June 21st, 2005 | The lowdown by Aliwyn Cole

Wat Pho to Chinatown.

We began our journey at the BTS Sky station, Saphan Taksin, and took the labeled exit to the Chao Phraya River. It is relatively cheap to travel along the ?Klong?, Thai for river, with one stop costing 8 baht. We bought a day ticket, which cost 100 baht, and could be used for unlimited rides between pier one (Saphan Taksin) and pier 13 (Phra Arthit). The rides function between 9.30am and 6pm.

The first journey of the day includes a guided tour in English. Then as the day continues, the rides become busy with commuters, tourists and monks. Watch out for the designated monk standing area. Unfortunately, it isn?t labeled very well, and many innocent tourists offend the Buddhist culture of giving monks some space, especially if female.

For the first part of our exploration, we stayed on the boat for the whole journey round the different ports, and I felt the river breeze splash over me. During the rainy season, Bangkok becomes wet, overcast, and humid. The cooling air of the river is a welcome relief. When I bought my day pass, I was also provided with a map of the piers, and the local tourist sights, and a bottle of water, so I drank my water, always a good idea in such a hot country, and studied where I would like to go.

I opted for the Grand Palace, within easy reach of pier 9 (the Chang). It is a main tourist attraction, and so many tuk tuk drivers and market sellers hang around the area, asking in the traditional Thai greeting, ?bai nai, crap??, or, if they have the English, ?where you go?? One of them follows us, persisting with his offers of a tour, until he sees someone else to ask where they?re going. The Palace is no longer the main residence of the Royal Family, but important ceremonies are still held there. It is surrounded by a high white wall, with high wooden gates guarded by soldiers. Entrance costs 250 baht.

Instead of going in, we walked round the Palace, and admired the garden hedge creations, and the high gates, dotted around the circumference of the high white walls. We found we had walked to the Wat Pho temple, which is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. The entrance fee is 20 baht. Once inside, we went to see The Reclining Buddha. The first part that you see as you enter is his head, and he smiles his welcome to all the tourists who come to take pictures and admire him. The Reclining Buddha is an impressive 46 meters long and 15 meters high. At the bottom of the room, you can admire his huge feet, which have mother of pearl embossed on the soles. Coffers adorn the circumference of the room, and are filled with small change donated for the current refurbishment of the roof. I tried to take a picture of the resplendent Buddha, but was almost squashed in the throng of eager picture takers.

The Wat Pho is home to the renowned traditional massage and medical school, and a certificate of massage can be gained here. There are two courses, both of which cost 7000 baht, and take 30 hours each to complete. The first certificate is general Thai massage, which you must complete before applying for the second course, therapeutic and healing massage. Each course can be studied by foreigners on proof of a valid visa. If you have no desire to study massage, perhaps you would rather have a massage. A Thai massage session costs 200 baht per hour, or 300 baht with herbs. I suggested my friend have one to help her with her hangover.

You can also have your fortune told by one of many palm readers who reside here. Because the day of our visit was a Sunday, there were also Thai dance classes being held for children, and they were rehearsing as we walk by. Children of all ages twirled around uncertainly and happily, hoping to be the most graceful dancer.

I wandered around the temple grounds, and am dazzled by the green and red paint work, embossed with sparkling jewels, mirrors, and gold. Stone carvings and statues watch the tourists as they took pictures of the sparkling grounds in the sun, which by midday was out in hot force.

My friend fancied some Chinese food to heal her hangover, so we headed to pier 5 (Ratchawongse), and walked straight for Yaowaraj, or China Town. Now, if I had read my Lonely Planet guide, rather than just listened to the boat guide, I would have known that China Town is based on a busy one way road, which is congested and smelly with traffic. The pavements either side of this road are festooned with market stalls, selling Chinese wares such as red Chinese tops, jade bracelets and nodding cats, and dried mushrooms. If you are interested in Chinese remedies, then this is the place to come, and Chinese ornaments and gold are in abundance. Prices are cheap from what I noticed, though the overcrowded walkways made it hard to browse.

Unfortunately, there were no restaurants to be seen. So we referred to the guide, which informed us that many restaurants had moved away from the crazy congestion of the road, and have relocated to Bamrungrat, which involves a crowded walk along the rough pavements-if you don?t like crowds take a taxi. We dived in the first restaurant we saw, which resembled a big café for Chinese food, and was filled with hungry Chinese families. We ordered noodles and starters, and my spring rolls, and seafood noodles were cheap and delicious.

My friend felt much better after lunch, and we made our way to the river, which we walked and browsed as best we could. We discovered lots of shops selling gems, at very cheap prices. I admired the dried roots of ginseng, which were for sale, it seemed, on every street corner. We finally arrived at the river pier, and took the boat back to Saphan Taksin the long way, and enjoyed the cooling breeze once more in Bangkok.