A few months ago,I was invited by Thailand Tourism on an international bloggers meet and I must say that it remains one of the best trips so far. It was quite a treat driving around the country in a convoy with the Tourist Police leading us. I have shared a few posts here, but they have largely been teasers as I have not had the time to sit and blog about my trip. Looking at my photographs today, I realized that it is difficult to pick up just a handful of memories from a memorable trip, but here are my favourite five memories from Thailand.
A visit to Wat Arun
The temple of dawn looked rather unimpressive from the ferry but as we entered this ancient temple, built on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, I felt humbled and dwarfed looking at the tall 79 metre spire built in the Khmer style of architecture, sparkling with glass and porcelain that were used as ballast by ships coming in from China several centuries ago.
Wat Arun Bangkok Thailand
Cruising down the canals in Bangkok
While a cruise down the Chao Phraya river is beautiful, the heart of Bangkok lies in its canals. Houses, home stays, restaurants dot the canals as one wonders if you are in Venice or in Amsterdam but for these charming homes built on stilts. As I was looking at some of the mansions and the gardens, I found this guy, a water monitor peeping out while ferrying past the Chak Phra canal to the floating market
Water monitor in Bangkok
Taling Chan Floating Market
There are several markets in Bangkok, including floating markets and we headed to one of them Taling Chan Floating Market. Its more a weekend market by local farmers who sell their produce. There is music, food, arts and loads of colour and energy here.
Floating market Bangkok
Khun Dan Prakarnchon Dam
Ok. That is a mouthful. One of the most beautiful part of this visit to Thailand is a glimpse of rustic Thailand. We got to visit villages, dams, arts and crafts centres and meet the locals. And one of those places was Nakhon Nayok. Besides my stint at river rafting (although I was highly worried that I would be thrown off my raft), I loved waking up the sunrise at the Royal Hills Golf Resort and Spa and a visit to the dam near the town of Ban Tha Dan which offered lush views, although wrapped in mist.
Nakhon Nayok Dam
A visit to Ban Dong Krathong Yam
It is not very often that we visit villages when we travel abroad or for that matter in India. And it is not very often when an entire village cooks for a handful of bloggers from around the world. The village here is known for noodle strainers and it is often referred to as the noodle strainer village. Simple, loving, affectionate, hospitable, the half a day that I spent here will go down as one of the best times during my visit to Thailand.
The villagers from Ban Dong Krathong Yam
Have you been to Thailand ? What are your favourite memories ? Share them with me please.
Another thing that I must mention about this trip is my Nikon 18-300 mm lens. To begin with it is not my lens.I am not too much of a photographer and I hate lugging too many lens when I travel and I often realize I do not have the time to change the lens on the go.
During this trip, the good men at Book my lens was kind enough to give me a Nikon 18-300 so that I did not have to shift between my wide and my zoom. I must say that it is a great boon for travellers, especially when you suddenly want to focus on a little birdie sitting somewhere on a monument when you are planning a wide shot. I will be sharing more photographs from my Thailand – Cambodia trip and they are all courtesy this lens. If you ever want to borrow lenses on your journey, I strongly suggest that you contact Gowtham Shankar at www.bookmylens.com.
Nice way to briefing out the gorgeous city…. loved the reptile pic most