Time flies when you are traveling. I can't believe it is already time to move on to county #2 - Cambodia. I am waiting at the "small" (this is by no means small for me) airport of Bangkok and have my flight to Siem Reap in one hour.
I really enjoyed Bangkok. This visit was just two and a half days, but I'll be back two more times during my trip. I will miss my fabulous guide Marina during those visits, though.
-Bangkok Day 2-
I started off the Bangkok tour with one of the biggest touristic attractions; Wat Phra Kaew, the royal palace. This collection of temples, gardens and museums is colourful and richly decorated. Everything is grand and impressive. I admired some of Bangkok's most famous treasures. Once I am able to upload photos, I will show you what mean.
Overwhelmed by all the sparkle, colour, heat and crowds of other people, we fled away to a small restaurant for a typical Thai lunch. I still didn't find out what kind of vegetable "taro" is exactly, but it tastes very good in warm coconut milk.
Recharged, we walked to temple Wat Pho (I do know that I am repeating myself here, since "wat" means temple"), another very beautiful place. Here, I got the chance to experience something really special - I made an offer to Buddha. First, I burned a candle and stuck it to the standard with its own wax. Next, I lighted 3 in sent sticks, which I stuck in a big bowl of sand next to the Buddha statue. Then, I left a flower in the vase next to the statue. The last thing was to stick a small golden leave on the Buddha. This way the stone was slowly turning gold while offers were being made. After a tour of the temple it was time for another typical Thai experience - a Thai massage at the school for traditional medicine. Very relaxing, definitely a recommendation.
In the evening, we went to another part of the city to eat out. We ended up going for a Thai variation of hot pot. There was a big pan of boiling water in the middle, which we filled with fish, vegetables and meat to turn it into a soup. Then each person would take some spoons full and added a spicy sauce, garlic and chili to make it as strong as you prefer. This was really delicious. We ended the day with a walk through Khao San Road, which really comes to live at night. The street turns into one big open air discothèque full with food stalls and shops. Luckily we had a room at the back of the hotel and we could sleep quietly.
- Bangkok Day 3-
This day we woke up a bit late because of the yetlag, so our day started with a lunch at one of the little street restaurants close to our hotel. We met some backpackers there and had the chance to share travel experiences and plans. Then we took a walk through another well-known tourist area, followed by a tuctuc trip to the river for a boat tour. We had a boat just for the two of us, although there easily could have been 10 people on that boat. Pretty cool. We passed many houses that were built on the water. A lot of the looked like they were going to collapse any moment. So strange to think that people actually live there. There were several hammocks right next to the water, imagine that you are taking a nap and then want to get out on the wrong side. That would be pretty funny.
The taxi we took to go to the royal palace later in the afternoon got stuck in traffic because the schools had just finished. So we switched it for two scooter taxis. These go super fast because they can zigzag through all the cars without any problem. Slightly dangerous, but a lot of fun. The palace was beautiful, but full of tour groups of Chinese people. We got surrounded by them several times. It became a game to avoid them in the end. Fail - there were just too many of them.
We ate dinner and a typical Thai dessert (things floating in coconut milk with shaved ice) close to our hotel and then went for a drink in the backpackers area. We could not leave Bangkok without having a little dancing party of course! This was a really fun way to end the first leg of my trip.
I almost missed the bus to the airport the next morning, but luckily Marina happened to wake up early. She went to the reception to tell them to wait for me while I got ready in less than 5 minutes. And it all worked out! Pfiew. Lucky me to be traveling with her.
I really enjoyed Bangkok. This visit was just two and a half days, but I'll be back two more times during my trip. I will miss my fabulous guide Marina during those visits, though.
-Bangkok Day 2-
I started off the Bangkok tour with one of the biggest touristic attractions; Wat Phra Kaew, the royal palace. This collection of temples, gardens and museums is colourful and richly decorated. Everything is grand and impressive. I admired some of Bangkok's most famous treasures. Once I am able to upload photos, I will show you what mean.
Overwhelmed by all the sparkle, colour, heat and crowds of other people, we fled away to a small restaurant for a typical Thai lunch. I still didn't find out what kind of vegetable "taro" is exactly, but it tastes very good in warm coconut milk.
Recharged, we walked to temple Wat Pho (I do know that I am repeating myself here, since "wat" means temple"), another very beautiful place. Here, I got the chance to experience something really special - I made an offer to Buddha. First, I burned a candle and stuck it to the standard with its own wax. Next, I lighted 3 in sent sticks, which I stuck in a big bowl of sand next to the Buddha statue. Then, I left a flower in the vase next to the statue. The last thing was to stick a small golden leave on the Buddha. This way the stone was slowly turning gold while offers were being made. After a tour of the temple it was time for another typical Thai experience - a Thai massage at the school for traditional medicine. Very relaxing, definitely a recommendation.
In the evening, we went to another part of the city to eat out. We ended up going for a Thai variation of hot pot. There was a big pan of boiling water in the middle, which we filled with fish, vegetables and meat to turn it into a soup. Then each person would take some spoons full and added a spicy sauce, garlic and chili to make it as strong as you prefer. This was really delicious. We ended the day with a walk through Khao San Road, which really comes to live at night. The street turns into one big open air discothèque full with food stalls and shops. Luckily we had a room at the back of the hotel and we could sleep quietly.
- Bangkok Day 3-
This day we woke up a bit late because of the yetlag, so our day started with a lunch at one of the little street restaurants close to our hotel. We met some backpackers there and had the chance to share travel experiences and plans. Then we took a walk through another well-known tourist area, followed by a tuctuc trip to the river for a boat tour. We had a boat just for the two of us, although there easily could have been 10 people on that boat. Pretty cool. We passed many houses that were built on the water. A lot of the looked like they were going to collapse any moment. So strange to think that people actually live there. There were several hammocks right next to the water, imagine that you are taking a nap and then want to get out on the wrong side. That would be pretty funny.
The taxi we took to go to the royal palace later in the afternoon got stuck in traffic because the schools had just finished. So we switched it for two scooter taxis. These go super fast because they can zigzag through all the cars without any problem. Slightly dangerous, but a lot of fun. The palace was beautiful, but full of tour groups of Chinese people. We got surrounded by them several times. It became a game to avoid them in the end. Fail - there were just too many of them.
We ate dinner and a typical Thai dessert (things floating in coconut milk with shaved ice) close to our hotel and then went for a drink in the backpackers area. We could not leave Bangkok without having a little dancing party of course! This was a really fun way to end the first leg of my trip.
I almost missed the bus to the airport the next morning, but luckily Marina happened to wake up early. She went to the reception to tell them to wait for me while I got ready in less than 5 minutes. And it all worked out! Pfiew. Lucky me to be traveling with her.
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