We can't hide it...

...we are total tourists. We look the part and clearly act the part. And yesterday, we were nice and conned. Can't say we weren't warned. Alex and Cooper had even read the exact scheme on wikitravel, but Alex, a trusting midwesterner was SURE these guys were telling the truth. So I'll just start at the beginning...

We are staying quite a ways from the main tourist area (we think - we are having a hard time figuring out exactly where you would stay to be at the center of it all) so we set out in the morning from our hotel for what looked like a 7 km walk (I know, a little bit difficult to think in km's). We were probably about 1km in when we met our new friend (note- we still think this guy was legit, although I'm learning quickly to be more paranoid so I'm not 100% sure). He was a project manager for a local construction project and had served in the Vietnam war, which lead to his impeccable English. He took one look at where we were headed (the grand palace) shook his head told us to take a tuk tuk (and how much it should cost) to the river and take a boat up, the boat would take us through the canal and, he said, would show us how people live here. The boat could drop us off right at the palace pier.



Alex, Cooper and our friend.



Us in the back of the tuk tuk (I'm pretty resigned to the fact that I. Just not going to look good in many of our pictures)



Our fearless driver.



Alex after boarding the boat... Can you believe the color of that water?



Monks feeding the mutant fish (that's what we are calling them - the come up from the mucky water the second there is food) along the canal.



A pretty typical home on the canal.

So all this went smoothly and as planned. We were deposited at the palace and went up to what looked like the entrance. I'm not really sure how the next part happened but we were in a bit of a cluster and all the sudden a "government official" pulled us over, pointed to a sign that said the Palace was closed for government observance until 1pm, and told us that we should go to some other stops like the big buddha (which was on our list) and the Thai center (???)- he recommended wet get in a tuk tuk and showed us toward one- 60 baht for all three of us for all the stops. Cooper was having none of it and politely walked away, but Alex, convinced by the friendly smiles, "legitimate" sign, and the fact that 60 baht is $2, was all in and climbing into the tuk tuk, so what else could we do but follow? We got in that tuk tuk and officially were conned.

He did take us to the big Buddha (which we really did want to see), although we are slightly positive that he took a bunch of unnecessary turns to confuse us as, on the map it looked just down the street. It certainly was a BIG Buddha... Then, when we returned to our tuk tuk our driver asked if we could wait while he used the restroom. It was then that, while we waited in the tuk tuk, another Thai man "befriended" us, telling us that out was a special day because the government was doing a special promotion and that because of this gas was free and something else was special at the Thai center. Hmmm - how weird that this Thai center kept coming up... Where upon we found out that that was the whole purpose of the trip. The Thai center was nothing more than a tailor shop where they tried to convince us to buy custom clothing at what sounded like a steal but we were both a) not at all interested and b) aware of the trick. Our driver begged us Togo in so we did and promptly walked out and asked to be taken straight back to the palace, which, it turned out,had never been closed in the first place. I can't say I'm horrified it happened, after all we did see the big Buddha and, for the small fee of $2, learned how deceptive a friendly smile can be. Plus, how can we ever forget that experience? For our parents reading this at home - we learned our lesson and promise to be more discerning from here on.



Big Buddha from afar.



Big Buddha looking down on us.



Oops! Gullible Alex and the signs posted EVERYWHERE within the walls of the palace.

The grand palace really was a marvel. However, unlike western monuments and landmarks, I am shocked by how little knowledge I have, and thus how little understanding I have of the significance. Despite little snippets of the histories of the many King Rama's (I -VI) who the seemed to be involved in the palace, I could tell you little else.




Me (in a mandatory sarong since my pants didn't cover my ankles) and Alex about to enter.



Part of the mural that covered the entire interior walls surrounding the temple of the emerald Buddha




So much gold!




Worshippers whose chants, along with the hundreds of windchimes hang from the roofs, could be heard all around.

Our last tourist stop of the day was temple of dawn which required a 3 baht ferry ride across the river. It was a really impressive temple that had many levels you could climb to. The last one was a bit scary but gave amazing views of the city.




View from the bottom.



A view from the top.

Fresh off our morning scam, we were determined not to wind up in the same situation getting back to our hotel. We decided to take a cab and, to make sure that our driver would use the meter. Easier said than done. First of all, most cab drivers were confused by the location for our hotel (we've now remedied that by taking a business card with directions in Thai from the front desk). But also, no one will use their meter DESPITE the fact that they all advertise "meter" on the car. Even crazier, the cab we ended up taking didnt even HAVE a meter! We finally just had to decide on a price (lower than what the drivers were offering) and just offer that in a take it or leave it way. It really baffles me that they refuse the meter. Based on our cab ride from the airport, where we did have a meter, I don't think that the pricing worked out. In the favor of the driver we had... But yes, we did take a pink cab!




Last observation of the day - we are having a remarkably difficult time finding Thai food. It's not at all how we expected. Both night we have asked the concierge, who apparently has ONE and only one recommendation, and set off on foot and come back very confused. We are determined though, so stay tuned.

Until tomorrow,
Emily

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