On my second day, 26th Dec 2016, I took a bus from The Plim Place to meet my sister and her friends who were staying nearby Khaosan road. Surprisingly the bus is quite frequent. I use Google map and it will list out the bus & the routes. It is super easy. I can't read Thai language so I just hop in the bus and show the destination to bus conductor and he/she will tell me the fare. I cant remember exact fare but I cost me around 20 baht or less for one hour trip. Due to road closure there might be a slight difference on the bus route, but fret not, you'll get to your destination safely.
The Grand Palace is just a walking distance from Khao San Road, around 15 minute walk. The road heading towards palaces are well decorated with flowers such as white orchids. There were thousands of Thai citizens wearing black attires who were visiting their late King Bhumibol every day to pay their respect. Therefore please dress appropriately. Do not wear flashy and revealing clothes. As a foreigner you will be required to go through security check and show your passport to pass through. Luckily I brought my passport that day.
Coincidentally the palace guard were changing their shift when we came in.
Entrance fee to the palace is 500 baht.
Below is the Great Chakri Palace and beyond the bonsai trees were hundred, if not thousands, of citizen queuing up to pay respect for their late King.
Walking out palace we can see tents, from the start until the end of the field in front of the Palace, where the citizens are queuing up to enter the palace since morning. Drinks and food were provided along the way. I salute Thai citizen for their dedication and love towards the royal family.
We walked to find halal food for lunch and we passed by Information Centre nearby Phra Pin Klao Bridge. Over there we took a few map. One of the booklet is Halal info for Muslim that comes with a map of Mosque and halal food. One simple tip, if there's a mosque, there will be halal food in its surrounding. We walked until we reached Chakkaphong Mosque (มัสยิด จักรพงษ์) and there's a small alley leading to the mosque. We had mixed rice and some of us had biryani and ox tail soup from SMJ Okhanday. I had white rice with 3 dishes (green curry chicken and vegie, bamboo shoot yellow curry, sweet and sour chicken) and it costs 50 baht. I also bought 2 grilled chicken sticks that were sold in front of the alley, 10 baht/stick. It was so delicious. Then we had our jama' prayer for Zuhr & Asr at the mosque.
Next we headed up to Phra Arthit pier to ride express boat to Wat Arun. The boat trip costs 14 baht.
Reaching Wat Arun, we went to quench our thirst with coconut drink first before continuing our exploration. Wat Arun is under repair and entrance fee is 50 baht.
Looking closer at the wall, I can see intricate details of ceramic piece used for the flower motives. The stairs were very steep and it is kind of scary to climb up and going down is scarier.
From top, we were able to view the Grand Palace across the river.
Going back we took a boat to cross Chao Phraya river to the other side, Tha Thien. It costs 4 baht and we laughed because it was so cheap. How did the boat operator earn a living with 4 baht? Then we got more surprised that it took just a blink of an eye crossing the river.
Tha Thien is a walking distance to The Grand Palace and Wat Pho.
We wanted to go to Petchaburi Road for dinner but the taxi cost is too high. It was quite close by but the taxi refuse to use meter. Instead he wanted to charge 500 baht. Therefore we changed our plan to take bus to go there. However the bus that we wanted to get on (Bus #2) didn't passed by at the bus stop. My sister and her friend decided to walk back to their hotel to get some rest before going out for dinner. While I decided to go back to Chatuchak by bus.
I walked ahead until the next three bus stops trying to find another bus to go home but to no avail it didn't come. I asked around for way to get home. Luckily I met a local who is so generous and she guided me all the way from Charoen Krung Road, until Hua Lumphong Station. Her name is Soiladda. We took bus #1 and it cost 9 baht. There we walked for a bit to Hua Lumphong MRT station and I then I bought ticket to Phahon Yothin Station. She got down at a station before me, Ladprao.
There I met my friends and we had our dinner at Ramazan Doner Kebab, Central Plaza Ladprao. It is located inside the food court in front of Tops market. Own our way back home we dropped by Tesco Lotus and bought some groceries. I love going to the fresh section. There we found giant squid sold at a cheap price so we bought it. The triangular piece that this lady is holding is part for the squid wing/flap/tail. The white flesh on its right is the body and the tentacle on the left side. I could imagine how big the full size squid is.
Total steps of the day: 22,939.
Lesson Learnt
As a Muslim, I find myself being unable to appreciate visiting the house of other religion. Therefore take whatever that is good that we could learn from others and discard those that is opposing to our belief.
Also remember that a prayer invoked by a traveler is mustajab. Use this golden opportunity to ask Allah to protect you in your journey and guide you safely to your destination. Therefore whenever I am stranded by myself I am never afraid because I know His help is near. Alhamdulillah to me I think my journey was made easy by Him.
Thais are very friendly and generous. They go beyond language barrier to help others, especially to a foreigner like me - be it in giving direction, giving guidance/brief on stuff that we wanted to buy. I really admire them.
