Read this blog: The one where we discover that the English only look at the pictures
Thursday 13th February 2025
Matilda had planned we should get up early so that we could ascend the Golden Mount [see feature photo] in the comparative cool of the morning as on our last visit the temple had been covered in scaffolding so we had opted not to climb the 344 steps.
However her confident assumption that yesterday’s lie-in meant that she had conquered jet-lag proved to be sadly over-optimistic. Once again, this time after a fitful nights’ sleep, we woke after 09:00. After breakfast, we once again walked to the Khlong Saen Saep [Saen Saep Canal] to catch a high speed boat.
Already it felt hotter than it had the day before, despite the refreshing spray caused by passing another boat at high speed.
Having arrived at Panfa Leelard Pier at the end of the line we set off along Boriphat Road towards the Golden Mount.
We were almost instantly accosted by a tuk tuk driver trying to drum up some business but when we turned him down he was heard to mutter something which may have been in Thai but sounded suspiciously like “stupid tourists”.
As the road crossed the canal Robert looked down from the bridge and got quite excited. Turning round to point out what he thought was a crocodile to Matilda he found that she was several yards behind him and he was sharing his enthusiasm with a local gentleman who had overtaken her on the bridge.
The man spoke quite good English and told us that it wasn’t a crocodile. Our subsequent research revealed that it was a monitor lizard – the second largest lizard after the Komodo Dragon. Their natural habitat is primarily forests and mangrove swamps but these creatures are also able to cohabit with humans and can thrive in agricultural areas and cities with canals. They are a protected species in Thailand.
It always feels like a gift from nature to see a wild animal going about its business.
He also told us that the Golden Mount would not be open at this time but would open after lunch and recommended that we go to visit the Happy Buddha – a site which he claimed was only open once a month and gestured vaguely in what we assumed was the right direction. We therefore stood in the shade and consulted the internet to fact check these claims.
The website for the Golden Mount said that opening hours might be affected by Māgha Pūjā [Makha Bucha] the Buddhist Holiday on 12th February.
We then looked up the Happy Buddha and eventually found that it was about a 20 minute walk. As the temperature was rising we decided to take a tuk tuk, but not the one who may, or may not, have called us stupid tourists.
We were quoted the equivalent of £2.60 to go to several sites. Whilst we know that locals will pay significantly less it is difficult to reconcile the fact that not bargaining adds to the sense that foreigners are easy to con with the fact that for us it seems irrelevant and almost rude, to quibble over such small amounts. The tuk tuk driver got out his map to show us various sites worth visiting: we countered by showing him where we really wanted to go and we set off.
Life in Asia as a tourist is never that simple. The first stop was a diversion to Wat Intharawihan where the pink elephants at the entrance reminded us of the logo for Delirium Tremens beer and the Delirium Village in Brussels [see Selfie of the day]. Matilda was particularly taken with this character who looked as though he had recently had dermabrasion.
This temple is renowned for the 105 ft [32m] high statue of a standing Buddha known as Luang Pho To or “Phra Si Ariyamettrai“.
Constructed out of brick and stucco the statue took 60 years [from 1867 to 1927] to build. In 1982, to mark the bicentenary of the establishment of Bangkok city, the Buddha was renovated with Italian golden mosaic tiles.
Stairways on either side at the back lead up to a shrine behind the statue. Robert declined to walk up the steps but Matilda ascended to the shrine at the top behind the Buddha much of which is also covered with mosaic tiles.
Here the seven-headed serpent balustrades which we had admired so much in Cambodia and Vietnam featured what looked like dragons and images of the Buddha himself.
Returning to our transport, the driver told us that because of the Buddhist holiday, the government would subsidise the fuel for taxis and tuk tuks who took tourists to certain sites. Our tuk tuk driver once again took out his handy map and recommended visiting Wat Sam Phraya. Since we had no fixed plan for the day we were happy to visit another site we might not otherwise have thought to visit.
The main Buddha in the temple is called Luang Pho Phra Phutta Keson.
There were no other tourists here and a very welcoming gentlemen asked Robert if he was Buddhist as “no-one comes here” to this shrine. We felt he might work for the Thai Tourist Board as he seemed very well-informed about the temple and told us that there was currently a tax free period for tourists buying jewellery and gems. We are always resistant to being accosted on the street, but sometimes it seems as though there cannot be a hidden agenda. How wrong we were.
Having been primed by the ‘chance encounter’ at the Wat Sam Phraya the tuk tuk driver suggested a visit to a jewellers so that he could get a voucher to pay for his fuel. We had already experienced this in India when we were told by a tuk tuk driver that he would get a kick-back if he took us to certain shops.
Here there was a well-spoken Englishman with his loupe [eyeglass] looking at a gemstone trying to decided whether to buy it to take home to have made it into jewellery in the UK. Robert thought he was taking a very long time to make up his mind. Matilda briefly considered some earrings as a present for her sister until she was told the price even after the “discount”.
From here we were taken to a tailors even though we said we were not in the market for any more clothes. At the tailors, we dutifully looked through some catalogues of suits and evening dresses, knowing full well that we do not lead the sort of lifestyle to require this type of clothing anymore. The salesman was quick to grasp the situation and took the catalogues off us, bid us goodbye and said dismissively “The English only look at the pictures.”
The Bangkok scam is incredibly well orchestrated to the extent that we began to wonder how many people were a part of it, strategically placed to talk to us and help to build a picture. As a minimum we think the man on the bridge; the tuk tuk drivers; the man at the temple, the owners of the jewellery shop and the tailors as well as the Englishman deliberating about the gem.
Having earned his commission for taking us to the jewellers and the tailors, our tuk tuk driver took us back to the Golden Mount so that we could start the day we had originally planned. Throughout the trip, the price never changed although both the driver and Robert added places to the itinerary. Robert also tipped the equivalent of 25p.
Robert had come prepared with his elephant temple trousers so that he could dress respectfully by covering his knees although some amongst our readers may question how respectful the PJ look really is.
The scaffolding had been removed.
The view is 360 degrees.
There were eight donation [alms] boxes for contributions towards the saying of the daily Buddha’s mantra with the eighth being assigned to the extra Wednesday night mantra.
Although we ascended the Golden Mount at what was probably the hottest part of the day, it turned out to be perfect timing.
A procession of Buddhist monks and other officials circumambulated the central stupa holding a long swathe of red material aloft.
After completing three circuits (see Video of the day) the monks removed their shoes stepped into the inner area and wrapped the material around the base of the stupa, covering the orange material already there.
After returning to the hotel we felt we had earned a refreshing beer and food [see Dish of the day] at Ban Khun Mae which means “mum’s house” in Thai and is so called because they claim to “select all the best ingredients and cook them the way mother would”.
Video of the day:
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
Route Map:
