Bangkok was a whirlwind of a city.

I arrived on a Sunday at 6am after several days of traveling and walked out of the airport to steamy, humid air. It was sunny, there were palm trees, and I had a sweet iced latte in my hand. When I got to my hotel early in the morning, I had the day to kill before meeting up with my tour group in the early evening. I sat outside and read for a couple hours, definitely sweating the whole time as I tried to adjust to the humidity. (Book recommendation: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro). I ventured out into the area (we were staying in Makkasan) around lunch time and got a Thai massage before popping into a little cafe for a budget meal that cost me $2! I then treated myself to a nap and a nice cold shower before meeting up with my group.

I met the two other travelers in my group and our tour guide Art, a local from Chiang Mai with a hilarious sense of humor, took us out for dinner. Afterwards, we hit up Khao San Road for some local Thai beer at one of the many bars on the street. Each one tried to play their music louder than the one across from it and had ladyboys dancing as people walked by, trying to get them to sit down for a drink. It was interesting to people watch one of the liveliest areas of Bangkok! We then hit the hay early in preparation for a busy next day.

We started the day off in Chinatown and made our way over to the docks where we boarded a longboat for an hour long klong (canal) cruise through the city. It was absolutely magical roaring through the canals, water more often than that spraying your face. At a few points, women in longboats would come right up next to us trying to sell us little souvenirs. We also saw gigantic water lizards a few times; our boat driver would slow down, try to get our attention, and then share in the laughter we burst out into once we saw the lizard after a minute of staring into the water.

After our river cruise we spent the afternoon visiting Wat Pho and the Grand Palace, which were close enough to where the cruise finished. Both were exquisite but I actually preferred Wat Pho, the smaller of the two. It was less crowded with tourists, which made it more enjoyable to walk around in the blistering heat when your shoulders have to be covered up, and we caught a glimpse of a group of local girls dancing to some Thai music. Pro tip: wear shoes that are easy to take on and off since the different temples that require you to take your shoes off are scattered. I regretted wearing lace up sandals and when I tried to walk from one temple to another bare foot because I thought I would save myself some time redoing my shoes, I may have burnt the soles of my feet a little. Either way, the architecture, gold gilding, and ___ of Wat Pho were stunning.

The Grand Palace was definitely a crazy experience walking through. Pro tip: you’ll want a top that covers your shoulders. At Wat Pho, women were allowed to cover their shoulders with a scarf or shawl, but for some reason, that wasn’t allowed at the Grand Palace (my tour guide was equally surprised by this), and they wanted you to buy these huge obnoxiously green shirts from their shop for 250 Bhat. Instead, I had to walk back out onto the main street and bought a lightweight linen shirt for 100 Bhat (~$3) that I ended up wearing lots of times throughout my trip, so at least it was a worthwhile purchase. The entire palace is absolutely huge and there are several different sections of it to explore so it’s helpful to pick up a map when you’re purchasing your ticket!

After our temple run, we hit 7-11 for a cheap, quick lunch to take with us on our taxi ride; I also got an amazingly delicious passionfruit/mango smoothie from Au Bon Pain that perfect for cooling down. 7-11 is a pretty big staple in Thailand and have way more options for actual meals than we do in the States. They have a bunch of food you can get that they will heat up right in the store for you, everything from sushi to sticky rice to dumplings and buns to sandwiches. I opted for a classic ham and cheese panini that cost me only 20 Baht (about 60 cents)!. Pro tip: if you take a taxi, make sure to check that it has a meter before hopping in to prevent a driver from ripping you off. The ones with a meter are pretty affordable and it’s helpful to have a picture of the general area you want to go to (i.e. some sort of sign on the main road from your hotel) on your phone to show them where you want to go in case you can’t pronounce it.

We all showered, hit a small restaurant by the main train station for some dinner where I tried a supposedly mildly spicy dish of green curry chicken and spaghetti, and got ready for our overnight train to Chiang Mai. More on my adventures in Chiang Mai to come, so I’ll skip ahead to the part after we take our overnight train back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai.

My last day of the trip was spent in Bangkok so I had some more time to explore before heading out. We wanted to check out one of the huge markets since it was a Sunday and there’s a different market on Sundays than the other days of the week. J.J Market, as it’s nicknamed, was bustling with tourists and locals alike. They had shops selling woven bags, graphic t-shirts, fresh food.

I loved the short time I spent in Bangkok exploring its lively and rich culture. It’s a bustling city with a nice variety of activities.