Bangkok, Thailand

This past week, I traveled to Thailand and met a friend of mine. We planned our vacation for 10 days total. 3 days in Bangkok, 2 days in Khao Sok National Park, and 3 days in Phuket. While that only adds up to 8 days, we did take 2 overnight trains traveling to the different cities, and spent an afternoon in Bangkok again before catching early flights our last day.

It turns out that Thailand is a lot bigger than I imagined, and each city is vastly different than the one before it. Bangkok is very big, busy, and hot. All of the buildings are tall, and almost everyone rides a motor bike, often fitting 3 or 4 people on them. I used the think that Korea was hot and humid, but when I arrived in Bangkok, it was so much worse.

Most days in Bangkok it was only in the upper 80s (Fahrenheit), but because of the humidity percentage (around the 70s normally), the heat index was in the upper 90s or low 100s. While it did get that hot in Korea this summer, maybe it felt worse because we were out walking around the whole day in Bangkok and in Korea I just walked to and from work.

Our days in Bangkok were spent exploring the Buddhist temples, parks in the area, one of which where we saw a Komodo dragon, and a museum of a house of someone who was a member of the royal family line. In between the sights, we ate delicious food of course. We also went to Khao San Road, which is a popular area for street vendors that sell souvenirs, clothes, and food. They also have a lot of bars which makes it a popular destination at night for travelers.

Our second stop was the Khao Sok National Park and was much cooler because it is a large park surrounded by mountains. It’s in the southwest part of the country, and was absolutely breathtaking. We stayed in a boathouse on the lake, and ate every meal on the deck, overlooking the water. The first day we got there, we took a 2 hour hike through the jungle to explore the vegetation, wildlife, and a cave. It was the first time I saw a monkey in its natural habitat and it was the first time I walked through a cave. Even though it was pouring rain, we had rain jackets and still enjoyed ourselves.

The following morning before we left the park in the afternoon, we had an hour boat ride through the mountains to enjoy the view and have more wildlife pointed out to us. Our time at the park was far too short, but extremely relaxing. One thing I have decided is that I enjoy going to places near water because it’s not only cooler (temperature-wise), but it’s extremely beautiful,  and it’s always relaxing for me.

Stay tuned for the second half of the vacation! The post was much too long, so I decided to break it into two. Thanks for reading!