The capital city of Thailand and a leading world destination – Bangkok is huge, populated, busy and extremely active. There is always something to do in all hours of the day and it feels like the city never sleeps. The streets are noisy, chaotic and intense, extremely hot and humid. However, you get a real Asian feeling while roaming and navigating through the maze called Bangkok. Also, prepare for a long ride from the airport to the city center – it takes about 2 hours by bus.
There are several ways to make your way during your adventure in this amazing city. You can move around by taxi, rent a tuk-tuk, use a bicycle or go on foot in some cases. There are also options for boat trips. My personal favorite is the tuk-tuk because this is the old, traditional transport by which the locals used to travel around way before the invention and popular usage of cars. You can stop one randomly at the street and simply hop on or some hotels offer their own branded tuk-tuk service.
The hotel I stayed in was located at Silom Road – quite a central street and relatively close to two main attractions – the Grand Palace and Wat Pho or The Reclining Bhuda – both must see sights when visiting Bangkok. There was also a metro station in a close proximity and one of the best studios for an authentic Thai massage.
My journey in Bangkok began early morning. After a hearty Asian breakfast at the hotel full of fresh fruit, my colleague and I headed to our first stop: The Grand Palace. We took a cab from the hotel. By the way, if you decide to take taxis make sure you ask the driver, if they have a meter to define the price. Otherwise you might end up being charged 4-5 times higher than the actual cost. Anyway, we headed to The Palace and the journey took around 20 minutes. The rout from Silom Road passes through China Town – an extremely densely populated and clustered neighborhood that bustles with life. There is literary no corner that is not occupied by a shop, restaurant, street food, houses and literally any other sort of living or merchandizing activity. One thing that impressed me was the numerous cables and wires hanging above the street and literary above your head. Wiring in Bangkok is not integrated into the buildings and streets themselves but outside of them, which creates an endless net of cables throughout the whole city.
After the short drive through China Town we reached The Grand Palace. It is a complex of buildings, designed mostly in a traditional Thai architecture. Very detailed and comprising of a lot of mosaic like elements most of the buildings are Buddhist temples with several open for tourists. The Grand Palace was built in 1782 and covers an area of 218, 000 square meters. The King, his court and the government were placed there until 1925 and by 1932 when the absolute monarchy was abolished all remaining government offices had moved out.
After we explored the complex and took a good deal of time to take pictures (The Palace is a very fruitful ground for creative photographs provided that you are lucky enough not to have crowds of people around you) we headed to see the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is within walking distance from The Palace – you have to go out from the main entrance, go to the left around the wall and you will reach it after 5-10 minutes. The Reclining Buddha is a 15-meter tall and 46-meter long statue of Buddha covered in gold leaves and is truly impressive. As you enter you have to walk around it to be able to fully grasp its magnificence.
After we dived a bit more into Thai traditions and cultures we headed back to the hotel. Before going for that much needed sleep before the flight I made a stop at a Thai massage studio nearby and enjoyed a truly authentic massage experience.
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