Last days of our trip we spent in the city where we started: Bangkok. As this city is so big there is still a lot to discover. Therefor we decided to stay in another hotel, the Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn, on the other side of the town. A luxurious hotel with a nice roof top swimming pool and rooftop with a beautiful view over the city.
Bangkok is massive and is known for its skyscrapers, food (markets), temples, local districts and big shopping malls. You could say, a good mix of everything.
Our hotel was in the neighborhood Rim Sathron Village, by foot not ideal to discover, since there is a lot of traffic, but a taxi is easy to catch and can take you easily to one of the many neighborhoods. Tip to install on your phone: Grab (Uber type) convenient to use and also easy to pay with.
In the morning we often spent time in the pool and the gym, as it is very hot to walk around a city all day. Perfect to find a nice market around lunchtime and to stroll around and eat something. Secretly you just want to eat all day in Bangkok, there is so much nice food to find on every corner of the street.
What you also see a lot in Bangkok, in addition to street food, are ‘all you can eat hotpot restaurants’, it’s a kind of running buffet where you can get all sorts of meat, fish, vegetables and noodles to put in the hotpot at the table. Be aware for a long evening, as you really need to take the time to prepare your food.
The last day we closed in the neighborhood Wat Phraya Krai where we visited Park Asiatique. But as soon we arrived we discovered that it was very touristy. For a moment we got the feeling that we were walking around in an amusement park vs Batavia City, something we’re normally not really into. So we changed our plans and visited the surrounding streets, where we were surprised with something much more pleasant: the local lifestyle.
As we were almost the only Westerners walking around there, we got looked at in a somewhat surprised way, but on the same time welcomed very warm and open. Surrounded by colourful houses and lovely people, we enjoyed all sorts of local dishes.
We spent the evening in our favorite restaurant around the corner from the hotel: Laab Ubon. A very local restaurant with smoking bbqs, open kitchens, dishes full of food, ice cold beer and a cozy atmosphere.
It was a nice holiday, but unfortunately after all good things comes an end. Time to pack the bags and return home. Thailand you were so nice again, will visit you hopefully another time soon.
