Reclining Buddha

After breakfast we decide to see the Grand Palace and the statue of the Reclining Buddha. We meet a tour operator who says he will take us around Bangkok and charge us just 150 baht. That is ridiculously cheap and I am suspicious. But it is too good to pass up and we agree.

On the way to the Grand Palace, the driver has talked us into going to a government gem gallery and a handicrafts store. Aha..Aha..I say. This is how he makes his livelihood. He must be a plant who ferries tourists to these shops and then gets a percentage of the purchase amount. Femme is interested in visiting the gem gallery and so are my friends. There is no getting out of this one.

When we get to the Grand Palace, we are told that it is closed to visitors because the King is in town. In stead we are driven to the temple where the statue of the Reclining Buddha lies. The statue is spectacular and we jostle to take photos amidst a rush of tourists.

Outside the weather has turned hot and our throats are parched. We visit another temple where we buy bottled water. Next stop is the gem gallery where femme spends an hour hunting for some jewellery. It is packed with tourists and I wonder if many have fallen into the same trap that we did.

We make another stop at the handicrafts store and by now our wallets are lighter than before. Our driver asks me the approximate amount we spent. I dilly-dally and he guesses an amount and I nod hoping to end the conversation. I wonder if a calculator is going off in his mind.

It is time to wrap up our stay in Thailand and head to India for the second part of our vacation. We get dropped off near the hotel. At the hotel we learn that we should have made prior reservations for a van to take us to the airport. We hire a taxi instead and the hotel conceirge negotiates a price. I tip everyone and we head to the airport.

We pick up our luggage from the left luggage counter and by 6 we are checked in. Our flight departs in an hour. At passport control we learn that we owe airport tax that is a further 500 baht per person. It appears to us that the whole visa process seems to be a money making machine.

We bid goodbye to our friends who are headed to another part of India. We'll meet them again in three weeks time for the return journey.