Exploring Bangkok Day 1

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Arriving in Bangkok

On November 12th after 36 hours of travel, in business class I’ll explain all that later, crossing 2 continents, 1 ocean, 4 airports, and 3 countries we had finally made it to Thailand our dream trip could commence!  My best friend and I had been discussing this trip for a couple of years and had spent about 8 months making this dream a reality.  After a lot of planning and stress we had finally made it.  Neither of us had been to South East Asia before so we had no idea what to expect.  

            We arrived in Bangkok at around 12:00 a.m. after going through customs, currency exchange and baggage claim we finally got to breathe the Thai air around 2 a.m.; being that we had no idea what to expect everything surprised us.  It took us 45 minutes to make it to our hotel and we were just taking in the sights comparing everything to how it is back home and a little shocked that we actually made it.  It usually takes me a little while to get excited for a trip.  I’ve had so many trips get cancelled or there’s not much follow through, that I tend to get disappointed easily.  This trip was such a big dream for me that I didn’t allow myself to get excited for it so I just went through all of the motions, until I was finally in the car on the way to the hotel that’s when it all finally hit me.  I had finally made it to Thailand and pretty soon I was going to see the elephants.  

This trip signified a lot for me.  I was experiencing Asian culture for the very first time, I was taking a vacation for MYSELF, with a location and itinerary that I planned on my own with my own interests for the first time in many many years, since most of my trips are for work and with clients it’s just different, I was crossing a very coveted item off of my bucket list, and I had accomplished this on my own.  

The first thing I did when I got to my room was take a quick shower and order room service because I’m not a fan of airplane food and I had barely eaten in the past day, so I was hungry.  I knew we had to go to bed immediately so the next day we can start early and refreshed as it was our only free day to explore Bangkok.  

My best friend and partner in travel for this trip took charge of the plans for our first full day in Thailand and I will be forever grateful.  She knew the main things I wanted to do which was the markets, which were planned for the following day, and the Temples.  By the time I had gotten up she had mapped out our route for the Temples, and had everything ready for our day of exploring, all I had to do was follow.  Which was a welcome treat, since I plan vacations for a living so when it comes to my own, I always like it for someone else to take charge.  My only job was to ask the concierge for taxi for our first temple, Wat Pho, the resting Buddha.  

River Cruise Scam 

This day was the day of a lot of firsts for us, our first scam in Thailand, our first time on a river cruise in Bangkok, our first time in a Temple, our first time walking around the public streets barefoot and our first Tuk Tuk ride.  All of these will be explained throughout this post. Quickly, we learned our first lesson while traveling in Bangkok, the taxi drivers are scammers and they will all scam you.  I’m just grateful this was the only day we got scammed and because of my haggling skills, I learned on Canal street in NYC see mom those trips to NYC to buy knock off handbags weren’t a waste lol, we didn’t waste too much money in hindsight.  When we got in the taxi, we instructed the taxi driver we wanted to be dropped off at Wat Pho, to visit the Temples.  He suggested we take the river cruise that way we have a scenic cruise of the temples and then we would be dropped off near the Buddhist temple district.  After letting him know several times we didn’t want to do the river cruise, we had seen it being offered several times, and it just wasn’t our idea of fun.  He told us ok, so we though he was just taking us to the Temple district, until we passed the Temple district and then I said oh he’s looking for parking, he made a couple of turns and pulled into a parking lot in front of a shop that looked out into the river where the river cruises began. 

After several exchanges and hand gestures we decided to cut our losses and just take the river cruise. As you can imagine we were upset at this point I began to haggle with the attendant on the price of the river cruise, because here’s another thing about Thailand there are no set prices on almost anything.  We began our cruise along the river with a German couple who spoke English, they were also scammed into taking the river cruise.  We kept each other entertained throughout the ride, taking pictures for each other, joking about our misfortune and comparing our itineraries and recommendations.  Once we got off the boat, we thought we survived our scam and thought it was all behind us, but wait we now had to pay the price of getting off of the boat from the river cruise we never wanted to take in the first place.  We split the required amount and laughed off our misfortune we didn’t want it to damper the rest of the day we had to explore temples; nothing was going to ruin our first day out in Bangkok.  

Wat Pho Temple

Our first stop was at the Wat Pho Temple, also known as the temple of the resting Buddha.  I have had the privilege of visiting other places of worship in my own hometown besides however, I still wasn’t sure what to expect since these temples were so revered around the world.  Walking past those gates I was right to expect the unexpected.  

Dress Code

There is a dress code for everyone visiting the Wat Pho Temple grounds, one must have their shoulders and knees covered, and if entering the Temple, one must take off their shoes.  If you do not have your shoulders or knees covered there are covers available for you to use. The grounds were like nothing I had seen before.  As a tourist in order to enter we had to pay a small fee, , roughly $3 USD per person, approximately.  Once you walk in, the resting Buddha is to the right and you must take your shoes off in order to enter.  There is tile floor so you must be comfortable wearing your socks on the tile floor.  I have an issue with my lower back and hips, and I regret not going just barefoot so that I would be able to enjoy the temple in its entirety without experiencing any pain, but that’s what happens when you deal with chronic pain.  It is very impressive especially that Buddha measures out to be 15n meters tall and it is squeezed into this tiny building. In my opinion in order to appreciate it in its full capacity you should go around Buddha twice, being that tourists flock to this attraction all day it is usually packed to it’s brim.  Also, for good luck tourists usually drop some coins into its gold plate. 

The grounds of Wat Pho are something else in its entirety, I suggest spending a couple of hours there in order for once to get the sense of peacefulness there is in exploring the grounds of the Wat Pho temple.  You also need to stop and get a traditional Thai massage while you’re there, seriously you need to get a massage everyday while you’re in Thailand you will not regret it.  There are so many different rooms and buildings throughout the temple honestly, I suggest setting aside an entire day just to view these 2 temples. 

            Wat Pho is only a 10-minute walk from the Grand Palace, we decided to visit that one next.  We weren’t exactly sure how long it was going to take us or exactly where it was, so we decided to hop on a Tuk Tuk and have him take us there.  It was also our first Tuk Tuk ride.  

The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace is the largest landmark in all of Bangkok.  The layout is very simple, yet the grounds are just as it says in the name very Grand indeed.  The outer court, which is near the entrance was originally used to house the government departments the King was in constant contact with.  The Central court is the residence of the King and the halls used for conducting state business.  Only 2 of the thrones are open to the public.  The inner court is where the King’s consorts and daughters lived.  Although no one is currently residing in the inner court today, it is still closed off to the public.  There is also a dress code to the Grand Palace, everyone must have their shoulders and knees cover and when you’re entering the Temple one must remove their shoes.  If you do not have your shoulders or knees covers, there will be covers available to you to use.  Inside the Grand Palace there is the temple of the Emerald Buddha also known as Wat Phra Kaew.  

My best advice to you is to allow yourself to get completely lost in the Grand Palace so you can explore every nook and cranny of this place I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.  Looking at each wall you can see how each tile was carefully placed and arranged with suck delicacy.  The colors are just beautiful.  We dedicated an entire day to these 2 temples and we were able to get lost on each of their grounds and enjoy everything there was to see in each location.  We walked it all in order to see it all and in the Thai heat it was exhausting but honestly, some of the most beautiful things I’ve seen so far.  

San Marino - 3rd Smallest Country

I visited San Marino in the summer of 2018 for the mere fact that it was difficult to get to, I had an extra day in Venice and I wanted to scratch one more country off my list.  San Marino is completely landlocked and mountainous.  The entire country is surrounded by Italy so I made Venice my home base and decided to make it a day trip out to visit the country and come back later that night.  There are no airports or train stations and no border control. San Marino has more cars than people.  The only way to get to San Marino is by private transportation or by public bus.  Which made this whole day a little longer than it needed to be but I was up for the challenge and had nothing else to do.  

   Getting to San Marino

 I started by taking a taxi to the train station in Venice to Bologna; once I got to Bologna I took another train to Rimini; then once I arrived in Rimini I left the train station and there’s a convenience store (bodega) across the street from the train station that sells bus tickets to San Marino and the bus takes you to San Marino.  Essentially the bus takes you up the mountain, the entire country is only 23 miles long to give some perspective the entire country is about 1/3 of the size of Washington D.C.;    It is the least visited country in Europe so the locals are very friendly every time a bus full of tourists make its way up the mountain. 

The way home to Venice is the same as the way to San Marino except you need to be aware of the time.  Rimini is a small town, so the ride from Rimini to Bologna was fine, however the ride from Bologna to Venice was tough.  I didn’t keep track of the time and apparently it was rush hour and I had to stand for the entire 1 hour ride to Venice.  But I always say you haven’t experience a train ride in Europe until you’ve done it standing, sitting on the floor or in on the stairs. 

  Food

 There are plenty restaurants to try out that serve typical Italian food and souvenir shops where you can get your San Marino souvenir.  Since there isn’t any border patrol entering or leaving San Marino this is your time to prove you were in the country.  There is an elevator and a staircase to get you to an elevated point to see the famous mountain site below from San Marino.  

History of San Marino

 It has had more females heads of state than any other country in the world.  San Marino is considered a microstate and like many microstate it’s a tax haven with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.  It is the 3rd smallest country in the world.  The population is approximately 30,000 people.  The most unknown fact is that San Marino is the oldest Republic in the world and it made Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen.