here..there..everywhere: 8 Places to Visit in Bangkok

Bangkok has two sides. Both of which I was able to see and experience on separate trips. This blog should have been written earlier as this is about the first trip to Bangkok and how I got to see the "hustle-bustle" of the city.

1. Sukhumvit Road

Bangkok is girl's paradise being well known for its numerous stores of fashionable and cheap clothing, shoes and accessories. Sukhumvit Road is where you would want to be for air-conditioned shopping. Malls are lined up waiting to be explored. And because of the nearing Christmas holiday then, most of the big malls were embroidered with elaborate decorations which I found more cheerful at night when they are all lit up. Some of these malls are Siam Center, MBK, and Amarin.

2. Chao Phraya River

If you want to see Bangkok from another angle, you can do this by a boat ride. The Chao Phraya River almost flows within the center of the city. Aside from the good view, it's also a way to get some wind blowing in your face. Ticket costs 150 baht. (Back in 2011)

3. Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha

Was not able to get in because of the pricey entrance fees (500 baht for the grand palace and 150 for the Emerald Buddha) but they say you should not miss these. The Grand Palace was built in the 1700s and known for its grand architecture. The Emerald Buddha is also one to behold with its garments made of gold.

4. Wat Pho Temple (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

Very unusual to see a Buddha reclining but this gold plated statue is also engraved with mother-of-pearl. One of the memorable items here are the bronze bowls opposite the statue. You can pay for a handful of special coins that if you have enough to drop in all the bowls (one each) will give you good fortune.

gold-plated buddhas

5. Dusit Zoo

Famous for their white Tigers, the Zoo also has other charming animals such as the dwarf horse and the naughty elephants who are the ones I saw was not in cages but can freely walk around (with a trainer of course!) At one place near the elephant show area, the elephants are fenced in by a low metals bars which they can easily cross over. But because they were trained, they kept within the quarters just walking around and waiting for people to feed them. Nearby is a counter where you can buy food for the elephant such as a basket of bread or banana and you can feed them yourselves. We wanted to feed the small ones but one of the big elephants keep getting the food we held out. We were even caught off guard when he/she took the whole basket while we were concentrating on the smaller elephant. But we did saw the big elephant give some of the food to the small one. So he/she wasn't so greedy after all.

looks like Burnham Lake :)

that's the naughty elephant

white tigers who are camera-shy

6. Chatuchak Weekend Market

Opens only on weekends, this place has a diverse wares for sale. This was the only place we got to visit on our second trip. To read more about that adventure, see First Stop: A Day in Bangkok.

7. Platinum Fashion Mall

This mall gets special mention as this has one of the cheapest clothes on sale. It is an indoor version of the Chatuchak market with 7 floors of numerous stalls. Their shirts and blouses cost from US$2.3 to $3.00. One day is not enough to go thru all the stalls.

8. Night market

When we were walking around the malls in Sukhumvit, we asked one vendor where the night market was. He just laughed and pointed to the street. "At night, all of these becomes the night market. "
He was right. You will be greeted by makeshift clothes stalls in the streets once you step out from the malls at night. And it's even far more cheaper than the ones sold inside the malls. But there are "permanent" night markets such as one found in On Nut, Patpong and many others.

On Nut Night Market

As a side note, we stayed at this clean and cozy place called Madee Hostel. It was not exactly at the city center but Ben, the friendly owner, would drive us in his golf cart to the Lotus Tesco near On Nut station everyday whenever we needed to.