How can someone not love Bangkok? The city has a lot to offer, from cheap massages to remarkable temples!

Before the trip we planned our activities to be: shopping, massages, spend a night out in Banyan Tree’s Vertigo Grill and Moon bar, watch a muay thai match, river cruise, elephant encounter at Ayutthaya and visit lots of temples!

We only had 4 days so when our PAL flight got delayed for hours, we missed the muay thai event and the river cruise. We got to Bangkok really late, so we decided to have dinner somewhere near Khaosan Rd., walked along the memorial bridge then headed to Chatuchak night market.

Shopping.

Night markets in Bangkok are really huge and offer cheap prices. I had to buy a new luggage for the clothes, shoes, bags, etc. I bought from the different Shopping malls and night markets we explored. Chatuchak night market was really huge, we weren’t able to explore the whole market place in one night.  We’ve been to malls like Siam Paragon, MBK, Platinum and Pratunam, which I think was where I shopped most. Clothes are really cheap there, and you can always bargain for lower prices especially if you buy in bulk.

Temples.

In our next day, we spent the whole day visiting temples (1) Wat Indrawiharn, where the 100-ft Buddha stands tall (2) Wat Saket (The Temple of the Golden Mount), a temple on top of man-made hill  (3)  Wat Benchamabopitr, where we witnessed a monk’s marriage ceremony and (4) of course all the temples in the Grand Palace.

I find the Grand Place very dazzling, the architecture of the temples are spectacular, the intricacy of the designs are very impressive. It is a must-visit for tourists, first timers shouldn’t skip it. It also houses the most sacred site in Thailand, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It also has a replica of Angkor Wat, which amazed me that I dreamed of going there too (see my future entry for my Cambodia trip). This is when my fascination with Buddhist temples started.

Ayutthaya Ruins and Elephant Encounter.

We took the train in Hualamphong Train Station to Ayutthaya, but we got so impatient and concerned about missing the Elephant show that we got off in one of the stops and took a taxi instead. The taxi was quite expensive but we really didn’t want to miss the show, fortunately we got there just in time.

We watched the show first and was really impressed by the elephants, I almost cried realizing how smart, friendly and gentle these elephants are.  We toured the ancient ruins on an elephant ride. The temples are very well preserved and the scenery are just as great.

Nightout.

We could have gone bar hopping or watch some lady boy shows, but we chose to hangout at the Vertigo and Moon Bar. It is located at the roof top of the Banyan Tree Hotel and it has a stunning view of all of Bangkok. Premium cocktails are served the food is great and the ambiance is very romantic. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my DSLR with me so I wasn’t able to take better photos.

Food, Massages and Kindness.

I love Thai food, and love the street food more. Wasn’t really able to eat a lot, but a least I was able to taste the real Tom Yum, Phad Thai, spicy shrimp curry and oh I the friend noodles and fruit juices in Khaosan. The food are generally cheap. And yes the massages too. Thai’s are gentle people, hospitable and warm as their massages. I actually left a Nikon camera in a massage center, realized it after 4 hours, went back and it was still there.

I’ll definitely be going back to Thailand. I always see to it that I watch movies that are shot there. I’d love to go to Ko Phi Phi and Chiang Mai some day.

For more of my photos: visit my Picasa album.