Ana has been working for more than half a year in Asia by now. She had hoped before that her work may allow
her to do some business travel around the region. Finally, August presented a
company training in Bangkok
on a Thursday and Friday. She could check with Mercer and they allowed her to
fly back to Singapore on
Sunday instead and thus, Simon booked a flight to Bangkok to join her for the weekend. As they
wanted to explore Thailand’s
capital at some point anyhow, this basically just solved the question when to go
there.
Simon met Ana in the afternoon of Friday. She staid in a
down-to-earth business hotel in the Expat area of Bangkok, even though it still seemed pretty
local to the European explorers. They went out for some drinks with Ana’s
colleagues and continued to a pretty unique restaurant experience: “Cabbage
& Condoms”. The food was mainly Thai and quite good. The interesting part
of it was the decoration. All the lamps, pictures on the wall and lampions in
the garden were created out of a multitude of different color-condoms. Other
than that, the food was great and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. Saturday,
they started their exploration of the city. All in all, Bangkok is a city full of contrasts. Ana and
Simon did very “touristy” visits and major sightseeing, including temples, Thai
houses and high rise buildings.
 |
| In the garden of a very nice Thai building complex |
 |
| Simon with the Thai ladies |
 |
| A major temple in Bangkok |
 |
| The massive 2.5 ton pure gold Buddha inside the temple |
 |
| The gate to Chinatown against the background of the Golden Buddha Temple |
On the other hand, the city life seemed to be unaffected by
either the fact that millions of tourists visit Bangkok every year or that it is the Thai
capital and by far the largest city of the country. Just a few dozen meters off
the main roads, the life seemed to be much calmer and even more exotic than
what the average tourist would see. One of the highlights that should be on the
travel agenda for every tourist is
definitely the Grand
Palace. Thailand was
the only country in the region that remained independent from any colonial
powers and can look back at a long history as an empire. However, it also never
reached the scale or expansion of some European powers or China.
Nevertheless, the Grand Palace stunned Ana and Simon much more than any
palace they had ever seen in Europe. Sorry Buckingham Palace, move over Palacio Real, not good
enough Neuschwanstein. It combines a spiritual part with a huge temple complex,
thousand of golden tiles, grand architecture with the political power of the
Thai kingdom and large representative buildings for state affairs. Words are
barely enough to describe it. In case any of the readers ever travel to Bangkok, make sure to
reserve three hours or more and get a local guide to explain you everything.
Ana and Simon didn’t have the luxury of time but would have loved to do this.
 |
| Amazing murals on the inner walls of the Golden Palace |
 |
| View of the palace complex |
 |
| Spectacular temples inside the Grand Palace |
 |
| Ana and Simon inside the Grand Palace |
 |
| Doing his duty for Thailand |
 |
| Golden tiles wherever you look |
 |
| Huge warriors protecting some of the buildings inside the palace |
 |
| The actual main palace building |
Another, less expected, highlight were the buzzling streets
of Chinatown. It is not the “usual Chinatown” that gets recommended in the guide books.
Basically, Ana and Simon were looking for a ferry on the mighty Chao Phraya river when they decided to explore an alley
with a few spice shops. One more turn and they were in the midst of Chinatown, the only Westerners and amazed by the variety
of products, spices, fruits and everything on offer.
 |
| Different spices in Chinatown |
 |
| Not many Westerners around... |
 |
| ... but fresh fruit juice everywhere |
Another fun experience in Bangkok are the night markets. They are
basically a combination of some original cultural heritage (many goods would
have been sold at night when cooler temperatures would be better for the sale of
perishable goods) with modern pleasures of shopping after business hours and
eating out for dinner. A rather new night market is called Asiatique and is
accessible with a water shuttle only. Ana and Simon could enjoy some great
seafood with a nice atmosphere right next to the river. Also,
they were able to enjoy the fact that Bangkok
is home to rooftop bars about 200m above ground. Quite a nice atmosphere, even
though the city is missing a skyline. That is what’s happening when there is no
civil engineering as in Singapore.
All in all, Thailand’s
capital and its friendly inhabitants proved to be a very good weekend
destination. Definitely to be recommended!
 |
| Local transport: River boat with monks |
 |
| When in Bangkok - travel by tuk-tuk |
No comments:
Post a Comment