Southeast Asia: Thailand, Part 1 - Bangkok

After my mission trip in the Philippines, I headed over to Thailand for a couple weeks of vacation. Almost every foreigner I know over here has either been to Thailand or is planning a trip to Thailand for their year here. I’m already planning to return and go to a few areas I didn’t visit on my first trip; it’s a wonderful country – fantastic food, amazing culture, friendly people, beautiful beaches… all for low, low prices.

I arrived in Bangkok late on a Friday night and took a taxi to my hotel, which was down a side alley off of the famous Khao San Road. The taxi wasn’t even allowed to drive onto the road, and had to drop me off at one of the ends. There were people everywhere, even though it was so late at night; the road definitely lived up to its name – backpackers, people selling all kinds of merchandise, bars, cheap hotels… there was basically a big street party all night long. I decided not to partake in the party, however, and instead made my way through the crowds to my hotel to get some sleep so I would have energy to explore the city the next day.

I only had one full day in Bangkok, and spent it exploring a couple of the most popular areas of the city, along with some random streets I found myself on (I decided to just walk all over instead of dealing with public transportation!). I made my way to the Khlong Saen Saeb and took a short ride on one of the many boats. I had planned to stay on longer, but it was super crowded and hot, so I began to feel a bit sick. I snapped a few photos as we traveled along, before hopping off and heading back into the smog and business of Bangkok.

View from the dock:

Views from the boat:

A lot of fresh fruit!


I spent most of my time was the impressive Grand Palace. I won’t even begin to remember all of the names of the places within the Grand Palace grounds, though one I do remember and will note is Wat Phra Kaew, or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand; that’s saying a lot as there are many, many temples everywhere you go (the country is 95% Buddhist). Interestingly, the Emerald Buddha is actually made of jade, not emerald.

I have a lot of photos from the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew:

Wat Phra Kaew:

The Emerald Buddha:

I wandered around the streets of Bangkok until I was exhausted and hungry; then I found a hole-in-the-wall vegetarian café that had been recommended in my Lonely Planet guidebook. After eating some delicious food, I began my walk back to the Khao San Road (making a stop for some fresh pineapple…). Here are a few photos I took along the way; the last few are from Khao San Road:

On Sunday I took a cab to the airport and caught my flight down to Phuket. Sunday ended up being a very long day as I was quite sick all day (and into the next couple) – not sure if it was the vegetarian café, the pineapples off the street, or something else, but it sure wasn’t fun! More on that adventure, and the fun I had in Phuket once the sickness passed, in my next post!