Asia Adventure 2016: Part 4: Bangkok, Thailand
Our Asian Adventure: 10 Flights. 7 Cities. 5 Countries. All in 2 weeks.
The fourth stop on our trip took us to Bangkok, Thailand!
Day 1:
- We arrived rather late in the afternoon, but, once we were settled into the hotel, we went off in search of some food. This took us to Khao San Road. This street is filled with everything from food vendors and bars, to souvenir shops and massage parlors, and everything in between. We grabbed some street food and walked around for a bit.
Day 2:
- For our first day in Bangkok, we decided to hire a personal guide (via Thai Tour Guide) to show us around. Our guide not only showed us around sites and answered all our questions, but also helped us navigate our way around the city. The first site of the day was Wat Phra Kaew (also know as The Temple of the Emerald Buddha). This beautiful temple holds one of Thailand's most sacred Buddhas, the Emerald Buddha. The Buddha is carved from a single piece of emerald.
- Connected to Wat Phra Kaew, was the Grand Palace. The palace has been the residence of the kings of Thailand since 1782. Although the current king doesn't live there, they do host many official events and meetings there.
- Next, we grabbed a tuk-tuk to our next destination, Wat Pho. When we arrived, we first spent time walking around the less popular (but not any less impressive) portions of the temple. The number of Buddhas scattered around the temple complex is crazy.
- The main attraction at Wat Pho, though, is the giant Reclining Buddha. The Buddha is 15 meters tall and 46 meters long. We were barely able to fit it in one picture, and even then, its hard to capture its massive size.
- Afterwards, we made our way to the riverfront to catch a ferry to the other side.
- On the other side of the river was Wat Arun. Sadly, the temple was being restored that day, so there wasn't much to see.
- Next, we had a private canal tour scheduled. They took us out and back for about a 40 min boat ride. We saw temples and houses belonging to poor and richer families. And we fed some fish. It was nice to just sit back and relax for a bit. And the breeze was great on the hot day.
- After lunch, we took a walk around the flower market, Pak Khlong Talat. Our trip there was extra awesome because it was the day before one of their big Buddhist festivals, so everyone was prepping and selling extra beautiful flower arrangements.
- Next, we said goodbye to our guide, grabbed a thai iced tea, and headed towards our evening entertainment. We had booked tickets to the Siam Niramit dinner show. The first part of the evening, we were able to eat at the buffet, pet elephants, and watch pre-show dancing. Then we went into the theater to enjoy the actual show (Absolutely no photos allowed. They make you check in your cameras at the door). The show was one of the best we saw. I'd definitely recommend it!
Day 3:
- For day 3, we actually hired a personal driver for the day (via Thai Happy Tour & Travel) to take us a little ways south of Bangkok to Pattaya. Our first stop, and main reason for going there, was to see the Sanctuary of Truth. This temple was breath taking! Every bit of it is made of hand carved wood. You'd have to stare at it for days to see every detail. Its under construction, so you are required to wear a hard hat while you are there.
- After we absorbed all we could at the Sanctuary of Truth, we made our way to the Erawan Museum. The highlight of this was the building itself, made to look like the 3-headed elephant from Hindu mythology. The inside is quite beautiful as well. I enjoyed the mosaic work; if you look closely, you can notice bowls and spoons being used.
- Our last stop in Thailand was the Ancient City, a huge park/outdoor museum filled with scaled-down replicas of different monuments and sites found around Thailand. We were only able to see a small portion of the whole park. Someone could easily spend a day here if they wanted to see everything.
We were both really happy to have been able to see Bangkok. Each temple was so beautiful and ornate, we were in awe of it all. They were super different than any other temples we had seen on our trip, thus far. I think we could visit each site again and see something new that we had missed the first time.
We rose bright and early the next morning and made our way to the next stop in our journey, Bagan, Myanmar!
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Part 3: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Part 5: Bagan, Myanmar
