For those of you that don't know I have just recently returned from island hopping in Thailand. Due to work restrictions myself and my friend could only spare 11 days to travel however we managed to visit a few places in this time; Bangkok, Phuket, Phi Phi island & Koh Samui. In this post I will be talking all things Bangkok.
We started our trip with two nights in Bangkok after flying in from Dubai. We technically didn't spend much time in this city as we arrived at our hotel (Maitra Hotel Sukhumvit 18) just after midnight on the Friday, and left for our next destination on the Sunday. However, it was definitely enough time as Bangkok is quite overwhelming, in my humble opinion!
The following day after arriving we went to Damnoen Saduak floating market which is just outside of Bangkok, around 1hr/1hr 30 mins drive away. There are several floating markets that are closer however after some research we discovered that this was the best rated. Our hotel easily set up a private return transfer for us for 1500 baht, which wasn't bad as the driver waited for us whilst we spent a few hours at the market. Once at the market you will be a given a few choices of excursions that you can do with the floating market such as stop at temples, monkey show, elephant trekking etc. We opted for the floating market ticket only which was around 700 or 750 baht I believe for a 2hr private boat around the market. The driver is meant to stop off at different stalls depending on whether or not you wish to buy anything, however from our experience it seemed as if our driver was simply taking us to his friend's stalls as we were stopping at places we hadn't even asked to lol. Also, after telling one of the market lady's we didn't have enough cash on us to purchase something, our driver then took it upon himself to tell every stall "credit card!" as if we had asked, we definitely didn't buy anything else after his shenanigans. All in all the floating market is something i'd recommend experiencing, it was quite therapeutic riding around on a little boat through the market and different water streams. However just be mindful that as we are tourists the thai locals will try and bump us, so be prepared to haggle prices if you do wish to buy anything! That night we took a little wander locally and ended up down a street that seemed like Bangkok's equivalent to the red light district; full of working girls looking for business. The girls must've thought we were coming for their customers as we were getting some hard stares too!
There are numerous temples in Bangkok but as we had limited time we decided on Wat Arun, War Arun Ratchawararam and the surrounding views like Temple of Dawn. Entry for Wat Arun is 100 THB, you will be required to cover your shoulders in order to enter the temples but they have cover ups available to rent if need be. The temples have specific opening times so be sure to check them before visiting, and there are last boat times (to get to the temples) so again do check these and allow plenty of time to get there and back.
Terminal 21 shopping centre was another highlight of Bangkok. With up 9 floor and each floor focusing on a different city, it's not like your usual shopping centre. From Caribbean themes, to a whole London exhibition. The 4th and 5th floors are San Francisco where you will find more than 50 restaurants and food chains, if that isn't enough to make you want to visit then...
Overall there is a lot to see and do in Bangkok, so if the city life is for you then I would recommend a visit however be prepared for the hustle and bustle. With every city obviously comes a lot of pollution and traffic, but the streets of Bangkok smell far from sweet.
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