Friday, January 29
It's Truly amazing how fast time can go when you are experiencing something new and fascinating for the first time. I've been in Bangkok for less than 48 hours and I feel like I've done so much already!
It's Truly amazing how fast time can go when you are experiencing something new and fascinating for the first time. I've been in Bangkok for less than 48 hours and I feel like I've done so much already!
Thursday after landing in Bangkok we found our hostel ($6.30 USD a night...umm do I ever want to leave this place?!?) checked in and crashed...hard haha, we were out cold!
Friday morning we woke up and were dressed and ready to go by 9am. We had gotten pulled into a "private tour" of the Grand Palace the night before at the airport and thought why the heck not! It was cheap, we had transportation, a guide, and best part, we had someone's brain to pick on all things Bangkok!!
We got to the Grand Palace around 9:30, pushed through the crowds, paid our 500 Baht ($14ish USD) and our jaws dropped, this place was not only massive, but beautiful. To be honest I still need to do a little more research on this place to completely understand it, but a little over 100 years ago this was the royal family's home and from my understanding the kind now lives in another part of Bangkok. There were so many small separate buildings, the Emerald Buddha, "napping platforms", and guardians. Our guide Ming tried his best to explain things to us in English while my list of questions about what I was seeing grew longer and longer (side note: how did people travel before Google?! Lol) Needless to say the palace was amazing and sadly my words and pictures don't do it justice!!
After the Palace Ming took us to a suit fitting store as Bangkok is well renowned for being able to sew custom tailored suits for visitors and after to a jewelry and gem store {we later found out that drivers who take visitors to these places get 5 liters of free gas...win win for Mr. Ming! Lol}
After our quick shopping detour Ming dropped us off near the Sky Tower (the tallest building in Thailand & super close to our hostel). We grabbed a quick $1 lunch of pork, rice, & an egg and literally sat on the side of the road to eat it (gotta love the traveling life!) we wondered around the surrounding market for a while purchasing far too many little souvenirs and elephant pants {a must when in Southeast Asia! Haha} before calling it an afternoon and heading back to the hostel to rest and regroup.
After an hour rest stop we decided to head to china town just to see what all was there after hearing so much about it. China town was neat, we grabbed some small snacks, but after living in Taiwan for 6 months it was a slight let down (although we were told to go back next week for the Chinese New Year celebration). After China town we wondered around the streets aimlessly until stumbling onto a preforming street show that we watched before finding an amazing pad Thai restaurant recommended to me by a friend.
We were just about to finish our dinner when my friend called to tell me she was there!! I was so excited! Wan had been an exchange student in Ohio from Thailand when I was a junior in high school and I haven't seen her in almost 8 years, who would have thunk 8 years later she would be the one showing me around her country!! Amazing experience! Wan and her friend Ben took us out for ice cream at Asiatique, a fancy downtown Bangkok nightlife sopping area, followed by A visit to Khao San Road that was packed with places to grab food, pubs, street performers, and tourists galore. Before leaving Wan bought us a snack of sticky mango rice {sweet sticky rice with fresh mango and a coconut milk over top} that sadly didn't survive long after our first taste (DELICIOUS!!) They drove us back to our hostel, we said our goodbyes, and we crashed, hard, and a good nights sleep was much welcomed!
Day 1 in Bangkok...complete!
No comments
Comments and love notes welcome!