I never intended to book tickets for Bangkok. When I sat in front of my laptop, it was to check out flights to Taiwan. I wanted to take advantage of the fact that Filipinos were granted visa free entry to the country on a trial basis. For some reason, I found myself booking a ticket to Thailand instead. Yay! So how does one spend a holiday in Thailand. Googling the country offers various choices from shopping and cooking classes to beaches and temples. I figured I already saw enough beaches being from the Philippines so I opted to go on a temple safari instead. My original plan was to head to Chiang Mai and then eventually Pai. It did not happen that way.
Arrival in Bangkok
I landed in Bangkok at around 10:30 in the evening. I was actually concerned about this, being a solo female traveller. Turns out, it was not that much of a concern really. After getting myself cleared at imigration, I had to take care of my connectivity issues. This was very important for me since I agreed to meet one of my former students the next day. I approached one kiosk at the arrivals area and subscribed to True Move network tourist SIM. They gave me the package that costs 299 THB, valid for 8 days. It comes with free unlimited 4G/3G internet for 8 days at maximum speed up t 3 GB and reduced speed of 128 kbps thereafter. So far, I had no issues with it. Anyway after I got that organized, I had to rush in order to catch the airport link to Bangkok. Apparently, the last train leaves at midnight. I barely had 15 minutes to find where I can board the train, figure out where I should drop off and get my payment sorted. As luck would have it, people were very helpful. I made it to the last train with a minute to spare.
My hostel was located at Pomprap so I was advised by an airport employee that I should drop off at the Paya Thai station which I discovered was the last station for the airport rail link. From there, I could have walked or taken a tuktuk but since it was past midnight, I had no choice but to take a cab. It was a bit of a rip-off. The cab drivers were explaining to me that after 10 pm they no longer operate with their taxi meters. It sounded like bollocks to me but I have to get to the hostel. From an initial 200 baht, I managed to bargain and get it down to 150. Not bad.
Arriving at the Golden Mountain Hostel, I was met by a sleepy receptionist. He can only understand a few words in English and I do not speak Thai so I'd say we had a communication problem. However, I cannot really complain. He was very accommodating. He had my booking printed and ready.After I filled in the necessary information, he handed me the key and led me upstairs where I had my first cultural initiation. Get this--I had to take off my shoes and leave them downstairs despite my room being located on the third floor. That was a first for me!
I booked a bunk in the female dormitory. It had a very comfortable mattress and was very private There were two other guests in the room but I never even caught a glimpse of them the entire time. I would definitely recommend the place.
Day 1: Bangkok
Met up with a former student and we visited the massive complex of the Grand Palace. In my itinerary, I included a visit to the National Museum which was just a block away but we were informed that it was closed for that day. So, we headed for Wat Arun instead and afterwards, took a ferry to Khao San Road where we had a bit of a stroll before heading back to my hostel to pick up my back pack since I was taking a night trip to Chang Mai. Before heading to Mo Chit Station, we decided to drop by Wat Saket to view the sunset over Bangkok.
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Just a part of the the Grand Temple complex
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Day 2: Chiang Mai
Arrived in Chiang Mai at around 4:30 in the morning. I did not book a place ahead and since it was very early I decided to just hang around the bus station and charge my phone outside the 7-11 store. It was interesting, just sitting there and watching the bus station wake up and come alive--food stall owners arriving in their motorbikes, opening their shops and displaying their goods. Office workers coming in dressed smartly, looking for the buses that would take them wherever their destinations are.
By 6:30, phone fully charged, I found myself a song thew (Thai local transport) and headed to the old city. I thought of booking a place at Julie's Guesthouse, which was recommended by one of the blogs. However, I changed my mind when I saw a review on Trip Advisor that it has bed bugs. Having no plan B, I went around and found Central Guesthouse. Lucky for me, I did not have to wait for 2 pm to check in so I was able to get myself refreshed before hitting the streets and visiting countless temples and museums. The highlight was Wat Chedi Luang.
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| Wat Chedi Luang |
Day 3: Chiang Mai
Woke up early. Shopping day! I visited a lot of markets-Sompet market, Warorot market, Tonlamyai Market, Lao Zhou Alley (The Chiang Mai Chinatown) and a lot of shops in between. I just walked all day fueled by bottles of water and a kilo of mangosteen I bought from a vendor. What I discovered from this experience is that I could actually have fun getting lost in alleyways and taking in the different sights and smells. I had all the time so going from one shop to another, I would always have this idea that the next shop would be cheaper. I ended up buying nothing.
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| Warorot Market |
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| Spices sold at the Sompet Market |
Day 4: Chiang Mai to Sukothai
I was supposed to head to Pai today. However, my former student, whom I met in Bangkok highly recommended that I visit Sukothai. I did read about Sukothai in the web but hearing none about it from people who have been to Thailand, I did not give it much notice.
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| Wat Phra Singh |
It was another early start. Took a morning walk from Central Guesthouse to Wat Pra Singh which is right at the other end of the old city. I must have spent more than an hour there before heading back to the guesthouse-checking out and heading to the Arcade Bus Terminal where I caught a Win Tour bus to Sukothai. Travel from Chiang Mai to Sukothai is more or less six hours which means I arrived at Sukothai in the early evening.
Day 5: Sukothai
Boy! I am so happy, I visited this place. Sukothai historical park is just amazing. The stiffling heat of the sun did not deter me from checking out all the ruins and letting them transport me to a bygone era. On hindsight, my Day 3 visit to the Chang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center Museum was a very good introduction to Sukothai.
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| Wat Mahathat |
Day 6: Sukothai to Ayyutaya to Bangkok
I originally planned to stay for another day in Sukothai and then take the night bus back to Bangkok.Then, I thought to myself, why not visit Ayyutaya. I am already in Thailand so I should drop by the place on my way to Bangkok. Luckily, buses heading to Ayyutaya pick up passengers at the ticketing office in Sukothai's old city which means I did not have to go to the bus terminal at the new city.
The lady at the ticketing office told me the trip lasts around seven hours. However, I read in the internet that travel from Sukothai to Ayyutaya takes around five hours so I remained very hopeful that I would have more time to see the sights. Sadly, the internet posts must have been referring to private cars. The lady was right. My bus trip (yes, it was another Win Tour bus) took me six hours and thirty minutes. So, by the time I got dropped off at the highway and had a motorbike taxi transport me to the city proper, it was already late in the afternoon. Luckily, I reached Ayyutaya before the heavens opened. Yikes... and I only had three hours to see the sights before they close for the day.
Deciding to cut my loses, I got one of those song thew drivers with "official" looking documents from the tourism office take me around. It was a bit pricey but to console myself, at least I was able to visit three of the countless ruins.
By six-thirty, I was at the train station buying my ticket to Bangkok. I was debating to myself whether I should spend the night in Ayyutaya or head to Bangkok. In the end, I wanted to make sure that I arrive in Bangkok in good time since I was flying back home the next day. I took Train 210. After getting used to paying at least 100 baht to song thew and tuktuk drivers, the 15 baht train fare from Ayyutaya to Bangkok came as a nice surprise.
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| The train station in Ayyutaya |
Day 7: Flight back home
All good things have to come to an end. I ended the trip with a visit to MBK shopping center where again, I window shopped. Had I left the hostel earlier, I could have visited the cultural center right next to it but I decided to sleep in. By 1 o'clock I was at the Suvarnabhumi International airport ready to head back home.
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