Bangkok Day 4: Grand palace & ICONSIAM

The Grand Palace 🐉:
We had walked past the Royal palace in the afternoon when it was closed on our way to the river the previous day. It is an impressive display of wealth and royalty brimming with colours and ornaments. It is recommended to go early in the morning but due to a late night the day before we thought it would be fine to go around noon. Boy were we wrong. While the previous day had been sticky warm and cloudy, this morning the sun was out ( behind the smog). Sweat was coating our skin and even with our UV Umbrellas ( very normal in Asia) and equipped with a fan it was mercilessly hot especially since you have to cover legs and arms for cultural reasons. A “fun” addition were the huge crowds of mainly Chinese tourists pouring into the palace. It was quite impressive with detailed decorations and statues everywhere , but due to the crowds, the heat, the price, the lack of understanding what we were looking at we just tried to walk through quickly. It was also disappointing that it didn’t seem to be possible to walk inside the palace, only walking around the outside and several temples.

🏊 Rooftop Oasis at Amara: We Ended our days with a refreshing swim in the rooftop pool at Amara Hotel—a perfect way to unwind and soak in the breathtaking views over the Bangkok skyline at night.

Mind boggling malls and wealth 🛍️ :
Apart from cheap yummy street food style food. The malls are a gigantic maze of impressive architecture and decadence. For instance have a look at the new ICONSIAM mall with its indoor floating market, golden escalator, hedge sculptures and fountains. There was even an ice rink for skating outside. It also boasts all the luxury shops, a cinema and child entertainment floor.

In the evening we went to a special bar in the outskirts of Bangkok that Charly was excited about. They do drag queen shows and other entertainment performances, it was a really fun evening - just don’t ask about the cost of the cocktails.

Why did we spend so much time in malls? well it was either raining or burning hot and it truly was fascinating after spending 1 ½ months in more low income countries.Lue lisää