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Our fourth day in Bangkok was all about hitting Chatuchak. Chatuchak is a popular market in Thailand and it’s only open during weekends. The first time I was in Thailand, we arrived Sunday afternoon, so that didn’t give us enough time to go to this place. So when another opportunity to visit Thailand came, I knew I had to go to Chatuchak no matter what.

We woke up around 9am to get ready and go to Chatuchak. I wanted to try the skytrain but reading the maps got me really confused, so we opted to go ride the popular tuk-tuk instead. Had to negotiate with the drivers since these guys are well known for overpricing especially with tourists. Chatuchak was kinda far from the area where we are staying but it was an awesome experience speeding through other vehicles on the highway.

Once we arrived, we took a map at the entrance and I got started with my picture taking. Chatuchak is a mecca filled with knick-knacks. They were basically selling everything from souvenirs, shirts, bags, handicrafts to animals. They even had snakes and scorpions for sale here. It was literally HUGE. I don’t think we even covered the entire area. They had 8,000 stalls per Google, and I think we only got to less than 10% of it. I got me a really cool slingbag which I really, really love since these are the kind of stuff that can’t be found here in the Philippines.

After walking around for hours, Jim surrendered and asked if we can go back to the hotel. I was a little tired too but I would’ve wanted to roam around and explore the place some more. The area got really confusing though since there are a bunch of entrances and exits around. When we came back to the hotel, we rested for a while and decided to go to the MBK Mall, one of the most popular shopping centers in Bangkok. I was able to find some really shirts there and some more souvenirs to take home. We went home via tuk-tuk and decided to have dinner at KFC, just across our hotel at the Pantip Plaza.

The next day, we were off to the Floating Market in Damnoen Saduak. It was a half day tour but before that, our tour guide dropped us off at the Elephant Village to have some of our pics taken with the elephants there. I love having my picture taken with the elephants. It was a little scary at first but I got used to it. We then went ahead to the floating market, which was an absolute delight for the eyes. We walked around the are and took pictures here and there. We didn’t ride the actual boats in the market coz of too much water traffic, which was a good idea, since it gave us a chance to really explore the area on our own.

At the end of the tour, we all rode the boat to explore the village itself. We got to see these Thai people and their houses in the actual river and had a great time taking it all in. It was a truly rewarding cultural experience, seeing their way of living, which was way too different from what we are all used to back home.

We went back to our hotel and did a little more shopping, then we decided to take a few hours of sleep. I woke up around 9pm and had to really wake Jim and Keith up since I wanted to try some food hawking. I really wanted to experience eating on the streets of Bangkok itself. They had these hawker stalls on the sidewalks of the city, where they were serving meals just like it were inside a restaurant, but this time, they were on the streets! We walked towards one of the areas and had our last dinner there. I just pointed at the menu and had a great time with the other guys there. Some of the other customers near our table were also very friendly and had a little chat with them as well. This experience is definitely one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. Though it’s my second time around Thailand, it felt so good and so rewarding that I was able to share it with my friends and to let them experience the area and the culture as well. Money come and go, but it’s the experience that really lasts forever.

For our second day here in Bangkok, I have booked us a tour for Ayutthaya. Known as the second capital of Thailand, it is also known to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I have this thing about visiting all the UNESCO World Heritage sites all over the world (dreams will come true!).

We woke up early since our bus is picking us up around 7am for a 2 to 3-hour long bus ride towards Ayutthaya. Our first stop was the Bang Pa-In Palace, which is in the province of Ayutthaya itself. These Thai guys were pretty strict and sensitive with the clothes you’re wearing. They had Jim wear a sarong before going inside since he was wearing some distressed jeans. I didn’t know that wearing that was a no-no. I thought all the while, as long as you got them covered, it was okay. We stayed there for almost an hour, took some pictures (as always) and basically just struggled with the oh-so-burning heat! Good thing I brought with me another shirt since I looked like I just finished playing a basketball championship game with all the sweat covering my body. I was prepared though. Got my tiny umbrella, a BIG hand fan and covered myself with a whole lotta sunblock. Seriously, sunblock is a traveler’s best friend!

After Bang Pa-In, we all went straight to the main island of Ayutthaya where the action is! Ayutthaya has always been a dream destination for me after checking all the amazing pics from Google. The first time I was here in Thailand, I skipped this place in favor of shopping, shopping and shopping. So it was an absolute must for me to return here and visit this beatufiul place.

Our tour guide was actually telling us about the history of the place but I really wasn’t paying attention. I was more concerned of circling around the place and getting the most for my pictures. Keith was the only one paying attention to almost every word, like there was a History exam the next hour or so. Ayutthaya was HUGE. I had to separate myself from the pack since I really wanted to get every scenic nook and cranny as possible. It’s amazing how they were able to preserve this place. I have to tell every one reading this. You MUST go to Ayutthaya. Despite of the scorching heat and the long travel time, it was all worth it. It was definitely an unforgettable postcard experience!

It was such a tiring experience that the rest of my friends, except Keith, who was tagging along, had to return back to the air-conditioned bus because of the unbearable heat, add that to the lack of sleep and there you go. We then went to the Chinese temple right across the scenic ruins where they had the tallest Buddha in Thailand. I did some little Buddhist type of praying in order for me to get my lucky number. I think it was 27. Hmmmm. Yeah, think so.

After all the picture-taking’s done, we all drove to the Chao Phraya Basin to return back to Bangkok via the Chao Phraya River. The cruise was part of the package I took and they had one of the most sumptuous buffet lunch ever. I felt I was about to explode after that. The cruise lasted for about 4 hours and it gave us all a magnificent view of the temples and the sights as we return back to the city. The side effect = we all got burned by the afternoon sun! LOL

Once we returned back to our hotel, despite of the unbelievably overcrowded Bangkok street traffic, we immediately took a shower to prepare us to another cruise! It was actually a dinner cruise this time, in the same place! At the Chao Phraya River! Haha! I really didn’t care. Though it was the same route and back, the views of the temples at night were very beautiful. Inside our traditional Thai junk boat, some of the waiters were actually Filipinos. It was a surprise for me to know that there were so many Filipinos working in Bangkok. While having dinner, they had this cultural Thai presentation relaying a love story or something that I had no idea about. I was more amazed with their costumes hehe. Keith was actually invited by one of the dancing girls to join them on the dance and we had so much fun taking pictures with them and just enjoying that moment while cruising down the Chao Phraya River back to Bangkok.

We arrived back at our hotel around 10pm and got ready for our next planned itinerary, which was to spend the day roaming around the popular weekend market, Chatuchak.

Last month after my birthday was the start of my planned monthly travel getaway. I have booked with some friends a trip to Bangkok last December via Cebu Pacific for round trip tickets of around P8,000. It’s about to be my second time already to this wonderful place and I was really raving about it to the rest of my friends that I told them I wanted to go to Bangkok this March. Not April, May, or any other month, but March. Mainly because I have other plans for the months to come and at the same time my friend Kimchi (who went with us in Singapore), also booked a flight to be in Bangkok for a week here during this time (we ended up meeting on their last day, by the way).

It was an experience for me since I was acting as a mini-tour guide for the rest of the guys I was with and at the same time it was their first time, not only to visit Bangkok, but it was their first out of the country trip as well. So imagine their excitement with this trip. I know, I was so unbelievably excited when I had my first trip out of the country a few years back in Hong Kong as well.

Prior to the said trip, I made all the reservations myself, from the hotel to the pickup to the tour packages available. The first time I was in Bangkok, which was around June 2010, all I did was shop, shop and shop. Bangkok is indeed a shopping heaven since you wouldn’t resist the really low prices they are offering and at the same time the more you buy, the bigger the discounts would be. They seriously have malls that does this. I booked us to stay at the Four Seasons International House, which was located at the Rajthevee area, near Pratunam. I chose that hotel mainly for its location, which was very convenient. Right in front of our hotel was the dawn market, a 7-Eleven convenient store, a McDonald’s and it’s just a minute walk to the popular Platinum Fashion Mall (my favorite mall in BKK) and the Pantip Plaza (the popular IT mall in BKK). We paid around P1000 per night per person for the rooms, buffet breakfast included. I also made the itinerary for this myself to include a tour to Ayutthaya, a river cruise, a visit to the popular Chatuchak Market and the Floating Market.

Our flight arrived in Bangkok around 1am and when we arrived we immediately exchanged our money to some baht, where we made a big mistake of bringing in pesos instead of dollars. The conversion was really low and that’s when we found out we should’ve exchanged our pesos to dollars while we were still here in the Philippines. It was almost half of what we expected. I usually don’t pay attention to currency exchanges when I travel. So even though it’s my second time in Thailand already, I still felt I was a newbie. Our pickup was waiting for us when we arrived to bring us to the hotel. I then confirmed with our tour guide the scheduled tours we have, negotiated, and then paid the upcoming tours for the next few days. After preparing all our luggages, we then went to bed to prepare us for our first activity, which was to shop around the Platinum Fashion Mall on the same day. So we had about 8 hours of sleep before we woke up, had breakfast and roamed around the mall.

The first time I was here inside the Platinum Fashion Mall, I was amazed with what I have seen. There were people shopping, carrying with them big bags of stuff, some people even have big luggage bags and trolleys to stuff all the things they have bought for that day. I actually ended up buying one for myself the first time I was here, since I felt like my shoulders were about to give out on me from all the stuff I have been carrying from too much shopping. It’s a fashion mall, so it was mainly all about shirts, dresses, shoes, pants, etc. They do sell some souvenirs here but not that much. Since there were 5 of us, everytime I bought something, we had to negotiate to the vendors to give us a really big discount, which was a good thing. During lunch time, we decided to eat in their food court, where Kimchi met up with us and joined us, since they were already leaving that night.

After lunch, we decided to walk back to our hotel, drop all the stuff we’ve bought and decided to just walk around the city. And walk around we did. We took pictures here and there, we had a map with us but we didn’t really use it since I was already a little familiar of the place. Walking around Bangkok is one of my favorite things to do. You’d get to see a lot of stuff, from street foods to their colorful taxis to the ever popular tuk-tuks circling around the place, to the hawker stalls they have lined up in their sidewalks. We retreated back to our hotel at around 5 or 6pm since we needed to rest for an early trip to Ayutthaya the next day.

I was pretty sleepy then so I decided to take a nap. I woke up a few hours to see Keith carrying with him a white plastic bag and he was grinning like crazy. I asked him what it was and he said he bought some insects for us to eat. I was still a little groggy so I didn’t believe him at first and when I stood up I did see the insects there! I had to wake Jim up, who was also sleeping on the other bed, to show him what Keith bought from the streets outside at 10 o’clock in the evening! We dared each other to try and eat it, since the insects were all fried anyway. Ugh. The crickets tasted okay, but the freaky part was when I was looking in the eyes of that insect before I ate it. LOL. We didn’t know we had to remove the legs before eating so we had some stuck on our teeth afterwards. There were some worms there but I didn’t dare eat it anymore. Blech. So after that Fear Factor experience and after some chit-chat, we decided to go back to sleep again to prepare for the next day.