This week had another weekend which meant another trip outside of the country. This time I visited Bangkok, Thailand for a couple of days. We flew there on Friday night and then flew back on Sunday night. (We had to do this because the friends I was with had Monday class) This was a truly fascinating trip but I wanted to mention a disclaimer before describing the trip. Traveling in back to back weekends can be quite taxing so I would recommend if possible to spread your trips out a little better. I am exhausted as I am writing this and I am happy to have three weeks before my next trip.
As for the city of Bangkok it was way different than I expected, which has been the case with almost every one of my trips. The biggest takeaway from the trip would be the juxtaposition of the small local villages that are on a lower socio-economic level than some of the really wealthy downtown areas with malls selling brands like Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana. Due to this though, the prices of food and water can vary greatly so it is helpful to strategically spend when you are in the not as nice areas to save more money. Overall, the city is not an expensive one and because of the weak Thai Baht (Currency of Thailand) you save money as well.
Our hotel was in the Suhkumvit area and we went there first since it was late at night by the time we landed. We checked in, got something to eat quickly, and then pretty much went to bed. The time difference was only an hour from Hong Kong so it was pretty easy to adjust and stay on our normal sleep schedules.
The first day we were able to do everything on our list that we wanted to get done. We walked to and through Lumphini Park since it was within close proximity to our apartment. The park has some cool statues and some mossy ponds but is just a park.
After that we wanted to get to the Grand Palace which involved a bit of an adventure. We were going to take a taxi but a local recommended that we take a tuk tuk to the river and then take a boat there to avoid traffic. A tuk tuk for those that do not know is basically s cross between a horse carriage and a car. This was one of the most fun parts of the trip, cruising through the city in one of these. Once we got to the water we then took a boat that we were the only passengers in. Again, this was a fabulous way to see parts of the city.
After getting off the boat we were in the palace area. First we went to Wat Arun and saw the famous Golden Buddha lying down. It is a giant Buddha who was apparently dying at this stage in his life and that is why he is lying down. There are cool temples in here that you can take off your shoes and enter to see people praying. Another tip for this area would be to wear long pants despite it being hot (Was 90 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time we were there) because you will not be allowed entry without long pants. The religious people emphasize conservatism in this regard.
We then walked to the Grand Palace and saw more temples and it was packed because everyone was still mourning the loss of their late king who’s funeral was last week. He ruled for almost a whole century and was beloved by the people of Thailand. There were portraits of him all over the city. Anyways, we then crossed over the river again and visited the Wat Pho. To be honest I do not know the main differences between the temples and what makes each one unlike the others. Regardless, they were very interesting to see and each is worth going to. To wrap up the day we went to the Siam area which is filled with young people who love shopping and walking around the mall. We got dinner and ice cream here and shopped a bit before heading back to the hotel and going to sleep.
The next day we did not have any concrete plans and mostly just ventured into different parts of the city. We started by going to the Weekend Market in Kampheang Phet. I could not believe the number of small local shops in this market, and my roommate from Bangkok says this is his favorite part of the city. I bought a cheap Knicks jersey here which was probably fake but it only costed me $9 USD after some haggling.
To finish the day we visited Si Lom, the financial district of Bangkok. This area reminded me of the Fenway area of Boston for those who are familiar with it. There were less tall buildings than a typical US city’s financial district but there were some. For our final night before heading to the airport we visited Siam again because we loved it so much and it is vast enough to take two nights worth of time to investigate. Finally we flew home and arrived early Monday morning in Hong Kong.
The trip was amazing but I definitely think two days is plenty of time to explore the city unless you are planning on studying abroad there. The pollution is slightly better than Hong Kong but still present. The traffic is so bad in the city that I would recommend taking the subway, motorcycles, and tuk tuks opposed to riding in taxis. We took one cab and it took 45 minutes to travel a distance that might take half as long in any other city. Bangkok is known as the traffic capital of the world for its crazy five lane traffic jams.
As I said earlier, I am looking forward to staying in place for the upcoming three weeks and taking in more Hong Kong sights which I will bring to you via my upcoming blog posts.
