Bangkok, Thailand 2nd Day

Temple – hopping day! Well as you already might know, visiting temples in Bangkok is honestly a norm. You have probably read reviews or had your history lessons in school. Therefore, I won’t be describing the temples in detail here. However, I will be informing you on the critical travel information, such as the pricing, the experience, the pros and cons of visiting a temple in Bangkok.

Wat Pho (Sleeping Buddha)

Pricing(Entry fee): 100 Bhat

Attire: Strictly smart casual (Long pants and T-shirt for men, and non-revealing tops and long pants or skirts below knee length for ladies.)

Location: 2 Sanamchai Road, Grand Palace Subdistrict, Pranakorn District, Bangkok 10200, Thailand

Getting to Wat Pho by Bangkok’s regular taxi will be convenient enough. If you are coming from the city side (Sathorn or Silom), try to bargain for a 300 baht taxi fare. If you do visit Wat Pho, be sure to visit the Grand Palace on the same day as these two temples are literally situated next to each other. The temple is like any other temples in Bangkok. Intricately designed monuments and temple domes. The architecture of the temples are simply amazing. The beauty is testament to the efforts of professional engravers. Well, the most stunning architecture had to be the Sleeping Buddha. 15m in height and 46m in length, this giant greets tourist with a big smile across his face and in a reclining position. His blessed feet is 3m in height and 4,5m long. Honestly, one of the biggest reclined buddha in the world.

The Grand Palace

Pricing(Entry fee): 250 Bhat

Attire: Strictly smart casual (Long pants and T-shirt for men, and non-revealing tops and long pants or skirts below knee length for ladies.)

Location: Grand Palace, Na Phra Lan Rd, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand

As mentioned above, the Grand Palace is literally situated next to Wat Pho. This particular palace has it’s pros and cons. It’s always crowded. Occupied mostly by tour groups, remember to also be aware of pickpockets. Outside the premises of the palace there will be random locals who would come up to you to offer ‘tour-guide’ services and other tourist-related agendas. DO NOT acquaint yourself with them as they might be dangerous and normally give you overrated prices. Just follow the signs and enter by the main entrance. If you have visited many temples around Bangkok, and come to the grand palace, well expect to be greeted by very familiar architectures. A piece of advice will be to start off at the Grand Palace as it’s worth the attention. I’m only saying this because, out of all the temples I visited, this was the best maintained one (given the price of the entry fee). Here are some pictures of the grand palace.

View from the outside entrance — View from the main entrance

Dinner Cruise (The Grand Pearl Cruise)

The next item on our itinerary for the day was the Grand Pearl Cruise. I booked the cruise with the hotel and therefore they had their own private tour agency (eastmeetswesttravel) cover the transportation (to and fro) to the harbour where the cruise sailed off. My advice is to go directly to the website of the ‘Grand Pearl Cruise’ and proceed to the harbour by taxi to and fro as it will be a much cheaper option.

The cruise was along the Chao Phraya River. Well I honestly thought I would be seeing spectacular sceneries along the river, however the river greeted us with ultimate boredom. The cruise itself was nice though. The international buffet is a ‘must do’ for tourist. The ambience on the deck outside was calming with the lighted candles which brought serenity to the deck. There is of course a live band which will play songs requested as well. Therefore if you are looking for an experience along Thailand’s most important river, this will be an unique experience.