Day 16 - Wat Pho
We started our second day in Bangkok with a bath in the hotel pool - our last chance before having to go back to Germany. Then we went shopping for some souvenir foodstuff, and packed up our backpacks one last time.
Afterwards we had still half a day to see more of Bangkok. We decided to give the Great Palace another try. This time we got to the entrance, but there was already a large queue in front of it. That and the high entrance fee of 500 Baht for foreign visitors (Thai people can visit for free) made us decide to skip this attraction.
Instead we visited the Temple of the reclining Buddha. That one is really famous. And of course there were many tourists. We took a lot at the buddha and we also took some pictures, but the figure was a bit too big to actually fit well. But we also enjoyed the rest of the temple complex. It had several other temples with golden buddhas in them. In one of the porticos there was information about the reglious culture of Thai people, how the golden buddha figurines are made, historical aspects and much more, which was all very interesting.
Afterwards we went for Dinner and took a ride with the Chao Phraya River Expressboat. On the way there, we of course got ripped off again. The pier where the boat usually starts was closed due to construction, so we had to cross the river over to Wat Arun again and take the Expressboat from there. Of course we had to pay the ferry, and the ferry guy gave us the wrong change again! This time I did notice but the boat was about to leave, so I just swallowed my anger and we got on the boat instead of complaining. If we ever come to Bangkok again, though, this won't be happening to many anymore.
After that we just walked back to the Tram to pick up our stuff at the hotel, and then we were on our way back home. The drive to the airport was easy - the airport rail link is the best thing about public transportation in Bangkok, I mean it! It's fairly fast, it runs often and it runs until late at night.
We got on our plane about midnight, had a stopover in Abu Dhabi and then got back to Frankfurt around noon the following day.
So that was it, our holiday in southeastasia.