V is for Vagabond

Monday, January 12, 2009

Bangkok: The Golden Mount

After my brief visit to Wat Tramit I was off to the Golden Mount. Climb the 318 steps for a panoramic view of Bangkok. I heard the view was beautiful but I was there on a rainy day. You must take your shoes off to enter the building once you finish climbing the stairs. Inside you can reach the top. But since I was barefoot and it had been raining I got to walk around the top and step in puddles without shoes. Still, for a cloudy day the view was nice.

Part of the 318 steps that curl around the Golden Mount. They're not steep, it's an easy climb.

Small waterfall on the way up

Small waterfall on the way up the stairs.

Buddha

Inside the Golden Mount

A small reclining Buddha

Roof Top of the Golden Mount:

View from the roof.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Wat Tramit, The Gem Scam

A stop by the Golden Buddha is something a tourist in Bangkok should not miss. However, while traveling you need to be aware of ripoff artists. If you're traveling to Bangkok Thailand you should be aware of a common scam. It's called the 'Gem Scam' in the Lonely Planet books.

Tip
Basically this is how the scam works:
You show up at a popular tourist attraction like a temple. Some local approaches you and tells you it's closed (when it's actually open) but he can take you to some place else where you can buy some extremely rare gems. You're then taken on a ride to a place you don't know so you're pretty much at their mercy. And of course the gems are not rare at all.

It doesn't always involve gems but the scam is similar. For example I once hailed a cab in Bangkok and the driver said I'll only charge you 50 Baht when other drivers were trying to get 300 Baht. He was only charging 50 Baht because he wanted to take me to another place where I would have to only window shop for 10 minutes. After that if I didn't want to buy anything he would take me to my destination. But what would happen if I did not want to buy anything? I assume there would have been immense pressure to buy and who knows, maybe I would have been stuck there if I did not purchase anything (probably at ripoff prices). I got out of the cab and got another.

Wat Tramit
Well, when I got to Wat Tramit, known for it's Golden Buddha, I was approached by a local who told me Wat Tramit was closed. I figured it was a scam so I ignored him and charged onwards. Well... it turns out it was indeed closed so I was not able to see the real Golden Buddha. I had to settle for taking pictures of the replica of the Golden Buddha. Hopefully if you're planning a trip it will be open by the time you get there.

The Wat Tramit Temple was built in 1882 and became a royal temple in 1952. The Buddha housed in this temple is named Sukhothai Tramit and is from the Sukhothai Period, presumably the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng The Great (1277-1317). The Golden Buddha is the world's largest solid gold Buddha statue. It is 15 feet tall and 5.5 tons. In the 1955 it was rediscovered. This Buddha had be completely covered in plaster (presumably in the 13th century) to protect it from thieves and this wasn't discovered until it was accidentally dropped, cracking the plaster and reveling the true statue, during a move.

Wat Tramit under construction

A replica of the Golden Buddha.

Ok, so not everyone's a scam artist in Bangkok... but a traveler should still keep their wits about. Remember the cab driver that tried a variation of the gem scam on me.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Tips and Ticks: Currency Converter

While traveling I've had a few companies charge me in a currency other than dollars on my credit card. A few have tried to change the exchange rate in their favor on me (ebookers[dot]com -- don't use them). To fight back you need to get the exchange rate from the day it was charged to your card. To do this go to this website:

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic?user=americanexpress

Note that you can also get current exchange rate (cannot specify the date) on google by typing something like "1 dollar to euro" in the search box without the qoutes.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Bangkok: Somboon Restaurant

I normally would have put this in my food post for Bangkok, but this post is for Rich and Megan of World Ramblers. If you guys get the chance eat here!

I was recommended this restaurant by a taxi driver in Bangkok: Samboon Restaurant. I have to say that most taxi drivers in Bangkok are trying to rip you off, but there are a few very nice ones. In general I think Thai people are friendly, but be careful of the ones that are always working with tourists -- that's where you'll find the ripoff artists. Anyway, I always love food recommendations from the locals as they are always great.

I believe it's a Chinese-Thai food place. All this food cost about $20 USD which is a lot for a backpacker but this is one of those exceptions. It was really really good. Make sure you get the crab curry and the fish. It's sooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Look for this sign: Somboon Seafood. I think there are multiple locations in Bangkok.

Map to Somboon from my hotel the Twin Towers.

If you're reading this blog I realize you're probably not staying at the Twin Towers so use the National Stadium as a guide to the location. The blue circle from my pen marks the location.

Famous Crab Curry.... so good!

Famous Fried Fish, it was soooooo good!

Famous Fried Fish, I moved some of the greens out of the way for your viewing pleasure. Order this, it's that good!

Shrimp Balls

Grilled Shrimp with spicy green sauce

Inspiration: World Ramblers

While I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (I'm not quite there with my blog entries yet folks) I met a really inspirational couple: Megan and Rich of World Ramblers. They were basically doing what I was, but going further and had been gone longer than me. They were going around the world and had already been to Europe and were now in Southeast Asia.

Megan and Rich are a married couple from San Diego. They were victims of the 2007 wild fires in San Diego and their house burned down. Not only that but Rich was a Software Engineer writing software related to the mortgage industry. With the collapse of the mortgage industry Rich was eventually laid off. Quite a series of unfortunate events.

These events could be disastrous for anyone but Megan and Rich were able to find the silver lining. Megan is a travel writer and had been wanting to do some traveling. These unfortunate events created the perfect opportunity to really travel just as Megan had been wanting!

So around the global they decided to go. They went to Europe, to India, to Southeast Asia, and eventually they'll make it to Japan before heading home sometime around mid 2009. They have been living life to the fullest, meeting tons of interesting people (ie. people biking around the world, people motor cycling around the world, and me! ok not so much me), trying delicious foods eveywhere, swimming in lakes, exploring caves, visiting exotic temples and tombs, and sometimes just sleeping in. =)

Besides being just great people, and great company in the hostel they also have a wonderful blog for independent travelers like myself and maybe you if you so desire. They have well written articles full of information and wonderful descriptions. I encourage you to check them out at:

http://worldramblers.com/

Megan and Rich could have sat around and cried about their situation. They could have sat around and felt so sorry for themselves. No home! No job! What about my career? What about money? And then, they could have gone back into the rat race trying to replace all the material things they had acquired. They didn't. They decided to enrich their lives. They went on a journey of a lifetime and they did it before they got too old to handle the rigors of the outdoors. My point is simple, if Megan and Rich whose house burned down could go travel, well then, what's stopping you?

Rich and Megan, be safe and keep having fun!

Chatuchak Weekend Market

The Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok Thailand is the world's biggest weekend market. It is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8AM to 6PM. You can find fake name brand clothing, fake name brand watches, purses, perfume, shoes, cheap food and music here. To be honest, I've been to many asian markets like this so it wasn't really special to me by the time I got to Bangkok. The knock offs sold here are sold in many other asian countries and cheap food can be readily found in other countries as well. However many first time travelers make their first destination Bangkok and as such you'll find this market to be the largest and best of all the ones in Bangkok.

Street Performers playing what I assume are traditional Thai instruments

Flower Shop

Knock off Shoes

Knock off Purses

Knock off GAP Shirts

Knock off Jeans

Knock off watches

simple cheap meal

bluegrass at Chatuchak??? Yep!

Knock off backpacks

Knock off perfume

Damneon Saduak Floating Market

From Bangkok you can take a side trip to Damneon Sadauk for their floating market which is where I went on 11/8/08. Supposedly this is a great place for pictures if you get there really early in the morning before the hoards of tourists show up (stay there the night before). I wouldn't know because I got there after 9 AM and found it super touristy. The actual market itself is accessible by boat. You can buy food and souvenirs there. Most of the items sold now are just junk for tourists, but you can still get some yummy foods there. Try the coconut pancakes, eggrolls, noodles, and whatever else looks good to you. Buy hats, fans, clothes and figurines: everything from Muay Thai figures, robots, to adult toys.

If you head to the Bangkok Bus station you'll be able to get a cheap fare there, but you can also get a trip from Taxi drivers and hotel packages. These packages will include trips to the Elephant show, crocodile farm, and other tourists attractions. The animal shows did not appeal to me so I just took the bus to the market.

I'd have to say that going here once was enough. If I ever go to Thailand again I'd skip this. It's just too touristy to be considered something special in my opinion. I certainly do not fault the Thai people for trying to make money; if this is the best way for them to make money so be it.