2 days in Bangkok – What to do?

We went to Bangkok in high season, arriving there on the night of 29-Dec-2017 until 02-Jan-2018. We used the January 1st for a day trip to Ayutthaya, which we super recommend. Leaving us then 30 and 31-Dec to visit most of the temples we could.

But first, some important general information:

• Thailand has almost 95% of its population as Buddhists.  The Theravada Buddhism is practiced there. That’s why temples are everywhere, beautiful, very decorated and full of super photogenic monks. But although the temples are very touristy, we need to remember that it is a religious temple, and we need to show respect, whatever our religious influence is.
  • To enter the temples, men and women must be with arms and legs covered, always with trousers or long skirt and long sleeves shirt or blouse – just wearing a scarf over the regatta shirt is not accepted, I saw many people being barred while trying going into temples, of course they can not stop everyone, the flow of tourists there is gigantic;
  • Always take off your shoes to enter the temples and most of the houses there;
  • Never sit in front of the Buddha or any other deity with foot pointed at them, always sit with legs crossed;
  • Always speak down within the temples and do not keep demonstrations of affection;
  • The monks are there to give their blessings to the tourists but it is a good tone to leave a tip in these cases;

• Get ready to walk… Very much… Some days walked more than 20km. Then, have a comfortable tennis, you will need.
• Thailand is a monarchy and the current king is the 10th – Rama X – and he is called Maha Vajiralongkorn. The people worshipped his father, but as there is forbidden to speak bad things about the royal family, by the law “Lèse-majeste“, you will never see anyone complaining about the current king.
• The best time to go there is during the autumn/winter of the northern hemisphere, with milder temperatures (around 30º C – imagine with a non-mild temperature) and dry. Don’t go in the summer, July is monsoon season and it rains a lot.
• The currency in Thailand is the Thai Baht and US$1.00 worths around BHT 30,00.

Well, out of the general and telling you a little about our experience in Bangkok, what we did – You can click in each title to check it out more information about each place.

We were staying right near the Grand Palace and the first thing we did was try to visit the Float Market. We walked to the pier to cross the river Chao Phraya, taking a boat towards Wang Lang, the crossing costed on average BAHT 4,00 per person. From there we take a taxi to the Float Market.

Float Market in Bangkok

We actually couldn’t see the Float market because they were in end of year holidays. But the adjacent market was working and we were able to enjoy and have lunch there. The float market is a floating market literally, the merchants stay on their boats with their products and you rent a boat and go past them to shopping. Sounds really cool.

There are some in the Bangkok region but the closest one you can get by taxi is the Lat Mayon. The taxi is not very expensive. There is not an entry fee to the market, but it is necessary to rent a taxi boat to float among the merchants.

We returned by taxi to Wang Lang and on this side of the river we then walked to Wat Arun.

Wat Arun

Known as the Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun is a temple that must be visited. It is very beautiful and by being right next to the river, the vision is even more amazing. The entrance was BAHT 50,00.

After visiting the Wat Arun, we crossed the river again and we made the whole route back to the hotel. Wagner had his hair cut wrong, since we were in a rush the day before the trip. So we ended up in a barbershop for a Thai haircut. Just out of curiosity the haircut costed BAHT 70,00.

The next day, we started the day with the famous Grand Palace.

Grand Palace

No wonder it has that name, it is really gigantic and the famous temple that has the Emerald Buddha is inside. It is extremely touristy and was very crowded, almost impossible to take a picture without a lot of Chinese in the back. The entrance is very salty, BAHT 500,00. We took one whole morning to visit it.

We were already very hungry coming out of the Grand Palace, but right around the corner was Wat Pho, so I had a few chips and visited one more temple before lunch.

Wat Pho

It is very close to the Grand Palace and the entrance is BAHT 100,00. It is the famous temple of the Reclining Buddha. And it’s huge, the statue occupies the entire temple. Although also extremely tourist and very crowded, it was worth visiting this temple and taking some pictures with the Buddha there.

Lunchtime finally arrived and for a change, Pad Thai.

Soon after we headed to the Goulden Mount Temple, it gets a little far, about 4 to 5 Km.

Golden Mount

It was the best temple in my opinion. Very beautiful and full of nature and was much less crowded than the other temples we visited. The entrance was BAHT 20,00.

Coming out of the Golden Mount, we returned to the main avenue and straight ahead is the Loha Prasat, with a very beautiful square as entrance.

Loha Prasat

There is not entry fee but they ask for donations. It is very high and it is possible to go upstairs for a very beautiful view. The visit is worthing.

Red Light District

During one of our nights, we decided to visit the streets of the Red Light District and check it out what Bangkok is famous for. There are three main strees, Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Patpong. We went first to Soi Cowboy very early in the night, around 6pm, when people were just arriving to their shift.  After that, we walked until Patpong (about 40 minutes walking). There is no entry fee just to get in the streets and look around but the prices are very expensive if you sit in a bar or go into one of the shows.

* All fees mentioned here are from December 2017,

In the New Year’s Eve we watched the fireworks on the King Rama Bridge I-Memorial Bridge. We didn’t go to any roof top bar for the New Year’s party, but it was nice watching the fires.

Bangkok is full of temples and if you really want to feel the energy of the place, go to the less touristic ones and feel connected with the spirituality of Buddhism. Although the most famous temples were very crowded, I enjoyed having visited them anyway. They are beautiful and are almost like mandatory stops.

Stay tuned for the next posts in which I explain every place we visited and we recommend. If you have any tips from Bangkok, put here in the comments, we would love to know about your experiences.

Posted by Liany Garves

Liany is a pharmacist that worked for years in a big company. She left her safe job and comfortable life in Brazil to live an adventure in the remote Kingdom of Bhutan and, nowadays, lives in Thailand. The passion for traveling runs to her veins and she loves spending time in the travel blog, helping other travelers with her experiences or planning her next trip.