Day 2: Wat Pho | GEMS Gallery | Chatuchak Night Market

Day 2 of 5. Bangkok City Tour

My tour in Bangkok taught me a lot about how difficult it is to travel to a place where English is not very common to the locals.. In this post, you might read a couple of times I spent too much because of miscommunication! Lesson learned a lot from this day tho.. but its fine! I still had fun..  Don't get me wrong, its not my intention to humiliate the locals, I'm not good in English too.. I just want to share my experience.

I am bound for different temples on my day 2. On my list, I wanted to go to Wat Pho, Wat Arun and The Grand Palace. So the first thing I did as soon as I woke up was searched on how can I go to these places without spending to much for  taxi. BTS is one of the options, but the problem is I don't know where is the nearest train station from my Hotel. I asked the receptionist from my hotel for the nearest station so I can use the metro going to the station near Chao Phrya River, because of misunderstanding he told me that cab is the only option I have. our hotel is actually near bearing station, so if you want to take the BTS you can purchase the unlimited ride for 1day which is only 150baht.



Uber and Grab a Taxi is available in Thailand,  its hassle free to take a taxi and you can also compare the fare prices upon booking. Grab a taxi has additional 20baht for the booking fee and without the toll fee. Usually for Uber, price also includes the toll fee. due to miscommunication and our lack of knowledge of the road, I paid 350baht plus 40baht toll fee from Bangla to Chao Phrya River.



You can take a boat ride to Chao Phrya River, someone will offer you an unlimited boat ride for 200baht per person, but I don think that's necessary. I wanted to buy the single ticket ride which is only 10-15baht (if im not mistaken) to the pier station near Wat Pho, unfortunately they can't understand what I want to buy and they are saying that that's the only ticket that I can purchase so just to save time I bought the 200baht ticket.



WAT PHO



From Here,  there are tuk-tuk and taxi drivers who will offer you 500baht for 1 hour tour to all the temples but don't get deceived. Go to the tuk-tuk drivers outside Wat Pho, they will offer you a very cheap price. I paid 40baht (plus I gave extra to the driver because he is so polite and patient with me) that will tour me to different temples and tourist spot with free admission. I skipped Wat Arun and Grand Palace since they offer me some other stuff..

I met a thai local from Lukey temple, then I found out that it is the new program of the government after the King died and his son took the responsibility of the country (the king died recently during the time I was there..) They want to increase the rate of tourism by giving cheaper price to all the tourist.

Wat Pho is one of the largest temple in Bangkok and famed with its Giant Reclining Buddha. It is a 46m long covered in gold leaf. There is an entrance fee of 100baht and the females are not allowed to wear shorts or skirt above the knee level. But you are allowed to rent sarong inside the temple.

This 108 bronze bowls in the corridor towards the exit door represents the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. You can purchase a bowl of coins for 20baht to drop it on the bowls. They believe that it is for good fortune and it serves as a help to all the monks who are taking care of the temple.

GEMS GALLERY INTENATIONAL MANUFACTURER

In case if you don't know, Thailand is a well known place for precious Gems specially Sapphire and Ruby. GEMS Gallery is the biggest jewelry and gems Centre. with welcome drinks and free admission. In this place, you will see how they do the cutting and polishing of stones in actual. 

After the tour in the manufacturer area, there is a big gem gallery where you can see and buy jewelries with different kind of stone. The price is cheap compared to other Centre, for tourist they will give more discounts and they will sell it for tax free. I wasn't planning to buy anything coz I'm a thrift traveler! ;) I never buy something expensive every time I travel. But this is something worthy and cheap for its quality. So I decided to buy something that I can keep which is specially made in Thailand.

I bought it for 2300baht  after all the discount and tax deduction. Original price was 3200baht, they will give discount but you can still  barter for a good price.

CHATUCHAK NIGHT MARKET



Chatuchak Night Market is the most famous night market in Thailand. You have tons of options for street foods, clothes and souvenirs. It is actually same like the Srinakarin Night Market from my previous post. The difference is you will have more options here than in Srinakarin. But I like Srinakarin better than Chatuchak because it is less crowded and the ambiance is brighter plus the foods are cheaper!

Stewed Pork Leg 90baht

Pork Satay 100baht

 

 

 

Coconut Ice cream for 50baht


One day is not enough for Bangkok Tour. I will definitely go back and explore more of the city and go to temples that I fail to visit..