Bangkok is one of the most colorful cities, ever ready to delight fun-lovers and jolly travelers. From shopping to food and temples to nightlife, everything in Bangkok has a distinct charm and pull. While Bangkok is notorious for its open culture and free spirited people, it is also one of the most friendly cities I have visited so far. Moreover, it is a no-visa worry destination has you get your visa on arrival.
While most guys do not even like to take their partners along, I was in a dilemma as my family also wanted to join me and I could not refuse. I had prepared a list of best night life places which now had to be replaced with best temples and museums in Bangkok. My parents were ready with their well-packed bags two days before the journey and you can imagine how excited they were! We reached airport at around 2:30 am as the flight was at 5:30 am. We completed all the formalities and kept waiting restlessly for the fight to take off as it was our very first journey to Thailand.
We reached airport at 11:30 am and we collected our visa. Though we had planned just three days stay yet we took local sim cards from airport. The sim cards are available with 1 month validity for free. We all moved towards hotel and decided to rest for an hour or so before we make a move towards the city attractions.
Unbelievably, there are over 31200 Buddhist temples spread around Thailand. In Thai these are called wat. Our first sight was one of the most famous temples of bankok- Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho). Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok, it is home to more than 10,000 Buddha images.The Temple also houses a monastery school and its southern compound is home to practicing monks. Located in the Phra Nakhon District, the temple offers serene grounds with a giant reclining Buddha statue.
Thailand is famous for relaxation and massages and we decided to visit Wat Pho Thai Traditional Massage School which is located at Wat Pho. The massage school incorporates elements of traditional Thai massage, pressure points, therapeutic points and energy pathways in its various treatments. They also give classes for traditional Thai massage which is famous across the world.
Our next sight was Wat Traimit, also known as The Golden Buddha Temple. The temple houses world’s most famous and the largest gold statue of Buddha, with a weight of 5.5 tons. The temple is located at the end of Chinatown’s Yaowarat Road, near Hualampong Railway Station and it features a gilded exterior, exhibitions. The unprecedented calm and peace that the temple offers is soul-soothing.
The next and the last sight of the day was Wat Arun which is Temple of Dawn. The temple is famous for spectacular sunset and mesmerizing evening atmosphere. The grand architecture looks even more outstanding during the sunset as the beautiful shades of yellow and red cover the entire sky. Sitting majestically on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River, the legendary Wat Arun is almost directly opposite Wat Pho, so it is very easy to get to.
Supatra River House is a perfect place to dine and it is in the north of Wat Arun. This two-story traditional Thai house on the banks of the Chao Phraya River offers exotic Thai cuisine and seafood with divine atmosphere.
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Supatra River House is easily accessible from both sides of the river, the boat shuttles diners back and forth from Maharaj Pier 1. We loved tom yam soup with large prawn, som tam with grilled chicken, curry chicken, mixed vegetables, and fish fillets. Occasionally there are dance and cultural performances on the terrace for 30 minutes. It was an unforgettable dinner night for all of us indeed.
There was a long list of famous sights that I and my dad wanted to see in Bangkok but my mom and my sister convinced us to go for shopping. So the next day we had to visit all the shopping markets and malls in the city. The first one was Siam Paragon which is a famous shopping mall with make-shift stalls filled with fashionable clothing, shoes, key chains, and electronics. One of the biggest shopping centres in Asia, the mall includes a wide range of specialty stores and restaurants, multiplex movie theatre, the Sea Life Ocean World, a large bowling alley and karaoke centre.
Next, we went to Central World Plaza which is just a few minutes away from Siam Paragon. Along with affordable clothing stores. one can also find a number of restaurants and massage parlous here. We had some delicious mango dishes at Mango Tango and moved towards MBK Center (Ma Boon Khrong Center) which impressed me with cheap gadgets, mobile phones and electronics. Dinner at Ban Khun Mae Restaurant was supposed to be the last place of the day until my mom heard about Patpong Night Market and we had to finish our dinner quickly as we were left with very little time. I enjoyed the market contrary to my assumption as the place had interesting nightlife with a number of bars and pubs.
On the third day of our trip, we left for Pattaya early morning. While Pattya offers a number of beach activities and water sports, the best and the most exciting experience in the entire trip for me was parasailing. We relaxed, played and enjoyed at the Pattaya Beach on the last day of our trip and the blue waters were too mesmerizing to forget. The price for parasailing was 500/- Thb Adult and it was worth each penny.
We boarded the flight at around 12:30 AM and reached Mumbai at 4:30 AM. While we were in India, there was some part of Bangkok left in us and a part of us remained in Bangkok!
