Alreet!
We have put together a highlight list of our favourite places that we visited whilst we were in Bangkok. We hope this list gives you an extra insight into the tourist spots, along with some recommendations of things that you should try in order to have the best backpacker experience of Thailand. We hope these trip ideas inspire anyone who is thinking about travelling to Asia.
Places to visit:
Khaosan Road - Backpacker central! Quiet during the day but comes alive at night time with crowds of backpackers. They revel in the drinking culture with buckets of spirit and mixer only a few Baht. The street becomes lined with food and souvenir stalls who all claim to sell things at the cheapest prices (my advice - barter for your life!). Khaosan road is definitely something to be seen with your own eyes.
Wat Phra Chetuphon (Reclining Buddha) - This was mine and Rachel's favourite temple we visited. It cost 200 Baht to enter and you get a free small bottle of water. This price is a little bit more then the other temples around the area but it is definitely worth a visit. The grounds are beautiful and calming to wander around, and the monks at this temple also care for stray cats so don't be surprised if you spot a few sharing the gardens with you (if you love cats it's definitely a bonus). The Buddha itself is something spectacular, it is intimidating in size, yet leaves you in awe of it. We thought it was truly magnificent to see.
Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) - Across the water from the reclining Buddha you will find something a little different; with a 50 Baht entrance fee this is worth a visit. Most of the temples around Bangkok have been designed with gold, yet this temple is decorated with tiny pieces of coloured glass and Chinese porcelain. It's something to add to your Bangkok list, with the stunning intricacy of each placed piece making something really beautiful standout against a riverside back drop. The tallest spire is 70 metres in height! Make sure to visit at sunset to get that perfect instagram picture, of the spires reflected in the river water.
Chatuchak weekend market - Free entry and is sure to have something to please any type of shopper. This weekend market (that is open only on Saturdays and Sundays - hence the name) sells everything your heart could desire from food, clothing, books, art, pets, household items and antiques. It really has everything you could ever want. Arrive by the Bangkok underground train system but don't arrive too early as most of the locals who own the shops don't open till later in the day. The market opens at 10am but its best to visit in the evening when everything is open and people are more likely to accept some bartering on the listed prices; shops remain open until 6/7pm. Rachel and I enjoyed this market when we visited, however we weren't happy about the animal conditions of some of the pet shops. Animal rights are very differently viewed over in the Asian continent and we don't agree with the treatment of these animals. However we couldn't miss this off our list as it is a fantastic place to see and experience as a backpacker. We just don't think anyone should support cruelty to animals and would urge you not to encourage anything that you think is wrong.
The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) - On the higher end of the budget scale you will find the Grand Palace, which is 500 Baht to enter. You might think this price is steep, however you do get a lot for your money such as entrance to the palace and some of its rooms and gardens (which includes the Emerald Buddha), the royal Thai decorations and coin pavilion and Queen Sirikit museum of textiles, which are located within the palace grounds. Your ticket also gives you entrance in to Vimarnmek mansion and a 30 minute show of the Khon Thai masked dance at the near by Gala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. This is the number one temple you will find visitors flocking too, it's the most photographed around Bangkok! So be sure to visit early to get some worthy pictures before the tourists descend. The palace opens at 8:30 am til 3:30 pm everyday, except during special royal ceremonies. The palace is really something to see with its beautiful decor that serves culture, tradition and spiritual essence around every corner.
Chinatown - The streets of Chinatown are filled with market stalls and day or night you will find sellers, diners and tourists wandering through its streets looking at shops or tasting the cuisine. Bangkok is home to the worlds largest Chinatown and the entrance is marked with a traditional Chinese ceremonial gate which is a prime picture spot. Best visited any day of the week from early morning til 4 pm. After 4 pm the side streets become open air restaurant. Definitely worth a visit especially if you enjoy sampling street food - just remember to wear your comfy shoes!
Floating markets - Unfortunately we can't personally give you a recommendation for this attraction as the tour we booked got cancelled on our last day so we never got to see it. However we thought we would add it as it is still a top attraction in Bangkok. Prices vary between each tour guide but we would advise to buy a tour when you are in Bangkok as we paid for a tour from a well-known British company that charged us 60 pounds (2,339 Thai baht) and never showed up. You can get a trip for 6 people on the street for 1,500 Thai Baht and they are more reliable. I suppose we are advising to shop around and don't dismiss the local companies too fast because sometimes they are more reliable and 9 times out of 10 they are cheaper...if you barter!
ALL VISITORS SHOULD WEAR APPROPRIATE ATTIRE TO ENTER TEMPLES (LONG PANTS OR SKIRT AND A SHORT OR LONG SLEEVED TOP WHICH IS NOT SEE-THROUGH IS ACCEPTED)
Transport:
The streets are littered in Bangkok with taxis and tuk tuks, which will take you anywhere you need to go for a price that's right. We used both when we visited and the best thing to do is barter barter barter! These are made and lay in wait for tourists everyday so the prices are always higher. Before getting in any vehicle always decide a price first, so you know what you are paying before you set off. We got in a few tuk tuks while in Bangkok and each one, always before dropping you off at your destination, tries to take you to a shop of some kind. Whether they are selling clothes, day trips or places to stay they always take you to one. Don't be alarmed when this happens, it is a deal with the driver and the shops to make extra money from tourists. We always got out and went into the shop, which the driver took us to and seen what they had to offer. If we didn't want the product we politely declined and got back in the tuk tuk to be drove to our destination. Our tip is to not feel pressured into anything you don't want, whilst in Asia we both learned to be a little bit tougher and more forward with people in order to get what we wanted and where we wanted to be.
Things to try:
Street food - I know we have already touched upon places to try street food like Khaosan or Chinatown but the things which are available might not be things you were expecting. They have a very different variety of snacks available in Thailand that backpackers from western countries might not have seen before like spiders, scorpions, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and other small insects. Also available on the street is crocodile! This is really something to be seen; the stall has a whole crocodile - head, feet and eyes all present! Pieces are carved from the carcass and sold to revellers for a few Baht. Besides the animal cuisine travellers can be seen enjoying dessert in the shape of a Roti, which is a pancake-like mix that is fried and drizzled with a variety of toppings like Nutella and condensed milk.
Fashion - If your anything like us you like to pack as light as possible, so travelling constantly and having to wash the few items you have in the sink might not always make your clothes the cleanest. If we travel for a while we like to pick items of clothing up along the way which are light and travel-friendly. So as soon as we saw the wide variety of floaty elephant pants available in Bangkok we knew we had to have a pair, like every other traveller who has ever been to Thailand. We bought two pairs at 100 baht each after a few efforts of bartering and we couldn't have been happier. These pants are excellent for temples and light enough not to make much difference to the weight of your bag. We didn't mind the stereotype of every travelling girl having bought these before. Along with elephant pants you will find a few stalls that offer hair braids at a variety of prices depending on what style you want. We also couldn't help ourselves and had to join in, so we payed well over the odds for a small hair braid that was entangled with thread and a little metal symbol. Rachel got a feather and I got a hand. I know - we literally live up to the cliché, but we loved getting involved with all aspects of Bangkok, and we wanted to experience the backpacker lifestyle, as well as the cultural side of the city. When walking down Khaosan road you will come across a few sellers that create wrist bands; these bands are a good souvenir, however, some are less cute than others. Some are full of offensive slurs or swear words. I guess they try to entice the drunk people into buying a 'funny' band on a night time. Rachel and I also bought these, but we got a simple 'Thailand 2019' band instead. We wore them for our whole trip, and I like having it as a keepsake of our Thailand adventure. I suppose fashion elements really depend on what you like and how much you want to get involved. We know some people hate this stuff and wouldn't waste valuable travel money on it but we enjoyed buying some things to keep.
Bangkok is full of amazing things and I'm sure any traveller will find something which they enjoy here. Whether it's the culture, tradition or the backpacker lifestyle it really is a number one destination to experience and have on your bucket list. We really loved Bangkok and I hope this list provides you with some places to visit and some extra information on what to expect. Try something new! You might surprise yourself and actually really enjoy it.
Howay, hoyin' oot time.
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