My Visit to Thailand
I first came to Thailand 6 years ago. It was a free stopover on my way from New Zealand to the UK. I was 20 years old and had always thought about coming to Thailand. I had just 4 days and in that time stayed only in » Bangkok. My Uncle had booked a hotel for me close to his bar on Sukhumvit Soi 3. The hotel was Majestic Suites. The hotel was great, really great price at just 1,200 baht per night. Not bad considering it had beautiful marble floors and a marble bathroom. Not to mention the views over Bangkok from my floor.
Sukhumvit itself is a great area of Bangkok. It had many market stalls lining the streets and was close to all the major shopping area’s such as Pratunam Marketand » Chatuchak Weekend Market. Also because of its central location was near to all the tourist hotspots. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha which is in the compound of the Grand Palace. No Visit to Bangkok is complete without a tour here!! I even took a river cruise which, turned out to be the highlight of my trip.
The cruise began on the banks of the mighty Chao Praya River. You are taken by long tail boat to the canals and waterways that run around Bangkok. I was excited to be on the cruise and could not wait to see what else lay in store. We got to see what the life of a Thai living along the waterways was truly like. We passed wooden huts on stilts that sat above the water, shanty houses that were in quite bad shape. We saw people swimming and playing in the canals outside their houses along with people bathing. The driver of our boat pointed out that although they were what we would consider poverty stricken, that they were indeed happy. You could see the smiles on the people’s faces as we passed, waving at us and generally having a great time.
“Why are they so happy when clearly they have nothing?” one of the other passengers asked.”
“They may life a simple life, but they are outside of Bangkok and away from the noise and pollution that Bangkok has so much of.”
This was true. Bangkok is very hot, very smoggy as you can imagine with a city of its size housing the amount of people it does. But that to me adds to Bangkok’s charm. Bangkok is a vast metropolis with around 12 million people, all it seems living on top of each other. The roads are always busy with traffic and the abundance of market stalls selling food gives any passer by an array of different smells to contend with. A city that truly never sleeps.
To continue with the cruise, we stopped at a temple and had our pictures with some monks. Very friendly people as throughout Thailand. We went back to the pier where we got to wait and throw food into the waters edge, feeding what seemed like hundreds of catfish that were in an absolute feeding frenzy.
We then transfered to an old converted antique rice barge. It was a beautiful boat that was laden with so much delicious fresh and colorful Thai fruits. Not to mention drinks for everyone. As it turned out our boat had some trouble and we started to drift down river. I can honestly say that no one on board minded as we got to sit there, taking in all of the amazing sites, while feasting on the buffet in front of us. I think the Thai whiskey on offer helped too :)
We finished off sailing back to Menam Chao Praya River, passing Wat Arun and the Royal Palace. What a beautiful end to a great day.
The next day I took a drive with a guide to the Rose Garden and Culture Show, just outside of Bangkok. At the rose garden we were shown some wonderful displays of Thai culture and history. Traditional Thai fighting, a Thai wedding, and many traditional Thai dances. An elephant show also demonstrated the true beauty of the animal and its awesome power. The Thai’s have been using elephants in all manor of situations for many many years. From fighting to traveling, to moving heavy objects like tree trunks that were used to build the Grand River barges with. We ten saw a mock up battle with Thai’s in fighting costumes attacking each other while on the back of elephants all with a great pyrotechnics display. To finish the elephants came out, each with a football uniform on and showed us how to score goals!! Also for a minimal charge you could feed monkeys with bananas.
It was fair to say that by this stage, just a few days that I was falling in love with Thailand. The people are so warm by nature and very welcoming. Always saying hello and definitely always smiling. It’s quite infectious. I would never have though that such a vast amount of people could always be happy. You can really see why Thailand is called the land of smiles.
After leaving Thailand a couple of days later I could not get it out of my head. I would dream about being back here daily and would go on the internet to read up and look at Thailand some more. I decided that I had to go back. I looked online and found an agency that would help me with anything. I send an email asking for some idea’s on accommodation. It was a month before I replied and was amazed that they remembered my name. The website is called www.lostinthailand.com I would recommend this agency to anyone going to Thailand. From the UK I had pretty muched booked all I needed. I had booked my Bangkok hotel, my flight to Samui. A place that I had been looking at on the internet. And also a hotel in Samui for when I arrived. I only booked a week, as I was unsure of where to go next. I had enough money to last me a couple of months so I thought I would just see what happens. Samui like Bangkok was easy to like. What cant you like about waking up to palms tree’s and white sandy beaches. I called the agency again who are based in Samui and was told that I could do everything from my hotel. I could ask them to book me a room or a ticket somewhere and they would deliver it to me at my hotel and pay at the same time.
» Samui is a beautiful Island there is no doubt. The roads can be rough in parts but still a magical island. After moving from hotel to hotel not wanting to leave Samui I decided to look into staying here more permanently. I managed to find work here and well the rest they say is history. I have been here now for one and a half years. And still love it as much as my first day. I would have to say that Thailand is one of the greatest places I have traveled to and would say to anyone thinking about coming here… What are you waiting for?? I am sure that you will find it as exciting as I do. If you need advice or you want to know anything about travel in Thailand, or just want to book your hotel get in touch with » www.lostinthailand.com they have made my trip here so effortless and easy. Why not do the same. Come see what Thailand has to offer. You will not be disappointed. |
