destination: "Thailand" [2 of 2]

"tuk tuk"

Our third day is culture day, which was really nice. We were to discover more of Thailand's culture and its people, their history and feel a Buddhist country.

old Parliament house

We hired a taxi cab that day, which was referred by our first "tuk-tuk" driver, Chari, we were so lucky to have met such nice Thais, he actually offered us to pay the cab, which was his friend's, Dorn for 1500 baht flat including the gas fare,. which was roughly $40! That was really cheap! We hired him for the entire day and took us to 3 destinations: Grand Palace, Ayuthaya ancient ruins and the famous Chatuchak weekend market.

Thais love their king so much

Headed off to the most famous tourist spot in Bangkok, the Grand Palace; they say that one could leave the other destinations behind but not this one, for it is the true image of Thailand and indeed, it was.

The place was vast with temples and different historical structures and images, each corner is designed with intricate stones and detailed artworks on its walls, one would feel the taste of Thailand's culture gazing on the towering temple pinnacles.

Victory Monument

There was an event inside the main temple where the ancient Buddhist culture happened and where the Emerald Buddha is housed, and the monarchy's third princess was their guest of honor. We waited while we wander, but our schedule must be on time so we failed to meet the princess.

We then travelled for an hour outside the city to visit the Ayutthaya ancient ruins, which is REALLY spectacular. The place is a UNESCO World Heritage and it really should be.

Ayutthaya was once Thailand's center or capital but they were defeated by the Burmese and burned the entire city down after as a sign of their rage..

It is an ancient city and what's left in the ruins are the edges of the old structures and the triangular rooftops of the old Rama's [king] palace and temples. The views are really wonderful, in any angle I was staggered by the fact that there's a big kingdom below, waiting to be discovered.

Ayutthaya ruins

head should be lower than buddha

Saw the famous Phra Mahathat or the "The Face of the Buddha", ~Buddha's head miraculously embedded on growing tree roots.

One scary thing about the place is that most Buddha heads in a Wat [temple] were missing, most were looted by treasure hunters, a little bothering but I guess we'll never know what happened to those pieces.

The day was really hot, we were walking in an almost open field, and we feel the Thailand heat, steam to the face and pretty exhausting, but of course, we enjoyed every moment we were there.

golden buddha

Our driver was really nice, he's very warm and entertaining, he engaged us to discussions which made me really attentive to figure the keywords so we could hear what he was saying, thankfully, we understood each other.

Spent the night shopping at Chatuchak market, bargain shopping of cheap but good quality products, loads of people were there since it only opens during the weekends, we went after at the Pratunam Center for more shopping and went up the country's tallest tower, the Baiyoke Plaza Tower 2, we were really tired plus the heavy shopping bags that we were carrying.

temple

We even got lost in the area and we were already hungry, but we just checked the place and soared through the buildings as landmarks with a little guide from the people we asked directions from, until we found it and decided to eat in a Chinese seafood restaurant for a fancy dinner.

The night was really tiring, we exhausted every second before our last day of the trip, but it was sublime.

The fourth day was our last day, packed our things and did last minute shopping around the area where our hotel was and errands before our flight back to the Philippines, of course, we took pictures before the flight.

I enjoyed the trip. To visit one of the fastest growing countries and major tourist destinations in Asia and in the world is fulfilling. To learn other countries' heritage and history, the people and the culture is a true education. Everybody must be given the chance to travel.

Gay Thailand:

ariel, is that you? =)

lots of pink cabs in the city

Ok, this is so frustrating, I only did eye to eye contacts with a lot of guys! It seemed that the gay culture is more accepted in Bangkok than in Manila. I didn't go to a bar, since I didn't know where to go to though I have a list I made from my research and friend recommendations, but I wasn't able to go to any.

There are a lot of cute guys of course, from different walks of life and countries, I could've hooked up with several only if I wasn't with family. There was even a student from the PremCenter, an international school who keeps on looking my way ** naughty me. hahah. 

There were Thailand's famous "lady boys" and they were really pretty.. tall and sexy but I didn't see any hunky chinky-eyed guys, only with weird hairdos.. but definitely cute. I'm going back there to see more of what Gay Thailand is like. =)