The kids were thrilled to discover that our plane from Phuket to Bangkok was a double decker plane!
As we were working out the itinerary for this trip, I was not keen on visiting Bangkok. Stories of its chaos and pollution intimidated me. Mike, however, had visited briefly as a young child and wanted to go back, even just for a few days. Thus, we agreed to spend 5 days in Bangkok to finish off our month in Thailand.
Well, Bangkok certainly was as polluted and as chaotic as I expected. The air was heavy and there was a thick haze hanging over the city. We wandered out our first morning but learned quite quickly that staying indoors in the air conditioning during the heat of the day was the only way we would make it through. It was 34 degrees but felt like 38 degrees every day and January is the coolest month of the year!
Our AirBnB was in a great location to take in markets, restaurants, street vendors and key sites. This enabled us to pop out for a couple of hours and head back indoors to do some school work when the heat got to us. Starbucks also provided respite from the heat and acted as a great place to work!
Thailand's largest market is called the Chatuchak market and takes place only on weekends. It has over 8000 stalls and one can find everything from street food to clothing to electronics to knick knacks. Seeing as we arrived on a Sunday, our only chance to experience this market was to go immediately upon arriving to Bangkok. That's just what we did. It was crowded but due to its size, the crowds did not feel as intense as they did at the smaller Night Markets in Chiang Mai.
Given our communal difficulties coping with the heat, our sight-seeing was limited. We did, however, explore Bangkok's famous Wat Pho and the Grand Palace on two separate days.
Wat Pho is Bangkok's largest and oldest temple and houses over 1000 images of Buddha. The most impressive of these is the Reclining Buddha measuring 15 meters tall and 46 meters long. Like all other temples in Thailand, we had to take our shoes off to enter. Here, however, plastic bags were provided for us to carry our shoes. We returned the bags upon exiting the Wat.
On our last day in Bangkok, we set out early to explore the Grand Palace- Bangkok's MUST- see. We had read that there would be crowds but I still was not prepared for the number of people. Add in the heat and it became a very challenging outing. The Grand Palace housed Thailand's royal family until to the mid 1920s. It is known to be one of the world's most beautiful palace grounds. Yes, it was beautiful but we were underwhelmed, most likely due to the hoards of pushy, loud tourists.
A lot of guidebooks recommended spending some time seeing Bangkok from a boat or water taxi in the Chaophraya River. After seeing the brown water full of garbage and smelling the river, we opted not to experience the views this way.
Like Chiang Mai, we found a local restaurant and frequented this place at different times for breakfast, lunch and supper over a few days. It was cheap and delicious. However, after one month of delicious thai food, we did indulge in some comforts from home!
All in all, I think we are all glad we got to touch, see, feel, smell and taste Bangkok but we have no interest in returning. In all of our trip so far, it is the first place I have counted down the days until our next flight.
On a positive note, Bangkok felt safe, the people were friendly and we didn't get scammed. We spent our last night in a nice inn close to the airport due to an early morning flight out the next morning. We noticed the air to be a bit cleaner and people seem to have a bit more personal space.
Lastly, we are happy to announce that after a month in Thailand, none of us had any real stomach issues due to food!
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| We actually get to go on a double decker plane! |
As we were working out the itinerary for this trip, I was not keen on visiting Bangkok. Stories of its chaos and pollution intimidated me. Mike, however, had visited briefly as a young child and wanted to go back, even just for a few days. Thus, we agreed to spend 5 days in Bangkok to finish off our month in Thailand.
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| Pedestrians, cars, scooters and tuk tuks- a gamble as to who has the right of way! |
Well, Bangkok certainly was as polluted and as chaotic as I expected. The air was heavy and there was a thick haze hanging over the city. We wandered out our first morning but learned quite quickly that staying indoors in the air conditioning during the heat of the day was the only way we would make it through. It was 34 degrees but felt like 38 degrees every day and January is the coolest month of the year!
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| FInishing off some ice cream in a sheltered strip of market |
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| Traffic and billboards |
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| Random electrical wires on the sidewalk |
Our AirBnB was in a great location to take in markets, restaurants, street vendors and key sites. This enabled us to pop out for a couple of hours and head back indoors to do some school work when the heat got to us. Starbucks also provided respite from the heat and acted as a great place to work!
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| We found it- arriving to our AirBnB |
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| Our alley way- see the Wat behind the fence? Like Chiang Mai, there are Wats everywhere |
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| We had to watch out for scooters zooming down our alley |
Thailand's largest market is called the Chatuchak market and takes place only on weekends. It has over 8000 stalls and one can find everything from street food to clothing to electronics to knick knacks. Seeing as we arrived on a Sunday, our only chance to experience this market was to go immediately upon arriving to Bangkok. That's just what we did. It was crowded but due to its size, the crowds did not feel as intense as they did at the smaller Night Markets in Chiang Mai.
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| Arriving to the market |
The famous Chatuchak market in Bangkok
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| Ordering up some pad thai- of course! |
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| Ordering up some Thai ice cream |
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| They serve it IN a coconut shell with all the fresh coconut mixed in |
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| Waiting for round 2 of dinner: our secret to finding safe street food- pick a spot that has lots of customers and is cooking hot food |
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| Paella anyone? The cooks took a liking to the kids and sent us home with 3 generous portions even though we only ordered 1 |
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| Thai pants are everywhere- worn by tourists and locals alike |
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| Bathroom attendant- pay your money to use the toilet and a little extra if you want any toilet paper. The nice thing was at least the facilities were very clean |
The downtown scene... ALIVE!
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| English signage everywhere |
Street music in a park... every corner has something on offer!
Given our communal difficulties coping with the heat, our sight-seeing was limited. We did, however, explore Bangkok's famous Wat Pho and the Grand Palace on two separate days.
Wat Pho is Bangkok's largest and oldest temple and houses over 1000 images of Buddha. The most impressive of these is the Reclining Buddha measuring 15 meters tall and 46 meters long. Like all other temples in Thailand, we had to take our shoes off to enter. Here, however, plastic bags were provided for us to carry our shoes. We returned the bags upon exiting the Wat.
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| An attempt at capturing a picture in front the massive statue |
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| Very ornate architecture |
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| Another large Buddha statue |
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| Everyone wearing thai pants as legs had to be covered and they are the coolest pants to wear |
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| A better picture of the reclining Buddha |
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| The perimeter of a room lined with Buddhas |
On our last day in Bangkok, we set out early to explore the Grand Palace- Bangkok's MUST- see. We had read that there would be crowds but I still was not prepared for the number of people. Add in the heat and it became a very challenging outing. The Grand Palace housed Thailand's royal family until to the mid 1920s. It is known to be one of the world's most beautiful palace grounds. Yes, it was beautiful but we were underwhelmed, most likely due to the hoards of pushy, loud tourists.
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| Temple of the Emerald Buddha |
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| Trying not to melt on the grounds of the Grand Palace |
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| Escaping the crowds in the outer courtyard |
A lot of guidebooks recommended spending some time seeing Bangkok from a boat or water taxi in the Chaophraya River. After seeing the brown water full of garbage and smelling the river, we opted not to experience the views this way.
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| The Chaophraya River |
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| So gross |
Like Chiang Mai, we found a local restaurant and frequented this place at different times for breakfast, lunch and supper over a few days. It was cheap and delicious. However, after one month of delicious thai food, we did indulge in some comforts from home!
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| Our local eatery |
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| Dominos Pizza- with a screen tracking Mr Mike's order |
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| Poutine restaurant- run by a Quebecois! |
All in all, I think we are all glad we got to touch, see, feel, smell and taste Bangkok but we have no interest in returning. In all of our trip so far, it is the first place I have counted down the days until our next flight.
On a positive note, Bangkok felt safe, the people were friendly and we didn't get scammed. We spent our last night in a nice inn close to the airport due to an early morning flight out the next morning. We noticed the air to be a bit cleaner and people seem to have a bit more personal space.
 |
| A nice way to beat the heat |
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| An indoor food market in Bangkok's suburbs |
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| Check out the size of that crepe! |
Lastly, we are happy to announce that after a month in Thailand, none of us had any real stomach issues due to food!
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| A favourite dessert- mango sticky rice |
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| Grabbing lunch on the famous Khao San Road |
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