't too fast as it was really heavily packed with people, slowing it down a little. When we got off we caught the Skytrain (a metro system above the roads) to the area of Siam, packed with shopping centres. The Christmas decorations are stunning! A quick look around before we put our feet up to eat and listen to the live music outside. There were 2 great singers on the Singha stage, that kept us transfixed!
It was getting late now and we were flagging a little. Only one more place to see. Tonight in Lumphini Park there was a street show. 10 stages scattered all over the park, each with a different variety of street acts. As we had arrived fairly late, we only had time to watch a street puppetry performance. It was really good. We didn't understand all of it, but it involved an elephant made from a sheet, which was really clever!
A long day, but we experienced so many parts of Bangkok often not seen by the masses and we really enjoyed it.
