Dustbin in Bangkok

Dust Bin seen at the Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok – Day Four

So here I am on Day Four. Utterly exhausted. My last day in Bangkok. I dread the thought of being back at work the next day. My aching joints and limbs. Oh, why Bangkok, why? But I can’t complain, eh, it was supposed to be a holiday.

As I crashed into bed the previous night, I left all remote thoughts of wanting to visit a floating market. So that’s one thing that’s yet to be ticked off my list after the Tiger Temple. I thought I would be really motivated to go to the floating market early morning on Day Four. But with no inspiration from my brother, sister-in-law (she was ready to accompany me though) and nephew, I just dropped the idea. I don’t think I would have survived the day if I had to get up early again on what was supposed to be a holiday!

Day Four was meant to be more relaxed. My brother finally realised he wanted to do nothing on this day. So most of the plans were my sister-in-law’s and mine. Bro and nephew were going to sleep in. So after having our last breakfast at the hotel, sis-in-law and I took nephew along to the Siam Mall to visit Madame Tussaud’s and Ocean World.

I originally wasn’t too keen on visiting the wax museum as none of the statues there really appealed to me, from what I read up. Except may be Lady Diana. But we finally decided to go.

We took a taxi to the mall and booked discount combo tickets for the museum and Ocean World. The ticket guy was extremely slow, so were the ladies at the entrance counter. Be patient and you will get in soon!

The wax museum, honest to God, was fun! We got to click pictures with the likes of Beyonce, Mahatma Gandhi, Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey (my fav!), Michelle and Barack Obama and even got to hold an fake Oscar with Brad Pitt. It’s complete timepass and you get some great pictures! Even my 5-year-old nephew had a blast!

Ocean World

We then ran out to the adjacent Siam mall which houses Ocean World on the underground level. You would really wonder how they would have constructed something like this in a mall bang in the middle of the city. That’s the point I guess! It’s more than a technological marvel that they could pull off something like that!

We really weren’t sure if we would have enough time to look around the entire place. So we got moving as fast as we could.

The place is really massive, so I would suggest you go there a little early if you can, again, especially if you have kids.

Ocean World has everything, from sharks, dolphins, crabs, jelly fish and sting rays to snakes, frogs and spiders. It’s constructed amazingly well. There are also several shows that you can watch and take part in. We took a package where we could take a glass-bottomed boat ride, behind the scenes tour and a fish spa. The first two were an absolute waste. They take you on a short 5-minute boat ride. The boat has a partial glass bottom through which you can see a few sharks and sting rays. The behind-the-scenes tour is pretty much near this same water area where they explain how they keep the tanks clean and stuff. Utter nonsense that lasts for barely five minutes.

Goldfish in a washing machine tank!

There were other activities including scuba-diving and ocean walking which take more time. I would have liked to have done the ocean walking but due to lack of time decided against it. I think it cost 1500 BHT.

What we enjoyed was the fish spa. Good fun as the fish come and eat up all the dirt from your feet. I’ve always wanted to get one done and finally got to! And after all the walking Bangkok made me do, I deserved it!

Ocean World is overall lots of fun. I even got to carry a star fish. I have been to the Ocean World in Singapore and it’s not as good as the one in Bangkok. But it will be completely okay if you gave this one a miss. I would still say you go to Platinum mall!

We finished it off with a 5-d show which was again boring. For kids only.

Last few hours in Bangkok

We headed back to the hotel as my bro and family had their flight to catch. Mine was late evening. After bidding goodbyes, I strolled down the street near the hotel to pass away time. I went to Robinsons and Terminal 21 mall. This mall is actually pretty cool. Each floor is built with a theme of a different country/city. The ground floor, for example, was built along the Roman style. The restroom was the best. It had that typical Roman-looking architecture with a fountain-type tap and stuff. Beautifully done! I unfortunately did not take any photographs.

The other floors were done like France, London and Tokyo. The shops looked expensive. I just had a Starbucks coffee.

After some window-shopping I headed back to my hotel to leave for the airport.

Since we had already checked out at 12 noon from our rooms, our luggage was at the hotel lobby. They called a taxi for me and bid goodbye to the beautiful hotel that treated us so well. The ride to the airport was snooze time. And I ended up reaching in approximately 45 minutes! The driver was annoying and I didn’t even realise that he hadn’t put the meter. So ended up paying more.

The Airport

View of Airport from plane

That was the last of being cheated in Bangkok. I walked into the Suvarnabhumi International Airport only to find it jam-packed with Indians! You will never miss home this way! But you will also cringe at the way they try to break rules like jumping the queue.

After a quick check-in and security (there was no physical check done), I entered the most gorgeous and humungous airport I have seen in my life! (I haven’t seen too many though!)

I honest to God did not know where to start! I saw a vast expanse that seemed never-ending. I had a good four hours ahead of me, so walking in and out of each shop was going to be the plan. Which I did! There was just everything! Souvenirs, clothes, chocolates, food, gadgets, liquor, bags, everything! I didn’t really buy anything major except for a souvenir and some chocolates. It is an expensive place but not too bad.

So those were my four packed days. I really felt like a needed a holiday after the holiday! And as is not surprising, wasn’t too keen on getting back to work the next day!

Bangkok was good to me. A visit is a must! And I would probably like to go back again!

Bangkok – Day Three

Wat Phra Kaew

Our third day in Bangkok was set aside to do some touristy stuff. So we decided to head out to the famous temples in the city. Since it was a Sunday there was far less traffic and we reached the Wat Phra Kaew in less than 20 minutes. This temple is located at the Grand Palace premises very close to the banks of the Chao Phraya river. You need to be appropriately dressed for this place – legs and feet covered, no bare shoulders. You could otherwise borrow clothes at the entrance counter for a tiny deposit. Those skirts they lend actually look very beautiful. So I would say dress inappropriately and you will get to at least wear their traditional wrap-around skirts!

The temple charges an entry fee. You can take a guided tour if you want details of these temples. We just did some basic sight-seeing. The temple is really beautiful. The towers, the statues, the details on the wall, very beautiful. The main temple building houses the emerald Buddha. My sister-in-law and I did not even know that it was the emerald Buddha because it was so ornately decorated. I realised only after I returned and read up on the Internet. We thought the emerald Buddha was in some other temple which we had skipped citing lack of time.

We did not even go inside the Grand Palace and pleased our eyes just with its exteriors. After some photographs and walking around, we headed out to the next temple which has the Reclining Buddha. While many may tell you that you can walk from the Wat Phra to Wat Pho, I would suggest you take a tuk tuk like we did. In the hot sun, you really don’t want to walk. The Wat Pho temple is much smaller and is mainly known for the Reclining Buddha which is massive and magnificent. It is known to be a very sacred temple as well.

Wat Pho - Reclining Buddha

I would suggest visiting both these places since it is a major tourist attraction and very beautiful. We again skipped the last of the tri-temples – Wat Arun, located on the other side of the river.

My sister-in-law and I wanted to book a dinner cruise for that evening, so we headed out to that. My brother and nephew headed out to the Samutprakarn crocodile farm which I had visited on Day One.

The best mall ever – Platinum!

After booking the dinner cruise at our hotel itself, my sister-in-law and I left for Platinum mall. This mall in fact does not come up very often when you search online about what to do in Bangkok. Surprising, because this was the best place in Bangkok that we had ever seen! We got to know of it through my brother’s colleagues. The mall is really every girl’s dreams! It is dedicated to women and every floor is jam-packed with stores selling everything a girl needs! There are clothes and more clothes. There is a floor dedicated only to bags. Another floor only for footwear. It is amazing! Now these are not branded. But they are really good. It’s not like a wholesale place. But if you pick more than three items, you will get a really good price.

My sister-in-law and I went bonkers. We didn’t go crazy shopping but we did pick up some good stuff. We were worried about being pressed for time as we had to be back at the hotel by 5 PM since we had to get ready for the dinner cruise.

So after rushing through the mall, we had a quick byte in McDonalds and walked out only to find an adjacent building also called Platinum. We entered the building to realise that this place was similar to the previous one. Floors and floors of clothes! Again!

This building seemed to have even more shops! We rushed through most of the shops as we were running out of time. We had in fact planned to go to another mall in the city. Obviously we scrapped that.

So, here are a couple of take aways. Platinum mall seemed to be the best place to shop in Bangkok. And we discovered that there are two malls adjacent to each other. Try to keep aside a good amount of time to spend there. The more you buy, the more you can bargain. The clothes are really good. The shop owners may be nasty, but stand your ground. And don’t waste their time either!

Chao Phraya dinner cruise

Our Dinner Cruise Boat

My sister-in-law and I left the mall, with pretty much long faces as we really would have loved to spend more time there. We took a tuk tuk back to our hotel. The ride was worse than a roller coaster and we survived!

We got ready for our dinner cruise. Now, we booked the cruise through our hotel. The ticket includes hotel pick up and drop and international buffet. We were picked up from the hotel in a minivan at about 6 PM. We reached the river banks which was actually a mall, at about 6.30 only to be told that the cruise starts at 7.45 PM and that we can go around the mall till then. If we had booked the cruise at the mall, it would have been way cheaper. The cruise we booked was the Chao Phraya Princess. After some window-shopping we finally got to get onto our boats. And then we realised another major bungle up. The entire lower deck of the boat seemed to have been allocated to only Indians. The buffet was Indian, not international. The upper deck seemed to have other foreign nationals. The emcee on the lower deck started singing Made in India, Yeh Dosti and what not, only to my absolute nightmare. I came to Bangkok for this! And there was a huge group of Indian men who were totally enjoying it. We had to put up with eating kebab, tomato soup, papad and biriyani.

View of Wat Arun temple from the cruise boat

About 30 minutes into our cruise, my sister-in-law had had enough and spoke to matron on board and got us seats on the upper deck! So we got to go to the upper deck, which had several empty tables, and enjoy international cuisine as well! So we really got to do a bit of both and were saved of Munni Badnam Hui and Jai Ho being rendered on the deck below!

During the cruise you also get to enjoy the lit up Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Arun temples. They are absolutely beautiful.

The entire cruise lasts about two hours. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you have the time. It’s just a different experience, may not be paisa vasool though.

We asked our minivan driver to drop us off at Patpong as my sister-in-law wanted to check out fake bag stores. We ended up not buying any bags. We did pick up a few souvenirs like fridge magnets (you get better ones at the airport, though expensive) and stuff and headed back to the hotel for our last night in Bangkok.

Bangkok – Day One

The hot March air hit my face as I stepped onto the tarmac at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. After a four-hour flight, all I wanted was to get to the hotel and begin my four-day tour of the city. I got into a taxi with a courteous driver, fortunately for me. My first experience was the crazy traffic that I had read about. It took me a good two hours to reach my hotel after bumper-to-bumper traffic. The taxi drive cost 230 BHT approximately, exclusive of the 25 BHT toll fee for taking the expressway.

Legacy Suites, located on Sukhumvit Soi 29 is like a service apartment. The hotel staff are friendly and at your service. Despite a 2 PM check-in, I was allowed to check-in at 10 in the morning. The room itself was quite spacious with two flatscreen TVs (that’s what we need on a holiday, two TVs!), an ironing board, a coffee machine, a washing machine, room service, free wi-fi (only if you have done online booking) and a beautiful bathroom! They even give you a rollout bed for a nominal fee.

After a scrumptious breakfast from their buffet spread (breakfast is complimentary) I decided to start my day officially exploring Bangkok. Since my brother and his family were going to land in the city only late evening, I chose to visit the Samutprakarn crocodile zoo on the outskirts of the city, which claims to be the largest in the world. The hotel calls in a taxi for you. Better if you mention that you want one with meter. Always always insist for meter, otherwise you will only end up arguing with your taxi driver.

My taxi driver was very nice. Only the next day did I realise he is also annoying. But more on that later. He showed me a bunch of brochures on the various touristy stuff to do in Bangkok. I managed to catch a wink or two after an exhausting 48 hours. I finally reached the crocodile farm.

Crocodiles, Crocodile show & crocodile meat – all in one place

Disclaimers first. Do not go to Samutprakarn with huge expectations. I read up on it before I went. The main draw for me was the photograph that you can take with a tiger there. I would have really chosen to visit the Tiger Temple which is a two-hour drive from Bangkok. But with time constraints, I decided to visit this place.

Like I mentioned earlier Samutprakarn claims to be the largest croc farm in the world with over 100,000 crocs. You can very easily walk your way through the place. So don’t hire a guide. Unless you really want to know about crocs and stuff. The entry fee costs about 300 BHT.

The 13-year-old was wide awake much after I took a photograph with him.

At the entrance itself is the 13 year old tiger that’s chained to a peg. He was also fast asleep when I got there. A photograph with the tiger cost me 200 BHT. He looked sedated to me because the caretaker just dragged him around to the photograph area.
You can also get a photograph with a chimpanzee which almost caught hold of my leg as it seemed to be in quite an agitated state. I also bottle-fed a four-month-old baby tiger. Each of this costs 200 BHT. You get your photograph printed within five minutes. Hand over your camera and they will happily oblige to take photos for you. This is probably the best money spent there.

I then took a walk through the croc displays. There are a good variety. The six-legged one, the chocolate-coloured one. If you are really into crocs, you might actually enjoy this. Otherwise, it’s all just seeing and walking. The hygiene and maintenance is not really laudable. This place has a really long way to go. But I guess the crocs don’t mind all the dirt.

Crocodiles at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm

There’s a huge pond at the farm, which is filled with crocs. You can also buy some meat from a stall there and throw them into the pond. If you really wanna bug some crocs, you can keep the meat hanging on the line for a while and watch them splash about in the water. I saw many doing just this! And it also makes for a decent photo op!

At 1 PM I went for the crocodile show, which promised to be daring and dangerous. The show has two stunt guys or trainers or whatever you call them, pulling the crocs by their tail in a small pond area. The show goes on for about an hour and you can see the guys put their hand into a croc’s mouth. They even put their head in between. While the audience throws in coins and currency, the show guys collect this and put it into the croc’s mouth and then attempt to take it out one by one. It is daring. But I really wonder what kind of training they undergo and what do they really do to the crocs. The show would have been even better if there was a little bit of English commentary. It was only Thai. But then again, it is more of a visual thing.

Crocodile show at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm

You can also have a photograph taken with a croc for 200 BHT. This was probably the most scared I have been. Especially since you enter the pond area which has so many crocs and there is one that is pulled out for your photo. The trainers soothe the croc by rubbing the side of its head with a baton. This also makes it open its mouth. I squat near the tail and put my hand on its far back. You are advised not to stand behind the croc. I must say it is absolutely scary but makes it all worth it when you see the photo in hand.

All of these are probably the only high points at the zoo. I missed the elephant show, which is really more for kids. I did walk under one of the elephants which is meant to be good luck. By this time it was also getting really hot and sweaty. I wanted to wrap up soon and leave. I skipped the lion enclosure. There is a bird enclosure which has parakeets, macaws, parrots and more. Sadly, all the birds are chained. It’s terrible because I think it is illegal under ????International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) agreement.

Crocodile meat being sold at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm.

And even as they claim to be a croc farm, Samutprakarn also sells crocodile meat. Appalling really.

That said, I am not sure I recommend a visit to this place. The photo ops are the only reason I would ask you to go. If you are not even remotely interested in animals, please skip this place. Children will definitely enjoy this.

MBK Shopping Mall

Getting out of Samutprakarn is another task altogether. There was only one taxi at the taxi stand and he insisted on 300 BHT. I had in fact paid only 150 BHT to get there. I didn’t want to take a tuk tuk because it was way too far and I wasn’t sure about how to negotiate a price with them. I instead waited on the road to stop a taxi. I almost lost hope of getting one even as the tuk tuk guys kept telling me I won’t get one and that they could drop me off at the nearby bus station from where I can take a bus. I stood my ground and finally got a meter taxi. The driver again was very courteous and spoke very little. Just what you need.

I slept through most of the taxi drive back to my hotel. The weather just makes everything worse. I then headed out to the MBK mall which is said to be a bargain for shoppers as you can buy in wholesale. On the advice of the hotel staff I chose to take the sky train. The nearest station Asok is a five-minute walk from my hotel and the mall is about four stops away. It cost me about 30 BHT if I remember correctly. Very convenient and easy. You can also skip the maniacal traffic.

After a quick bite at McDonalds, I started looking around the mall. Firstly, it’s a misnomer that this mall is a great bargain. It isn’t really a wholesale place. You get discounts only if you buy more than two or three things. Most of the shop owners are rude and will not even give you a second look. So stand your ground, be nice and walk away if you don’t want anything. The cheaper bargains are on the third floor. There are branded shops too. Many shops were having the 199BHT bag sale which I thought was a steal. So I managed to pick up a bag for myself too. Just be prepared to walk a lot. Be patient and it is likely that you will find something you want.

The day ended with me surprising my nephew when he arrived with my brother and wife. We took a walk down Sukhumvit. Ate at Pizza Hut. The meal was decent. There are a number of shops on the pavement where you could find something interesting. Clothes, souvenirs and stuff.

We wrapped up the day hoping for good bargains the next.

Watch this space for more on my Bangkok escapade

Four days in Bangkok

Bangkok. A city of contradictions. Craziness. Traffic. Shopping. Fleecing. And lots more! It’ll feel just like India except for the god forsaken weather. It’s damn hot!

My recent whirlwind tour to the capital of Thailand was a much-needed one. I mean, who doesn’t want to visit Bangkok? So I jumped at the idea. Of course, after my leave was approved.

From the moment I stepped out at the Suvarnabhumi (pronounced su.wan.na.pum) International Airport in Bangkok, I knew this city wasn’t going to be easy. There were two queues for Visa On Arrival. One cost 1000 BHT. The other 1200. After standing in the 1000 queue for at least 15 minutes and seeing several people jump the queue conveniently, I decided to just pay 200 BHT more and take the shorter queue. I was surprised that half the Indians didn’t want to pay that extra 200 BHT and get out of there. Well, I did get out of there soon enough.

There are several touts outside the airport waiting to fleece you. After a good amount of reading up on what not to do, I found my way to the Meter Taxi Stand and sped away to my hotel which took me two hours.

The next four days were not like any other.

The filthy Samutprakan crocodile zoo, the never-ending Chatuchak market, the massive MBK mall, the unabashedly in-your-face Patpong Night market, the magnificent Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha, the mall of every girl’s dreams – Platinum, the serene dinner cruise on Chao Phraya river spoilt by renditions of Jai ho and Munni Badnam Hui, the wax museum where you can meet Aishwarya Rai, The Dalai Lama and George Clooney (!), and an ocean world experience inside a mall! I think I’ve forgotten my English after leaving out the prepositions and articles while conversing with the locals!

It’s all Bangkok. It all happened in four days. The streets. The sights. Oh my legs ache just at the thought of how much there is to the city. Just when you think there is very little to do, you realise that there is a lot more but very little time.

Bangkok is a good break. It literally jolts you awake. From arguing with the taxi driver to put the meter, to bargaining at the cheap shops with a calculator for a translator, from tasting authentic Thai green curry to those notorious tuk tuks, you have to do it all. They may claim to be the Land of Smiles. Believe me, you’ll get very little of it at most of the tourist places you end up visiting. But respect the city for what it is and take it all in. That’s what I did.

I saw different sides of Bangkok – the swanky highrises, the slum beneath the flyover, the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Add a generous sprinkling of the blazing hot sun, and you have your holiday in Bangkok sorted out.

I learnt a lot those four days. What to do. What not to do. All I need now is one of those Thai massages (which I didn’t get) and some sleep.

Watch this space for a more detailed travelogue of my Bangkok escapade.