I already talked about the place where I stayed most of my time in Thailand, which was Hua Hin, and I also showed the amazing hotel I stayed at in Bangkok (click at the page of ‘travelling’ to read them in case you have missed!).
Now it is time to talk about my citytrip in Bangkok and what I did and visited during the day, my personal experience/view and not to forget some essential tips into not getting tricked or ripped off in the big capital (yes, that might come in handy ;)).
Ofcourse, I am not a travel guide and I also don’t know all the details about the buildings or the temples but atleast I can give you -I hope- a decent overview about what to expect.
DAY 1
After checking-in in the hotel, we wanted to discover the city. I have to admit, I didn’t really plan everything out. I am the kind of person that lives day by day and just look at the moment itself what to do.
Getting out of the hotel, me and my boyfriend did a quick google search about what to visit.
Everything that is worth visiting is located in downtown Bangkok and since our hotel was located in uptown Bangkok we first had to get out of this neighbourhood to see some exciting places. How did we get there?
When you are in Bangkok, you take the boat as a means of public transport instead of a bus since Bangkok is built on water.
When you want to get somewhere in Bangkok, there is no such thing as a bus for public transport. Since Bangkok is basically built on water, the public transport that is most common is a boat. That was quite a special experience! (However, we had a hard time finding the bus- uhh boatstop).
However, when we finally arrived at downtown Bangkok with the boat, we didn’t really know where to go exactly to find the best touristic hotspots.
Soon we got stopped by some tuk tuk driver who promised us a nice touristic tour to see 3 very popular temples for a very low price. It seemed too good to be true, but since it was easier to go in tuk tuk to the touristic places than by foot, we decided to give it a try.
In Thailand it is quite common to use a Tuk Tuk to get somewhere instead of a taxi. Unfortunately, our experience with that was not the best. 😉
Okay, so that was quite a disappointment. When you are planning to visit Bangkok for once, be aware of people that want to trick you or people that promise a lot for money.
No, we didn’t get to see 3 very popular temples. I will show you what we got for our money.
First of all, the driver of the Tuk Tuk drove us to a tailor shop so that we could buy tailored suits or dresses that was extremely expensive. We also didn’t really need it anyway, so that stop was soon over.
After that, we finally got to visit one of these ‘popular’ and beautiful temples. Oh, but wait, it wasn’t even such a popular or special temple and it was mainly under reconstruction.
First temple the Tuk Tuk driver drove us to: a temple which was actually under reconstruction. How impressive… :p
After that disappointment, we were obligated to stop at some diamond shop that was really really fancy but I don’t know why they expected us to be some young millionaires, but I can tell you I couldn’t afford that.
Not a succes again.
Next temple then… Oh, that was not spectacular too and it was actually already closed… Not to forget to mention that our tuk tuk driver wasn’t there anymore when we got back.
The next temple was already closed and when we got back the Tuk Tuk driver suddenly disappeared.
Quite a waste of time… This is really a warning for all people that don’t want to get tricked in Bangkok. These tuk tuk drivers that claim and promise a lot for little money are everywhere but in fact they just try to get rich European tourists go into expensive shops to get a big percentage and they don’t really bring you to any popular touristic hotspot. Lesson learned and I hope you also know it now for when you visit it one time.
We decided to walk around a little and then we got to see some beautiful temples on ourselves. That was a LOT better than the temples we saw and paid the tuk tuk driver for. The temple is called Wat Saket or Temple of the Golden mount and is located on the top of an artificial hill. We climbed it all the way up, but that is quite some job to do in the heat. However, when you arrive at the top of the hill up to the temple you can see why the temple is called Temple of the Golden mount because there is the Golden Mount that rises high above the rest of the temple grounds..
Before you can see the beautiful temple of Wat Saket, you first have to climb up quite some stairs in the heat. However, I thought it was lovely and beautiful.
Oh and I just noticed that having a tall boyfriend as photographer makes me look so short in pictures, haha.
The so called ‘Golden Mount’.
Not the most flattering picture, lol.
When you have arrived at the top of the hill of the temple, you can have a nice view over the city of Bangkok.
Inside the temple there is a lot of Buddha art.
When that was done, it was almost evening and a quick Google search said that it was a good idea to visit the evening market of Bangkok. However, I didn’t think it was any better than the ones of Hua Hin (read blogpost about the hotspots of Hua Hin).
DAY 2
This day we really wanted to see some big hotspots and according to the manager of the hotel that was the Royal Grand Palace and Wat Pho temple.
We had a taxi driver that drove us to a place where we could take a boat on the Chao Praya river directly to these 2 touristic hotspots.
First we visited the Royal Grand Palace. Remember to take a long skirt or long sleeve top with because you can’t go in (also not in the temples) when your knees and shoulders are NOT covered. This is a sign of respect. However, in Europe most girls will wear clothing that don’t cover their shoulders and knees, including me.
I brought a scarf to cover my body but I can tell you, it was very very hot to walk around like that in 35 degrees. If you can, just think about bringing some nice maxi dress instead (you will probably also look more stylish that way, haha).
The Royal Grand Palace is walled all the way and extremely big and beautiful. It was the Royal residence until the 18th century and is certainly worth a visit.
The Royal Grand Palace
After that it was time for the Wat Pho temple. They say it is one of the biggest and most beautiful temples over all of Thailand. It is especially known for its Reclining Buddha because what is typical about the temple is 46-meters long Buddha. This was certainly a lot better than these temples the tuk tuk driver offered us. 😉
Let’s be clear about the fact that this is certainly NOT a fashionably responable outfit. It is just a winter scarf that I wore in the plane tied over my whole body and then also with some pink cardigan over it to cover my shoulders too. It was a beautiful temple though, look at the beautiful Reclining Buddha.
This was everything I visited during my 48-hours trip. It might not be so much but it is also not recommended to spend an entire day in the hot weather of Bangkok.
That is why we spent the rest of the day at the swimming pool terrace of our hotel (Click on my previous blogpost of Bangkok to see how that looked like)!
That being said, this was unfortunately my last travel blogpost about my trip to Thailand… Since I am now very busy with studying for my exams in June, there is not really any trip planned for now. Hopefully I can write some more travel posts in July! ?
What will I post in the meantime?
I hope I will have time enough to write regularly but for now on I am planning to make some fashion blogposts about some spring/summer outfits I like to wear.
I will also show you the hottest fashion trends of this season, because you need to know if your clothing style is up-to-date right? ?
Lots of love,
Kim
