The Marble Temple

By the time we got to the Marble Temple, it was dark. I would have been very upset if we did not get to see it because it was closed. However, as luck would have it, the gates surrounding the temple were open, and we could walk into the grounds. Sure enough, the name says it all, as the exterior walls of the temple were made of white marble. The roof was red, and the doors to the temple were all decorated with gold trim. There were some Thai people inside the grounds who seemed to be sightseeing along with us. I was scared that they might come up to us and try to sell us something, but that didn’t happen.

When we left, we decided to take up an offer from one of the tuk-tuk drivers outside since our hotel was quite a ways away. He told us that it would cost about 20 baht to get us to our hotel. That is less than a dollar. Having read horror stories in our travel guide book, I wanted to make sure that we would go straight to the hotel, and not take any detours. He told us that he would take us to a jewelry shop because his sponsor pays him to take people there. All that we would have to do is look around for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then he could take us to our hotel. I told him that we had shopped enough today, and that we were tired and just wanted to go to our hotel. I asked him how much it would cost for us to get a direct trip straight to the hotel, without any stops for shopping. He hesitated, and laughed with the other tuk-tuk driver while mumbling between themselves in Thai. This did not make me comfortable, but then he finally said that he would take us straight to the hotel, without any shopping for 150 baht (about five dollars). I took him up on his offer, and let him take us to our hotel.

Because I didn’t know the layout of Thailand too well, I wasn’t sure that we were going the right way, but I did finally recognize some of the landmarks that we had passed while walking earlier, so I felt better. I suppose that the reason that these tuk-tuks are so popular are because with their small size and three wheels, they are able to make cuts and sharp turns in the heavy traffic of Bangkok. Because there weren’t any doors or windows, we got all the stink of the gas, fuel, and exhaust of the traffic. It was gross, but we got to our hotel. Before we got out, the driver offered to take us sightseeing the next day. We hesitantly accepted, but nothing was in stone, and we didn’t give him any money, so we weren’t too worried.