5 days in Bangkok, Thailand

Hello everyone,
We are in a new country, Goodbye Cambodia, hello Thailand, or to be more precise: hello Bangkok. We are doing a very quick trip in Bangkok for 5 days, just because I like Bangkok the last time and I wanted my family to experience it.
Thailand is on the west of Cambodia and is a fair bit richer that Cambodia. This is still southeast Asia but more modern and cleaner and with big buildings.
To arrive, we took a night bus. It was a sleeper bus with bunk beds. Each bed just big enough for 2 persons. The kids were incredibly excited, and it was fun to watch! They kept comparing it to the night bus in Harry Potter! Anyway, I didn’t sleep that well, as the bus stopped a lot on the way to pick up people, and nobody seems to know how to talk quietly! Also the driver (like every other driver here), use his klaxon a fair bit to let people know we were passing them (very common practice here!). We arrive at the border and it was such a weird experience. Nothing was clearly signed, and there were a lot of people. We must have looked a bit lost as several people showed us the way! But as I said, not much sign, people going everywhere and in different direction… we finally went through the border, with no issue, but yeah… weird! Then onto another bus for 4 hours and here we are in the middle of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
Around 9 million people live in Bangkok and that is obvious! A lot of traffic and traffic jam! Compared to Cambodia though, it is easier to cross street: there are more traffic light, which make it easier!
On the day of our arrival, we walked to find our hotel, settle for a bit and then had a walk around to find our bearings. We went to Khaosan Road, which is THE tourist street! A lot of bars, animation, restaurants, street cart food… Anything to keep tourist happy! As it is almost Chinese new year, we saw lion and Chinese dragon dances and it was pretty cool!
The next day. we went to the Grand palace, which is similar to the palace in Phnom Penh, but bigger, richer, better kept. It is very shiny, colourful and with a LOOOOT of people! But this is something to see. I wish we could visit the inside of the buildings more , as most of them, you can only see the outside. But overall, this is a beautiful palace. Andrew loved the murals and spent a fair bit of time looking at details in the pictures. I love watching the kids discovering and finding what get their interest.
We also went to see a 30 minutes show with traditional dancers: it was similar to the Apsara dancer we saw in Cambodia, but there were a whole story told this time and the theatre was bigger with beautiful backgrounds.
In the evening, we went back to Khaosan Road and Emma got colorful hair extension, and she was very happy!!! It does suit her very well. She sat like a champion for 3 hours with no complaint, which is funny because I can’t brush her hair for 2 minutes without a complaint!
Wednesday was Chinese New Year. We are in the year of the snake now. There were a lot of people wearing red in the street as red is a lucky color for Chinese people. Not everyone celebrates the Chinese new year here (it is not even a public holiday) but as there is a big Chinese community, there are a fair few celebration around.
We start our day by taking a public bus to get to a shopping centre to get Emma, her Pandora charm from Thailand (she is getting a new one in each country that has a Pandora). The shopping centres are all pretty massive here and it is easy to get lost in. They also have a lot of awesome decoration due to the new year.
After that, we went to the Lumphini park. This is a massive park, with small lakes and a lot of water monitors: they are huge lizards and they are everywhere! But as long as you don’t get in their way and bother them, there are fine. It is still unsettling when one is walking toward you though! We also did some peddle boat on the lake and it was a fun moment. We spend a while in there as it was nice being in “nature” in middle of this big city!
We finish the day with a new year celebrations show outside one of the big shopping centre. It was a mix between traditional story (told in Thai, so obviously, we had no clue what was happening) and modern boy band, plus dancers. It finished with a Thai boyband singing a few songs. We were a big far away for the stage, but as there were big screen, we still could enjoy the show. We end up dancing with the kids on the music and I actually really enjoyed myself. It is funny what you do when nobody knows you and you don’t care what you look like! We got back to our hotel by underground, and it was free! Don’t know why, but I am not complaining!
Thursday, we visited Wat Phro where the big laying Buddha is. This is one of the Buddha everyone come to see in Bangkok, because it is massive (46 meters long!) and beautiful. But there is so much more to see there. Wat Phro is the oldest temple in Bangkok and was a university where they study the body and traditional medicine. This is where the traditional Thai massage was studied and developed to help cure disease and help having better health. Traditional Thai massage, or Nuad Thai, is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. In the temple, there are also beautiful garden with statues depicting yoga position and massage position. It is a lot less crowed than the Grand Palace and a wonderful place to spend a few hours. If you ever come to Bangkok, this is a must see.
After that we were pretty hungry (well I was!) and went in search of street food (as it is a lot cheaper), but it seems that around the touristic area, there is almost none! It took us a bit to find something, but we finally came across a some and I got a full vegetarian meal and it was delicious! It feels harder to find vegetarian food in Thailand than it was in Cambodia. Everything has chicken or pork in it!!! Back to the hotel for a bit of rest and blog before we go back out again for dinner!
Friday was museum day: we went to the National museum Bangkok. It is a big museum. We arrived at the opening at 8.30 and left around 3pm! There is a lot to see!!! From buddha statues to modern visual art, to massive palanquin and painting in a temple with the explanation on the story told (Andrew’s favorite), porcelain and puppets…. This is a full day of discovery Thai culture and heritage. This was a very interesting day. By the end, our feet were a bit sore, so we end up having a feet massage and it was divine!!! Thailand is well known for their massage. and it is deserved!!! We didn’t want to leave! We followed that we a couple of drinks and dinner in a restaurant with a pound and some fish in it, to the great pleasure of the kids! And to finish our last full day in Bangkok, we took a tuktuk for one hour to take us around the main sites. Tuktuk here are at another level: some of them have light and big speaker and you can Bluetooth your phone to listen to your favorite music and that is what we did! We loved it!!!
Today is packing day again (we are getting faster at it) and tonight we are taking a night train this time to get to our next country, Laos! See you there!!!
Mel

26.1.2025. Packed up and went out for brekky. Found the bus station and dropped off our bags. Walked to a coffee shop with wifi and sat there most of the day, planning more of the trip. Walked, walked some more. Then we we walked a bit more. Finally ended up at the bus station again. Had some dinner there and waited. Never been on a night bus(hotel bus in Cambodia) except bloody Greyhound that goes overnight and most of us know how shit they are. On we hop, no seats. Small beds like bunks both sides of the bus top and bottom. Mel and I were a squeezy fit but we made it work as the kids want to be together. Didn't think it was gonna happen since the bus driver was all over the shop with the accelerator and I felt like a bloody yoyo, but I slept pretty good.
27.1.2025. Woke up, still on the bus. Got told we were near the Thai border and would be stopping soon. We had no idea what was going on and there seemed to be very little help. Showed our tickets again and we're given ID tags and told to “go that way”. Off we went, like tired zombies wandering aimlessly. We must have looked lost because locals kept helping us. “Up”, “that way”. Glad they were there cause there's stuff all signs anywhere. Found passport control, hey we're in Thailand. No we're not this was just to get out of Cambodia. Followed people across a bridge to a huge waiting area, no clue where to go next. Cue foreign lost face. “Hey! Up there”. Cheers buddy. Through to passport control, this time Thailand. Hey, we must be in Thailand. When did that happen, maybe the bridge. Security was the quickest part, offered to show my bag and got waved through. Now to find our guide, the guide who would take us to our next bus, the bus upon which we would get to Bangkok. As expected, he found us. Lost foreigner face to the rescue. Free coffee and wifi on a pretty comfy bus. Get to our next stay, check in and it's way better than our last one. Four bunk beds in our room but no complaints. Went out to check the place out, at night found the tourist district. Had a couple Thai beers, can recommend a couple. People trying to sell you everything including cooked scorpion, snake and tarantula. Settled for Padthai and some crumbed chicken and prawn.
28.1.2025. Today we visited the royal palace. My pants weren't long enough, I had “shame face”, sure mate whatever. Bought some new pants. Right there at the palace, almost as if this happens alot. Anyway, they're super comfy, light and breezy and may end up in my rotation. One pocket though, what's with that? I'm a cargo pants type of bloke and have all sorts of shit in my many, many pockets. To go back to just one felt, wrong. Oh yeah the palace. Shiny, tall gold and other multicoloured buildings. People bloody everywhere taking photos for instaface, showing people how happy they are being here. I worry about this next generation, go to some place special and all they do is pose with stupid faces and get in others ways. Entitled is a word that comes to mind, I got asked to move so someone could take a photo. Sure, why not, not like I payed to be here. I know, we take selfies and no doubt you've seen a few. But I'm not gonna set up a tripod in a busy area and pose and jump on each other for ages. Me, me ,me. Tourists have and always will piss me off. I know I know, you are a tourist Kev. The irony! I guess there's lots of good ones, Mel was and still is, though sometimes they annoy me(kidding if you read this). Alright rant done. The palace was nice, Andrew's favourite thing to do at palaces is to look at all the wall paintings, and here there was lots. We learned that with our tickets we could get a free shuttle to a theatre and see a Thai show. Not bad, very similar to Cambodia with the Apsara dancers but with a story. Found some lunch, now blogging.
Emma really wanted to get her hair done, so that's what happened. She sat for around 3 hours, no moaning no complaints while she had her hair pulled and braided and who knows what else. Never again is she allowed to whinge when I brush her hair. Took that long to do I had to fetch some grilled chicken on a stick for her dinner. Home late sleep.
29.1.2025. Off again in search of a Pandora charm for Emma. Found a really nice one she liked. Decided we didn't want to spend the rest of the day in a mall so off to the park. Great idea, lots of area and as we found out there were water monitors everywhere. Big ones! Some maybe close to 2m long. So, we looked at some lizards. Paddled around in a duck on a lake for half an hour. Played in a playground. Looked at some lizards again, realised there was lots of fish in the lake so we looked at them for ages(and rested in the bank). Kids climbed a tree to see fish better, tried to feed them dirt and grass(we don't feed wild animals) which worked better than you think it would, guess the fish are used to being fed. After that Mel had found a mall with a park area that had a Chinese new year thing going on, so we went for a look. Took a bit to find, but we managed. Had some dinner then watched a bit of a show about the new year. Then what I assume was a somewhat famous Thai group(2 people) sang a few songs. The locals seemed to love it and we got into he spirit and had fun. Took the underground for the first time on the way back to our room, late! Time for sleep.
30.1.2025. Visited another temple today, Wat Phro. For me it was a highlight so far. The palace I thought was too gaudy, too shiny. This temple, however had lots of nature themes. Softer colours and flower mosaics. With small waterfalls, miniature statues and buildings. Arranged amongst small trees(bonsai like maybe) and rocks. I think I took the most photos today, I prefer nature to cold stone and brick. Though there was still lots of that. Massive pillars reaching 42 metres high, identical heights for the 4 kings at the time. A huge building housing a 46 metre long laying Buddha. We read about how traditional Thai massage helped with the health of the body, the intangible. That this was a place were alot of it started and has been kept alive. It's the national headquarters for Thai massage and traditional medicine. Fascinating stuff, we wanted to get a massage there but it was very busy. Something for another time. After all this walking I could use a good Thai foot massage. We had lunch, found the river, then headed back to the room for a rest and blogging.
31.1.2025. We went to the museum today. Spent the full day there. A highlight was that they have explanations for the paintings in the temple and the meanings behind them. Was interesting reading. Kinda over looking at Buddha's. Luckily there was lots else to see. Weapons, puppets, elephant saddles and massive carts people would drag along with the king sitting in. By the end we were all spent. We decided a foot massage was in order, so that's what we did. Had to walk a bit to get there but it was worth it. We looked for new shoes for Emma but had no luck. Found some banana/Nutella roti for the kids instead, loved it. Mel had some sticky rice with mango and coconut. I had a beer. Found a place with its own waterfall, so we sat there and had a couple beers relaxing. Had dinner there and decided to have our first Thai Tuktuk ride. One hour for 500 baht just driving around. Guy had a speaker box set up with Bluetooth and flashing LEDs, so we cruised around blasting our music. Saw some more Bangkok then back to the room to finish our movie and sleep.

Guess whose back it ANDREW, now enjoy (and clap).
On the 26th we went on a night bus it’s a bus that drives through the night and has beds instead of seats, its bumpy. The bus was going to Bangkok in Thailand. A good thing about it is that I slept next to a window so I can look out a window while going to sleep it’s pretty nice. I played with Emma till 12 o’clock then I looked out the window for a while I couldn’t get to sleep then somehow, I did.
On the 27th we hadn’t got off the bus because it was a night bus, around 2 o’clock (mum edit: it was around 7am) we got to the border where we had to show our passport then we could go in the country. When we got to our hotel, we dumped our bags and walked around near the hotel we had some lunch and went back. I played on my computer and read on my kindle till dinner, when we went there, it was a street called Khaosan road we had Pad Thai. There were people on the side of the road that were selling cooked spider like tarantula but also centipedes, frog, snake, rat, cockroach, and many other bugs. We didn’t eat them though. When we went home, we slept, good night.
On the 28 th we went to see the royal place there was lots of buildings it big and I can’t explain most of it plus it was very shiny there were statues, and more statues. The buildings were very big, we did the same thing for a while so I’m not going to write much. When we went to the hotel, I wrote my blog but didn’t finish it so I did it another day.
On the 29 th we went to look for pandora for Emma, pandora is a bracelet thing. We looked for it in a big mall thing, I like going to malls here because in lots of them there are huge playgrounds that are really fun but my mum wouldn’t let me in for reasons, they cost money, and we were going to a park. The park was a huge park but only had a really small playground, the rest of the park was pond, grass, and walking path. In the park there werehuge lizards called water monitors they were everywhere, they were about a meter long. We went to a place where I could ride a duck boat around, I did it for a while then I went back to the bank. When we left the park, we went to another shopping centre where there was a Chinese show, it was Chinese New Year on the 29 th there was dancing, music, and singing. After that we went home.
On the 30 th we went to a temple that was huge it had lots of things like statues, big things called stupas, most of the statues were of Buda. There was a huge lying Buda it was forty-six meters long and it was made of gold. We did the same thing for a while so I’m not going to write much about it but I’m going to write about this. When we left, we went to another park, and guess what, there were water monitors there to. We walk around a bit then we went home.
On the 31 st we went to a museum and do I make myself clear when I say this, IT WAS HUGE. It was so huge that it had to be divided it to thirteen parts, and that means there were thirteen buildings and some of those buildings were divided into more parts. We went to most of the buildings but eventually, we got bored of it. But forget that, time to tell you what’s inside there was modern art like sticks, and other stuff that I don’t think is art. They had lots of paintings and thousand year old carvings. When we left my dad’s feet were sore so we went to get a foot massage, we had a foot massage for thirty minutes, it was good. When we left it was nearly dinner time my mum bought me and my sister roti, it’s a type of bread that you put toppings on like Nutella and chocolate, I had Nutella, it’s delicious, its cooked so it’s warm and the Nutella’s melty. When I finished, we went to a really nice restaurant, it had a pond with 20-30cm fish in it there was also a miny waterfall. We had dinner, went back, and slept.
Today we are leave Thailand and go to Laos I also wrote my blog
The end, Andrew (9 years old)

On Sunday night, we went on a night bus which was fun and boring. It was fun because we got to stay up a lot, but the bad thing was that at some point we had to sleep. We arrived at Bangkok in the afternoon and walked around a bit. The next morning we went to a palace were there was lots of clothes from kings and queens.(which was fascinating.) We also saw an emerald Booda (which was tiny.) and lots of temples. We spent most of the day walking but other whys it was fun. Then we had a late lunch and came back to the hotel. In the afternoon we went to get my hair done. The next day we went to a pandora shop to get charms for my bracelet. Then we went to a park with big water monitors. There was also duck boats we got to ride on. Then we went to a mall to watch a show, and I liked it. There was a dragon and a few lions as well which I liked. Then we went back to our hotel and slept. The next day we went to a temple with a ginormous laying budda and lots of other stuff. Then we went to have lunch and thought about going to the museum but in the end we decided to go back to our hotel. The next day we went to the museum for the hole day but at the end of it our feet were acing. So we went to the masseuse for a massage on our feet. After that we went and our parents had a few beers. While we were there we had dinner and then went around looking for a tuktuk to take us to see a bit more about Thailand. Today we are going but I think it was amazing.
Emma (8 years old)Læs mere