Nina's Travels

Oct 4, 20195 min read

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Updated: Oct 6, 2019

Hi ! Bangkok article is FINALLY HERE !

I know I am teasing you about it for 6 month now haha I'm sorry !

Best moment to release it as we are entering cold European time and we all know that the most strategical time to go to Thailand is winter (for us), dry season there.

This article shouldn't be too long (ok it might be a bit long eventually as I always have 43698 pieces of information to add) as some of you might have seen (almost) everything on my insta stories already, or might have read a little about it in my previous article right here. The reasons why I am still writing it are

1. I promised, 2. I still receive questions about this amazing city from time to time, 3. You deserve to know everything I've done there as it was AWESOME.

The Grand Palace in Bangkok

We went to Bangkok at the end of our Thailand trip in March 2019, from the 26th to the 30th and payed our flight tickets from Paris around 650€ p/p, direct flight with Thai Airways (most reliable, professional company that provides modern and comfortable planes with good food and service!)

We were so happy we went to Thailand during this period (15-30th March) as the weather was rather perfect ; you can, by the way, find my 2 other articles about Koh Samui & Koh Tao here, and Krabi & Koh Phi Phi there.

As you might have read in the "TOP 9 BEST HOTELS" article, we slept in Banyan Tree Hotel that was my number 1 hotel crush ever.

I'm writing down the description again in case you missed it :

This hotel is, I guess, my favourite ever.

Our room was at the 41st floor so we could see the sun rising all over the city. The rooftop Vertigo Bar is sensational (such a privilege to have this amazing bar in our hotel), the hotel owns 3 different restaurants, the open air pool is gorgeous, the breakfast offers everything you could ever wish for, the interior design is remarkable (there's a big waterfall with fishes in the breakfast room), the service is flawless. Long story short : Best.hotel.ever (the location isn't that central but I promise, paying a cab is worthy).

So happy we experienced it with one of our bestie that met us there, Andrea, thus you'll see her on so many pics in this article ! hihihi

Banyan Tree Pool

Sunset by the pool

Dining room

Moon Bar (in Banyan Tree)

Vertigo Bar (in Banyan Tree)

If you don't have much time in Bkk as we had (4 days - but it's ok, it's enough if you are active all day long) then you should not miss temples. They are infinite and astonishing.

Better paying them a visit early in the morning (like 8:30am-9am, according to their opening hours) to avoid extreme heat and too many tourists (as you and me haha). Also, wear a top that covers your shoulders and a bottom that covers you knees, despite the heat, in order to respect local usages. Some temples won't let you in if you're not dressed up properly.

Let's start with Wat Arun ("Wat" means "Temple"), not that big and so artistic. All white with colored patterns all over, great place to visit.

Wat Arun Temple

Wat Pho is famous due to his 46 meters long lying down Buddha. Beautiful and very typical Thai temple.

Lying down Buddha's head

Wat Pho

Ok next is most probably the most impressive, sensational, grandiose monument I've seen in my life. I've stopped few minutes, watched it and cried of emotion (I know it happened several times during this trip, right?) as I was telling myself "I'm gonna live such a unique experience once in my lifetime". When you're inside The Grand Palace (or King's Palace), forget the 38C, forget the noisy tourists, forget the world and focus on beauty. I swear to God you'll go out of it as a different person.

Ps : wear your best sneakers, the temple is huge.

Now, let's talk about shopping :

MBK Center is a counterfeits 7 floors shopping mall. Very hard to find (because there is the "regular" shopping mall and the hidden fake brands one) but once you found it you stay there (also because there is air conditioning haha !)

You'll find all the Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Alexander McQueen ... shoes, bags, jewellry, pieces of clothing you'll ever dream of. And even if you buy nothing (afraid of customs and you are right), it's quite unique to see.

Chatuchak Market is a vintage market, old cars, old planes, cool restaurants, ancient furnitures, vintage accessories.. Ok, it's like London. But in Bangkok.

It's divided in 2 sides and the second one is more like a typical Asian market with street food, clothe and electronic devices.

Pratunam Market is a daily market, incredibly big and typical. Clothing mainly, where local people go to shop too. Very different to what you've ever seen if you're European but DON'T.GO.PLEASE. if you hate crowds !

Khao San Road is one of my favorite street in Bangkok by night : music, bars, restaurants, street food, clothing. Everything you need to spend a fun night out!

Also, it's very close to Ethos, my fave restaurant in Bangkok : quiet, vegan, peaceful atmosphere and design (you eat on pillows), affordable, delicious ; just.go.try.

Taling Chan Market is a floating market accessible quite easily from Bangkok (in Taxi).

The other ones are more than 1.30 hours away from the city.

We discovered there the most unique food (dumplings, rice in bamboos, "angels hair" pastries ...) and made a "cruise" on a typical boat, fed fishes and we even visited a temple on the water : Wat Taling Chan, where a monk offered me a golden leave to cover a Buddha statue and make a wish.

Plan to spend 3-4 hours there if you do the "cruise", and set up with your taxi driver a time to pick you back.

Taling Chan Market

Wat Taling Chan

Spend one evening in either Lebua State Tower rooftop bar (talked about it here),

either in the Banyan Tree Moon Bar (also talked about it here) as those places are absolutely memorable. Both own great views over the city, both offer a magnificent design but both are super pricy ! (if you pay visit to only one of them, I'd advice you ti prioritize Banyan Tree)