Thailand was amazing. I loved every minute of my time there!
Bangkok was our first stop. We arrived super late on a Saturday night. I was exhausted, but so excited about being there. It was my first time and I just kept wondering what this place looked like in the daylight. We were picked up and driven to our hotel. Once we checked in, we passed out.
The next morning, we had breakfast at our hotel and then got directions to the nearest Sky Train station. Our plan was to go to the Chatuchak Market. It is a weekend market that is the size of a small town. We hopped on the Sky Train and headed to the market. The place was very crowded. We started walking around the market and I felt so overwhelmed. I didn't know which way to go. They had just about anything you could ever want though, and the prices were amazing. I saw so many things I wanted to get, but they were too big for my suitcase or I had no idea what I would do with it once I got it home. It was hot and there were stalls after stalls after stalls. It's almost dizzying. We didn't stay very long, but we made sure we picked up some fruit on the way out.
After we left the market, we headed for the MBK Mall. We wanted to check out the mall, but the main reason we were going there was because I knew that the Hard Rock Cafe was near the MBK. As I mentioned before, I have a thing for the Hard Rock Cafe.
After a fabulous lunch, we headed for MBK Mall. I have to say that it was a little overwhelming when I first walked into the mall. It wasn't like any of the malls I have ever been to. There were stalls of vendors everywhere. It was like a flea market mall. I went up to the sixth floor and it was like a mini Chatuchak Market! Everyone was pretty tired though so we didn't spend a whole lot of time at the mall. We spent the rest of the day relaxing.
For the next two days we hired a driver and a guide. I wanted to see the Grand Palace, Reclining Buddha, Wat Arun, and the floating market. Those were on my list of things that I HAD to do while I was in Bangkok. If you don't have a whole lot of time, I suggest you skip the Grand Palace and just go to the Reclining Buddha and Wat Arun. Grand Palace is nice, but I absolutely loved the Reclining Buddha and Wat Arun. They were my favorites!
The floating market was also a very unique experience. If you go, you have to try the coconut pancakes.
I think for the Grand Palace, Reclining Buddha, and Wat Arun You probably don't have to have a guide. I'm glad we did because we had two children and when they got tired, they were able to rest in the van with the driver while we continued to look around. Our guide was also very good about pointing things out to us while we were driving around. So, for me, I would go with a guide and a driver. Especially if you have children. The floating market is pretty far out so it definitely made it easier to have a guide and a driver. The kids napped in the back on the way there and on the way back.
Also, be careful of the cabs. Make sure they turn their meter on. We just had our hotel call us one if we needed one. We didn't have any problems at all, but have heard many horror stories from other people who have had issues. Don't ever go anywhere in a cab during rush hour. We were told by quite a few people, but one of the hotel employees said we should take a cab and we told him we were concerned about the traffic. He said there would be some traffic, but it should still only take about 45 minutes to an hour. Ummmm.....no. It took over two hours. We finally got out of the cab and walked the rest of the way. We were super late for our dinner reservations, but luckily the restaurant wasn't fully booked for the evening. Oh, and it only took 25 minutes to get back to our hotel! Yup. Don't do it. Don't get in a cab during rush hour traffic.
If you have time, you should also check out the Sky Bar. The drinks are kind of pricey, but you're paying for the view. And it's worth every baht! It's a little scary, but it was also so beautiful. Just don't look down.
Our time in Bangkok went by pretty quickly, but I was ready to go when it came time for us to head up to Chiang Mai. As much as I enjoyed Bangkok, I think once is enough for me. I couldn't wait to get to Chiang Mai! We had so many activities planned for Chiang Mai! You'll have to read about everything we did in my next post.
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