Bangkok - Getting out

Our plan for the third day was to visit the Rattanakosin Island once again, to see the King's palace there and get back to the railway station before our train would leave. First things first though: after waking up we checked out from the guest house, left our backpacks there to get them later and started searching for breakfast. We found a noodle restaurant not far from the guest house and had the first experience of eating with sticks. It wasn't as hard as I thought but still a lot more difficult and slower than with proper tools ;).

Some beautiful temple on the river bank

The Chao Phraya river runs right next to the guest house we used and also surrounds the Rattanakosin Island so the best way to get there was by water taxi. It took a while to find one of the stops for these things but it was well worth it. The price was very cheap (15 B), the view beautiful and before no time we were in our destination.

One of the temples near the King's palace

The historic center of Bangkok is packed with all kinds of palaces and temples and on the way to the King's palace we visited one of the smaller ones. Outside the temple we saw beautiful, shiny paintings but the prices were too high for us. The wall surrounding the King's palace is long and we had to walk all the way around it before finding the official entrance. At the entrance they told us that some part of the palace is closed and that we would have to lend some proper clothing before getting in. We stepped in the line and started waiting. In about ten minutes it was our turn to get clothes and at the same time I asked what's the price for entering: 350 Baht they said and quickly we decided that it wasn't worth it.

Wall of the King's palace

Before we continue I'd like to write few words about the royal family in Thailand. First of all, it's everywhere. You will find their pictures all over Thailand attached to huge monuments, their birthdays are public holidays, it feels almost like the King is a god of some kind. But the Thai-people seem to like him and the whole family so I don't know if there's a problem. It just seems strange that a relatively poor country wastes a lot of money in huge statues and monuments just for one man or family. And by the way, don't offend the royal family. It's against the law and the sentences can be harsh.

The day was extremely hot so we had some rest in a park not far away from the palace. We sat there on small benches and ate lime fruits we had bought in the morning. While sitting there we noticed a tourist information booth nearby and decided to check if they could give us a new map, since I apparently left the first one in one of the tailor shops the day before (well done Joni). The woman working in the booth was very helpful and in no time we had a new map and she also showed us some hospitals where we could ask about anti-malaria medication.

Right after leaving the booth an elderly woman came to us and put some dried corn on Inna's hand without asking anything. As she did it, all the pigeons around jumped on her arm and started feasting. The woman kept adding more and more corn and eventually came to me also. I didn't really feel like having some dirty birds on my arm but decided to give it a try anyway. All the pigeons didn't fit on our arms so some of them were falling and they cut some small wounds in my arm and hand with their sharp nails.

But the wounds didn't worry me as much as the woman giving away the corn. In Morocco I had learned to be cautious with "generous" people and it would have helped in this situation too. After we stopped feeding the pigeons the woman started asking some ridiculous price for her corn and when we refused to pay she started yelling and even pushing me. I told Inna that we're leaving now and left the woman yelling there.

Feeding the pidgeons. Notice the angry woman on the right.

We weren't really happy about meeting people like this in Thailand too but I think they can be found in every poor country with tourists. After the incident we took a tuk-tuk to the nearest international hospital, hoping to get some protection against malaria. At the hospital they were quite surprised to meet foreigners but they were very helpful anyway. At first we had to fill in some papers and then we were waiting for a doctor to meet us. In five minutes a nurse called us in and measured our weight, height and blood pressure.

Then it was the doctor's turn, and what a doctor he was! It seemed like we had to tell this man what medication works in Asia and what doesn't. We ask about Malarone first, but they didn't have it in the hospital. The problem was that we knew that one of the other two anti-malaria drugs isn't good for Southeastern Asia, but we didn't remember which one. Luckily Inna was carrying a paper she got from a doctor in Ukraine and the name of the drugs were there. It appeared that the Thai doctor would have given us the wrong medicine. He was also trying to sell us a vaccine against Typhoid fever but we didn't take it. In the end the hospital trip took about an hour and cost 1680 Bahts, with Mefloquine for both of us for ten weeks.

The hospital

From the hospital we walked back to our guest house, buying some food on the way for the train trip, took our backpacks from there and headed for the railway station. We asked the helpful workers at the station where to go and not long after we were sitting in a second class carriage on its way to Chumphon.

River view

A beautiful temple we never had time to visit

Thai people like their buses fancy!