Exploring Bangkok

Have you been to Bangkok? I been there so many times that I have to count to keep track. The first time was 20 years ago and at that time it was a different city. I didn’t enjoyed it  all the stray dogs (I am afraid of dogs). But it was different and I liked that, I liked the temples, all the munks, the chaos. Nowadays, BKK is a trendy world city where the latest and greatest are displayed. A meeting place for people from all around the world. Thankfully it has a lot of its beauty making Bangkok Bangkok still there.

Street food markets

Like the streetfood markets. I think it is quite faschinating to walk around and observ the various food at the markets. I rarely try new things but PadThai I love to try.  During my visit this time I went to Sukumvith 38 and had one of the most delicious PadThais ever. Better than any restaurant food for just not even 3 USD.

Relax and reload

In one way I am glad I didn’t made it to Sri Lanka as the original plan was because I needed a relaxed vacation after an intense year. Working full time + study half time is demanding, then taking care of a household at your own. I had no need to rush around to tourist attractions, I agreed with myself to just do one activity a day except from hanging around at the pool and gym. It was perfect. One day I slept until 12(!) when did that happened the last time? The last day I was quite bored and ready for more action so after all I was happy to go home and that the holidays are over soon.

Trending stuff

Bangkok is like Seoul a hip area in Asia. Here you always see things and then you find them in Europe half a year later. One brand that I have noticed becomes bigger and bigger every time I get there is Snail White. That is whitening cream for the skin. Maybe a marketing campaign for going to the Nordic countries could compete with the snail white brand?

Transportation

The traffic in Bangkok is to say hectic and not dimensioned for the amount of people living there. There is a subway but there is just a few lines and it is not that well connected with the BTS skytrain which also doesn’t have that good connections throughout the city if you are leaving the inner city. I think the funniest mode of transportation is the tuk-tuks but this trip I didn’t take any, but they are always nice to look at.

Green spaces

It isn’t that easy to find green spaces in BKK. The biggest park is the Lumpini park where one lap is roughly 2,5K if I havn’t lost it all. I wasn’t there this time but instaed I took a morningwalk one day in Benshasiri park next to the Emporium quartier. Just walking there watching the local life is a favorite of mine and if you go to BKK you should do that. Just take a lap or two in a park during the morning hours and you will feel completely relaxed and probably a walk in the park in your home country (if you are from Europe at least) would be something completely different. Have you tried?

Bangkok by night

Bangkok is one city during daytime and a complete different one during nighttime when  all the skyscrapers have lighted up and the locals are gathering at the streets to eat dinner. One evening I took a walk over the river and passed an outdoor gym and a soccer pitch where locals was doing their workout in the 32 degree heat. I wished for a moment that I had the right gear on me then I would have loved to participate if I dared to ask…

That was some snaps from my phone picturing daily snapshots of the huge city of BKK. If you havn’t been there already, would you like to visit?

/ Pernilla that loves to visit Bangkok and to be a part of the local life