9 AM meeting, got the scavenge books and we're off. Except for us and one other team (Trevor and Alex from Seattle), we were the only ones who had never been to Bangkok. It seemed that everyone else was planning day trips outside of the city. We teamed up with Trevor and Alex (T and A - not the Chorus Line reference, just easier to type). We wanted to plan our day to make sure that we saw the top sights instead of running around like crazy people just collecting points. We got the map and free guide book from the hotel concierge as permitted, and sat down in the lobby with them spread out to make the plan. First destination: Wat Po, the giant golden reclining Buddah followed by the Palace and the Emerald Buddah. We went by boat because city streets are choked with traffic and this is a weekday morning. Boat ride on public ferry was quite interesting, darting between barges and joined by saffron-swathed young monks sipping Cokes. On the way, T and A suggested stopping to do the "either/or" flower market or "talad" (never figured out what that was) near the Memorial Bridge. It took a while because our false start hunting for durian and rakam in the talad failed. But we sure did find the Flower Market, which is street stalls under cloth awnings where vendors sell cut flowers and where they string jasmine petals into wrist bracelet size loops, sometimes with other flowers woven in. Intense perfumed air, beautiful stroll. Checked that off.
Heading directly to Wat Po, we started on foot with our maps out, and a friendly English-speaking guy approached us and asked what we were looking for. We told him "Wat Po" and a few other sites. He told us they are all closed this morning (it was now 11 AM) because of a special ceremony and we should wait until 1 PM when they open. In the meantime, he suggested we see the Smiling Buddah and the Expo Center, which we somehow associated with the spraying water for New Year's celebration. We got whipped up about getting wet (very hot already). He turned to his waiting friends, the tuk tuk drivers and for 40 Baht each tuk tuk, they would wait for tour visits and drive us back to Wat Po. We should have smelled a rat when he pointed out the Smiling Buddah on my map by having to draw it himself. The Smiling Buddah was some lame dirty storefront. We quickly jumped back in the tuk tuk and went to the "Expo Center" which was a shop in an alley that sells jewelry to tourists. Brilliantly deducing that this was a hijack to the tourist scamatorium, we demanded to be taken to Wat Po. He said "please", all we had to do was go into the shop and he could get paid by his sponsor. Literally sticking one foot in the door and spinning out again, we jumped back into the tuk tuks and made it clear - Wat Po or you get no pay. He drove us to Wat Po and dropped us outside the wall around the corner from the entrance. We paid him 20 Baht, half of the agreed price. A kind English-speaking man approached and asked if we were looking for Wat Po. Yes. He pointed to the sign showing that the entrance was around the corner and said that there was a special ceremony and it was closed until 1 PM. Would we like to take a tuk tuk ride to another temple and be back by 1 PM? Nope, we were on to that. And OK, feeling a little better about having been duped before, at least it appeared that the 1 PM delayed opening time info was accurate. We chose 2 scavenges to do in the meantime: the Giant Swing and the Elephant Museum at Dusit Palace. Swing was simple. Finding the Ducit Palace complex was easy but nobody knew anything about an elephant museum. We settled on the elephant pavilion at the Ducit Zoo, with some big information boards about elephants. At that point it was almost 1 PM when our intended main attractions were to open. We parted ways with T and A because we had reached the maximum that 2 teams could do together in a day. Squeezed in the mandatory food challenge at the Deck Restaurant, right on the river with a beautiful view. Sat next to a couple from Buffalo that just moved their boat to Goat Island in Newport. Steps away was Wat Po, the giant golden reclining Buddah. There we learned that it and all of the major tourist attractions had been open since 8. No ceremony baloney. We realized we were duped twice on the same subject in one morning! (Later, I noticed the warning in the guidebook: "Beware! Bangkok has its share of brilliantly choreographed and well-practiced street scams, often active in the area around the Grand Palace. Typically these involve being 'befriended' by a seemingly straight-up local, and with true sophistication they often result in travellers not reaching their intended destination, but instead visiting an alternative temple and eventually a jewellry outlet. The bottom line is, if anyone, no matter how official they may appear (and this includes uniformed guards!), tells you that the Palace or Wat Po, for example, is closed, you are likely being set up". Yep! Twice! We were textbook.