From what I had read online, I was a little apprehensive but it turned out to be a really cool atmosphere. Khao San Road is considered a haven for backpackers. Hostels lining the streets along with food stalls, sketchy travel agencies, and cheap goods for sale. The perfect place to start our Thailand vacation.
Perusing the goods
Our first night was spent walking the street since we got there pretty late we didn't want to go too far. So we enjoyed some food, did some shopping, and enjoyed some buckets. We have noticed in Thailand that it is super popular to, instead of buying a drink normally, to get a super size of it on a bucker. So that is what we did. Nothing is better than a super sized Pina Colada.
For our second day in Bangkok, we had planned to do the floating market. Our hostel sets it up for people staying there so when we asked about it the night before, the worker said to ask his boss in the morning. We woke up at 9 to find out they leave for the floating market at 7. Considering the change of plans, we decided to go to the Grand Palace and Wat Po. It was only a 15 minute walk and off we went.
We thought it was hot in Taiwan but the heat in Bangkok was on another level. On our walk, we ran into a lovely Thai woman who told us all about her British husband and a private boat tour we can take that will bring us to the Grand Palace. We had heard so many things about people getting scammed in Thailand so we were very apprehensive but we ended up taking her advice. She hailed a tuk tuk for us, negotiated the price down and told him "no shopping, no stopping!" Another scam in Bangkok is that a tuk tuk driver promises you a cheap and fast ride, then he stops at 20 little stores along the way that he gets a commission from. The woman told us if he stops, we should go right to the police. Lucky for US, he didn't stop. Brought us right to our destination and soon enough, we were on our own private boat tour.
Our first tuk-tuk ride
Personal boat tour
Our driver took us on an hour long boat ride. It was a really cool way to see the city of Bangkok. We went through some locks with other boats when I didn't think that any of us would fit but they always made it work. We stopped at a beautiful temple called Wat Khun Chan. Took lots of pictures. Then we were finally at the Grand Palace.
The Grand Palace was beautiful and I thought that before we even went inside. When we got there, there were recordings playing warning visitors about the scams that occur around the area. Apparently an important looking person will approach you, tell you that the Grand Palace is not open today and you should do some other ridiculously priced tourist thing instead. Luckily, we had no one try to convince us of this. I personally feel like I would have been easily convinced.
Once inside, you had to be wearing the proper clothes to go in. We thought with my long dress that I would be okay but that wasn't the case. No shoulders allowed so we headed back to the entrance and borrowed some clothes for me to wear over my dress. For $200 Baht (around $6 CAD) you can borrow clothes and when you return the clothes, you get your money back. It was 500 Baht ($16-18 CAD), a little expensive from what we are used to in Taiwan, to get in but we think it was worth it.
Every building was so beautiful. Words really can't explain. Even the grounds were breathtaking. We both found it really humbling to be there. I think both of our favourite part was surrounding most of the buildings was a covered walkway with a massive, continual Buddhist painting lining it. There were so many different scenes and none of them were the same. We had a lot of fun talking about the paintings and making up our own stories about what was happening. Under each one was an explanation in Thai, so we will never know the real explanation. Like I said, words can't explain the beauty so I will post pictures here once we get back to Taiwan.
All I will say for now is if you have the chance to go there, you should 100% take it.
Our next destination was Wat Pho. I was very excited to go there because I had read it was a little more low key than the Grand Palace which I liked to hear. We decided to walk there, we both seem to have a huge distrust in tuk tuk drivers as well as taxi drivers. We are so scared of getting ripped off so we have been avoiding them at all costs.
The walk didn't take too long and it was pretty straightforward. We had arrived. To enter the main temple, I had to again borrow some clothes. This time it was a large bath robe, kind of amusing. Then we took off our shoes and saw the Reclining Buddha. It was so massive and so surreal to see right in front of our eyes. Seeing something so big that people believe so much in can really make a person feel small.
After finishing our time with the Reclining Buddha we spent some time walking around the beautiful grounds and admiring the other buildings and structures. One of my favorite things about Rick is he can have fun where ever he is.
Reclining Buddha
Before finishing our time in Bangkok, we decided we had to see a Muay Thai match. Having heard, read and watched so much about it, we didn't want to miss our chance. Off we went to the Ratchadamnoen Stadium. It was actually pretty expensive and we bought the cheapest section but it was definitely a night to remember. Our third level was full of local Thais who were drinking and gambling on who they believed would be the winner. It was very cool to be there and while it was expensive, I would still recommend it to anyone visiting Bangkok.
We spent the rest of our night figuring out how we would get to the airport the next day as we were headed to Chiang Mai at 10AM. After that was figured out, we ate, rested, shopped on Khao San Road and said goodbye to Bangkok until four days later when we returned for a day.
While in Bangkok we stayed at Charaondee Boutique Hostel on Khao San Road. I would recommend this hostel to anyone who wants to stay in this area. Free breakfast of coffee or tea and toast. They also offer more choices for breakfast if you want to pay a small amount. There is free WiFi along with a computer for anyone to use which I found really helpful. It can really be a pain always using your phone to access the internet. Regardless of what you may read about Khao San Road, I always felt safe at the hostel. Rick, braver than myself, even left his passport and electronics in the room during the day and nothing was taken. Very affordable price.
No comments:
Post a Comment