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Adventures of a Global Wanderer
This morning I decided to try to ride up the river to the Grand Palace rather than navigate the maze of streets thru chinatown again, which was rather tiring. Finding the ferry pier was a whole other matter. I tried following my map to pier N4 which was the closest one. Where the river bank was supposed to be was just houses leading me further south away. I asked some tourists who told me to carry on to the cathedral then turn right. I found it and this time it had an english sign saying it only crossed the river and to go upstream go the other side of the hotel. So it took more navigating finding my way to the other side of the hotel. There was no attendent or person to buy tickets from. I decided to wait for the other tourists who were confused too. This was actually pier N3 the next one south the wrong way from N4 which I wanted After 10 minutes the boat came. The fare was 15B (.50 cents) and a flat fare regardless of how far you go. We didnt pass by a pier N4 where I wanted to go but the next one was N5. My batteries decided to die for some reason on the critical day I was going to the royal palace, but I had a spare. The grand palace was at pier N8. At first you go thru a tourist bazaar to get to the main street. Here was a long white wall enclosing the palace as I tried to find the entrance. Entrance fee was 400B ($13) double the 200B mentioned in my book. You also had to wear respectable clothing from head to toe. As I was wearing shorts my book said you could rent robes. They charged 200B ($6) deposit which you would get back upon returning the garments with receipt. There were massive crowds everywhere as this seemed the most popular site and my book said certain sections were closed weekends and this was now monday morning. At first you see three giant gold stupas. Closeby were 4m high guardians by various gates and doors. There was a miniature version of Ankor Wat and other buildings were laced with intricate gold details. I followed the crowds to the largest building where you had to remove footwear. This was a grand gold chamber with giant gold buddhas. I only managed to get a photo from the doorway as no photos were allowed. There was another large building housing a giant gold water barge. Again no photos allowed. The signs then led me round to the grand palace. You could only enter the basement which was a military weapons museum, mostly rifles with no photography again. I wanted to go back to where I started with the gold stupas but it led you out to the exit. Now you could collect the deposit for the robes. You'd think they were the crown jewels how stringent they were on procedures. After standing in line they rejected my receipt as there was no stamp when there were no instructions posted to get your receipt stamped when you drop your garments. Then they carefully scrutinize your signature with how you first signed to make sure they match. I then walked up further to the National Museum. Unfortunately this was closed mondays and tuesday which my book never mentioned (or I could have gone yesterday on sunday). There was a street vendor so I got some rice with fish curry and seperate fried fish. The rice and fish was 30B ($1) with an additional 10B (.30 cents) for the fried fish. Now I had to cross the river to get to the barge museum. A tuk tuk driver wanted 100B ($3) which in hindsight and distance seemed the right price. I offered him 30B ($1) which he said no. Before crossing the large traffic bridge I bought a half pineapple sliced for 15B (.50 cents). It was interesting to see how they chop it with a machette using their bare hand as a chopping board. On the other side was a sign for another mosque but I didnt want to wander off course in the heat trying to find it. It was a good 15 minute walk thru long alleys crossing small canals to get to the museum. Entrance was 100B ($3) with another 100B ($3) for a photo ticket (which I probably didnt need to pay for as nobody was checking). These were really long barges, maybe 100m, giant versions of venetian gondalas. They had different figures, one was shaped like a serpent with the head and long sleek body of the barge. Others were shaped like gods. As we were on the water I was lead to a waiting barge. The guy said it was 600B ($20) for a canal tour which I didnt need. I said I just wanted to goto the other side but he said it was too far to walk in the heat trying to talk me into his canal tour which I wasnt about to do. So I walked back thru the alleyways which didnt seem as long going back. Rather than cross the large traffic bridge again I wanted to take a ferry across. A guy told me there was no ferry so I went back on the bridge, but later saw a ferry crossing. On the other side I made it to Banglumpoo which is the large backpackers tourist area. There were lots of guesthouses, souvenir stalls, restaurants with western food and bars. This area must be very noisy at night.
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