Bangkok is a bustling city, although pretty small. The core city is very well developed with hi-tech stuff and lotsa hi-rise buildings, but you move away from the city, and its barren land. We flew Sri Lankan, and frankly speaking, I was not too impressed with their flight. Food would just pass off as O.K, and their air-hotesses were pretty sad ! :-) All over-aged, and over-weight ladies! Anyway, leave that aside, we reached Bangkok international airport by noon, and checked into "D'Ma Pavilion". The hotel was fabulous - luxurious and the service was really impressive. Though it was not exactly 5 star by Thai standards, it would compare to an Indian 7 star! Serious, jokes aside. Below is a snap of 2 Thai warriors I took on my phone... :) kidddingg, thats me on the right, but we have similar expressions on our faces tho :-)
The hotel we stayed in, was located flush in the middle of the city and thus we had no trouble venturing out by foot, to explore more about the city. It was a nice experience. If not by walk, we used to take tuk-tuk's to reach wherever we wanted to go. A 'Tuk-tuk' is how an 'auto' is referred to, in Bangkok :-) To be pronounced as 'took-took'.... Hey you guys might remember the James Bond movie, where he drives one of those tuk-tuks in a frantic chase, all over the crowded Bangkok streets! This was one such Tuk-Tuk, which we took :)
Obviously, we had done our homework before leaving India - with respect to the shopping malls and other important places to visit. One whole day was dedicated to temple visits and boy that was truly awesome. Bangkok is a buddhist country, and there are infinite monasteries and buddhist temples there. Every corner you can see a statue of Lord Buddha. We went to the famous temple, where there was this 100feet long Golden statue of the Reclining Buddha. It was fabulous, the entire statue was made of gold, and to walk around the statue took us a good 15 minutes. Trust me, it was massive. This snap covers just a portion of the golden statue.
The temple visits took place on the second day of our stay. Of course yes, the first day was spent at shopping malls :) My mom was with us, so it had to be that way :) Tourism is one of the biggest sources of income here, and its pretty evident too. You can see people from all over the world, within a radius of 1 or 2 kms! Bangkok has a lot of Huge malls - Big See, Indira Square, MBK Centre to name a few. These places are really massive and if you do not stay together, chances are that you'll get lost. We did not do any major shopping, as in no big time buys. Jus bought a mobile phone (panasonic X200), a few panels for my Nokia Phone, and then of course - clothes!! :) I did buy a few tees and jeans from there :-) Shown below is the snap of a floating market. Floating markets are very common in Bangkok, cos there are lots of canals and waterways, all over the country! People make a living, by selling stuff on boats - usually its just aimed at tourists. And boy, the westerners are fascinated by such things! Most of them bought stuff like crazy, and these people do not know that something called 'bargaining' exists!! We Indians bargain bargain n bargain, till our thoats become dry, and finally at times we end up not buying it, cos we might have felt its 20Rs too much!! :)) The spending power of Europeans and Americans can really be witnessed, in such circumstances..
Thai food, is pretty bland. That too being accustomed to the spicy south Indian food, one really finds Thai food quite bland. At restaurants, we spent most of the time looking for salt n pepper containers :) but generally, the food there tastes goood. We took every opportunity to have food, as it was, in Thailand :) No use going to Thailand, and still having Indian food!! But one thing we just could not stand, was their fish varieties! Man these people do not believe in cooking fish fully :-) Its partly raw and i dint take the risk of having fish, even once, in Thailand. If you are someone who hates the smell of raw fish (most of us do), you will most definitely hate the aroma around Thailand! :-) The whole country, i thought smelt of fish.... Every 15 metres there will be a roadside stall, cooking and selling fish delicacies! Thai people love sea food, have no doubts! Bar the 'fish' stench, everything else was nice... Oh boy, how could I forget the Thai Foot Massage therapy! Every second shop in Bangkok is a foot massage centre !! Yeah there were these lovely ladies standing outside every shop, enticing the tourists inside! What happens inside, I seriously do not know! Before any guesses crop up, no I did not go for a 'foot' massage... hehe
Overall, a lovely country to spend a vacation! Lots of places to visit, and the lifestyle there is totally different from ours. So it really makes for a fascinating experience. We could not go to Pattaya, a famous beachside town, cos we were short of time. I've heard its a lovely part of Thailand too! If u guys get a chance to visit, dont miss it!
