It was our first International trip Thailand, so we were planning for quite a long time. I don’t like to travel with any travel agencies, though with them travel becomes hassle free but they charge more and the trip becomes restricted as per their specific itinerary. We always wanted to be a free bird. I started my planning by referring different travel blogs and with this I get clear ideas about the place(s) we wanted to go as per our interest. So thought of sharing my experience here about Bangkok – you may like this.
Best time to visit Bangkok – July to Oct is rainy season in Thailand. Actual season starts from November but we wanted to avoid the crowd so we chose October 2017.
After lots of research I have planned my itinerary as follows which suits us very well:
Hyderabad to Bangkok (2 days) –> Phuket (2 days) –> Krabi (2 days) –> return to Hyderabad.
Note: I will share my Phuket and Krabi trip in subsequent blog.
In Bangkok my plan was as follows:
Safari world and marine world. Try to complete from 9 to 2 pm.
Then go to Ocean world. 3 to 5 pm.
At 9 am start from Hotel to grand palace, Wat Po, Wat Arun.
Wat Arun to Pratunam market then to hotel.
We carried 30000 TBH with us.
Among the few challenges that we faced one was , while researching we found that THAI Visa (On arrival visa) fees was 1000 THB per person but when we arrived there it was 2000 per person as they have changed the rate on Sep 2017 (Just 1 month back from our trip).
Another challenge was, our Flight from Hyderabad to Bangkok was in the evening. We reached there at 3 AM in the morning. Since all the hotels in Bangkok (in fact all hotels and resorts in Thailand) have check in time around 2 or 2 :30 pm , so we had to book our Bangkok hotel one day prior to our arrival otherwise we cannot get any room to freshen up after reaching there. So instead of 2 nights, we had to book for 3 nights in Bangkok.
After completing all formalities of visa we hired a pre-paid taxi from airport lobby and came out to board it. To our surprise we saw all taxis are very colorful, some are pink, red, orange, yellow, violet. First word that came out of mouth was WOW.
We reached our hotel “Eastin Makkasan Hotel” around 5 AM and luckily the manager upgraded our normal room to suit as the booked one was not available at that time. We can see the entire Bangkok from our hotel room – it was simply awesome.
DAY 1 : We took some rest and had a quick breakfast (complimentary) at hotel then came down to reception. The hotel staffs were very friendly, they arranged a cab for us to visit Safari World and also gave us a big umbrella as it was a sunny day and very hot climate.
Cab took 1 hr to reach Safari World – Thailand’s biggest open zoo and leisure park that offers a great variety of entertainment for everyone. Whether it is an exciting safari drive through the picturesque African wilderness settings, an intimate encounter with our friendly dolphins or an exhilarating fast-paced action stunt spectacular; Safari World has it all. It has two parks – Safari Park and Marine Park.
Entry fee was 3200 THB for 2 persons , it includes :
Air-conditioned vehicles with experienced driver
All admission fees : Safari Park + Marine Park
VAT 7% and all Government taxes (no service charge)
After we took the ticket we boarded a bus which took us through a mini man-made jungle, where we saw different kind of birds, zebra , tiger, giraffe, dear with long horns and many more. Most interesting thing was all animals were roaming freely, they were not confined in any cage. Even tigers were also in a different section from other animals but not in any cage.. Zoo team feeds them everyday and we were lucky to capture the picture of feeding the tigers.
Another interesting and famous event there was elephant show where the elephants draw picture on canvas and those were getting sold to the tourists in 750 THB.
Marine Park is a part of Safari world. This is also nice place to visit. We enjoyed the day watching different shows of penguin, birds, sea lions, orang utan boxing show and many others.
Safari world had free lunch for all visitors, but it was so crowded that we did not get place to seat and we had to rush for Ocean world. So we had our lunch in another place where they are selling food of different cuisine in safari world.
We started for Ocean world around 2PM from Safari world and the cab driver dropped us to Ocean world around 3:30 pm. The good thing was we got some discount on Ocean world ticket and that was because of our great cab driver. In Bangkok all cab drivers get 30% discount in ocean world. So he showed his ID card to get the discount for us.
Ocean world has different spices of fishes, frogs, shark and other large variety of interesting and breath-taking exhibits. They have various activities like sea walk, shark feeding etc. There is a big glass tunnel underwater where you can walk to see shark , electric fish and many more are roaming around you. Amazing scene, child to adult everybody will enjoy it.
Here I forgot to tell you, the Ocean park is in the ground floor of Siam Paragaon mall. The mall has connectivity to sky train. We took the sky train to return to hotel.
DAY 2: Next day we took tuktuk (it is auto like vehicle) to go to Grand Palace. The Grand palace used to be the official residence of the royal family now it is used for special and official ceremonies such as the coronation of the king. The place is truly beautiful. The complex is made by different buildings and statues, each of them is very impressive. Beautiful architecture and great maintenance and something the locals are very proud of it but too much crowded.
Most important thing to remember is the Palace has strict dress code. Visitors need to cover their legs and arms, you cannot show elbows or knees.
Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) is one of the largest temple complexes in the city and famed for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 metres long and is covered in gold leaf. It’s an easy ten minute walk from the Grand Palace. Wat Pho is also home to a Thai massage school – and you can get a Thai massage or foot massage right on the temple grounds!
Wat Phra Kaew – It is just adjacent to Wat Pho.
Wat Phra Kaew is the name of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, another incredible sight. The Emerald Buddha is actually made out of jasper and quite small, but stunning. Three times a year the king dresses it in a new gold outfit to usher in the new season: hot, rainy or cold.
Sitting among the devout Buddhists paying tribute to the Emerald Buddha was a wonderful experience.
Entry fees for Wat Pho was 50 Baht and Wat Phra Kaew was 350 Baht but both were worth seeing.
Next we headed towards Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn). This is another buddhist temple situated at the bank of Chao Phraya River. The river jetty is also walkable distance from Wat Pho. If you feel you can hire a tuktuk also. We sailed a boat to reach the temple but unfortunately it was under construction and closed for visitors.
The view of the temple at dawn was amazing. There were many restaurant at the river bank, one can sit and enjoy the scene while eating delicious food.
Our next stop was Pratunam market. Pratunam Market is a major market selling clothes, shoes, and fashion accessories at wholesale prices. Enter the small alleys and jam-packed small streets and you will find yourself in the middle of a clothes-maze. Prices were very cheap, and most shops offer retail prices for single pieces. Located at the intersection of Ratchaprop and Petchburi roads (next to Amari Watergate Hotel), Pratunam Wholesale Market is filled with shops and tiny stalls flowing over to the sidewalks. The section closer to Petchaburi Road has a large concentration of fancy dress and embroidered costumes (think sequins, feathers and beads). Shops offer wholesale prices when you buy three pieces or more, although buying single pieces won’t cost that much more.
Also there were varieties of fast food stalls inside the market. One interesting thing we saw was live prawn salad being sold in a street side stall. The prawns were very tiny and jumping in the bowl. The guy was mixing them with other veggie salad and selling them. Unfortunately I could not manage to take picture of it.
I don’t know the name of this street food but it is soft and yummy (Veg)
The market itself is open 24 hours, but the dynamic is different throughout the day. Retail shops open at about 10:00 until 21:00, but again this may vary. For visitors and shoppers, the best time to go is between 11:00 and 20:00.
Some rules of thumb: No exchange, no trying on and no refund.
Food: It says Bangkok is a heaven of street Foods. We both like to taste local food wherever we go, without that trip is incomplete. So the 2 days we stayed in Bangkok, we ate only local THAI food and believe me they were really too tasty. Among all, we liked fried Pad Thai which is a rice noodles with chicken. And also tasted roasted catfish. It was big enough to eat for two people. Look wise not good though but tasty.
You can find Indian restaurants also there but they are costly than the street foods and cant assure of taste.
Everyday in the evening it rained in Bangkok after 5pm. We enjoyed the evening of our last day at hotel by watching the busy streets of Bangkok from room and had dinner at the street nearby.
It was a heart-filled experience in Bangkok , now its time for Phuket, another exciting place in Thailand, where we ate going to experience our first international sea.
Note: I will take you to our Phuket trip in my next blog.
Lots to say about Bangkok, tried as much as I can but still many remain unsaid. Hope you enjoyed it, please share your thoughts.
My First International trip to the Lively city of Thailand - Bangkok It was our first International trip Thailand, so we were planning for quite a long time. I don't like to travel with any travel agencies, though with them travel becomes hassle free but they charge more and the trip becomes restricted as per their specific itinerary.
