destination: "Thailand" [2 of 2]
Our third day is culture day, which was really nice. We were to discover more of Thailand's culture and its people, their history and feel a Buddhist country.
We hired a taxi cab that day, which was referred by our first "tuk-tuk" driver, Chari, we were so lucky to have met such nice Thais, he actually offered us to pay the cab, which was his friend's, Dorn for 1500 baht flat including the gas fare,. which was roughly $40! That was really cheap! We hired him for the entire day and took us to 3 destinations: Grand Palace, Ayuthaya ancient ruins and the famous Chatuchak weekend market.
Headed off to the most famous tourist spot in Bangkok, the Grand Palace; they say that one could leave the other destinations behind but not this one, for it is the true image of Thailand and indeed, it was.
The place was vast with temples and different historical structures and images, each corner is designed with intricate stones and detailed artworks on its walls, one would feel the taste of Thailand's culture gazing on the towering temple pinnacles.
There was an event inside the main temple where the ancient Buddhist culture happened and where the Emerald Buddha is housed, and the monarchy's third princess was their guest of honor. We waited while we wander, but our schedule must be on time so we failed to meet the princess.
We then travelled for an hour outside the city to visit the Ayutthaya ancient ruins, which is REALLY spectacular. The place is a UNESCO World Heritage and it really should be.
Ayutthaya was once Thailand's center or capital but they were defeated by the Burmese and burned the entire city down after as a sign of their rage..
It is an ancient city and what's left in the ruins are the edges of the old structures and the triangular rooftops of the old Rama's [king] palace and temples. The views are really wonderful, in any angle I was staggered by the fact that there's a big kingdom below, waiting to be discovered.
Saw the famous Phra Mahathat or the "The Face of the Buddha", ~Buddha's head miraculously embedded on growing tree roots.
One scary thing about the place is that most Buddha heads in a Wat [temple] were missing, most were looted by treasure hunters, a little bothering but I guess we'll never know what happened to those pieces.
The day was really hot, we were walking in an almost open field, and we feel the Thailand heat, steam to the face and pretty exhausting, but of course, we enjoyed every moment we were there.
Our driver was really nice, he's very warm and entertaining, he engaged us to discussions which made me really attentive to figure the keywords so we could hear what he was saying, thankfully, we understood each other.
Spent the night shopping at Chatuchak market, bargain shopping of cheap but good quality products, loads of people were there since it only opens during the weekends, we went after at the Pratunam Center for more shopping and went up the country's tallest tower, the Baiyoke Plaza Tower 2, we were really tired plus the heavy shopping bags that we were carrying.
We even got lost in the area and we were already hungry, but we just checked the place and soared through the buildings as landmarks with a little guide from the people we asked directions from, until we found it and decided to eat in a Chinese seafood restaurant for a fancy dinner.
The night was really tiring, we exhausted every second before our last day of the trip, but it was sublime.
The fourth day was our last day, packed our things and did last minute shopping around the area where our hotel was and errands before our flight back to the Philippines, of course, we took pictures before the flight.
I enjoyed the trip. To visit one of the fastest growing countries and major tourist destinations in Asia and in the world is fulfilling. To learn other countries' heritage and history, the people and the culture is a true education. Everybody must be given the chance to travel.
Gay Thailand:
Ok, this is so frustrating, I only did eye to eye contacts with a lot of guys! It seemed that the gay culture is more accepted in Bangkok than in Manila. I didn't go to a bar, since I didn't know where to go to though I have a list I made from my research and friend recommendations, but I wasn't able to go to any.
There are a lot of cute guys of course, from different walks of life and countries, I could've hooked up with several only if I wasn't with family. There was even a student from the PremCenter, an international school who keeps on looking my way ** naughty me. hahah.
There were Thailand's famous "lady boys" and they were really pretty.. tall and sexy but I didn't see any hunky chinky-eyed guys, only with weird hairdos.. but definitely cute. I'm going back there to see more of what Gay Thailand is like. =)
Comments
Nice pics and the trip sound fun. Was english spoken there alot?
@ james_jrp: yeah, the trip was nice.. i feel i needed a day more to somehow visit all there is Bangkok has to offer for a first-timer like me.
English is not widely spoken, grammar's not really observed, only the general words.. but that's how it is there.
and the accent.. agh.. they don't have strong 'R', so, it's rather difficult to understand at first.. but through practice, one would get used to it. =)
@ boom: i hope we could still go outside the country even though you're in the US already.. =)
When we were in Bangkok we almost lived in the MBK shopping center :P There were too many stores!! lol!
They hardly speak any English, but luckily my friend is Thai and speaks it fluently. Otherwise we would have had a hard time communicating :P But, you can get far with being patient and knowing simple words like thanks (khop khun kaa/khrap) and sorry (khor thoa kaa/khrap).
Hopefully I'll go there again next year as well :)
@ james_jrp: baby style, that is.. it's pretty fun though, you'd get to really understand their tongue, like which letters are hard to pronounce or how they'd say a word.
@ Julie: you're right about Thailand being awesome.
I think I'll check again what the city has to introduce me to, and their nature and more on culture, I guess.
I know "thank you", it's khop -pung - khap
ehe, =)
anyway, i enjoyed also keywording, it's real adapting to the culture..
and S! like fish they pronounced it as feet! LOL! ^_^
It sound like you really have a a good day.. good for you =) love your photos and the infomation...
Glad you enjoyed it =)