Bangkok and surroundings

Bangkok and central Thailand: photo and travel diary

From Bangkok, one of the most exciting and chaotic cities in the world, you can leave for an original travel itinerary in central Thailand. You can visit the relaxing Phimai and its Khmer ruins, the parks of Khao Yai and Erawan with their incredible waterfalls, the gigantic ruins of Ayutthaya with their history. Below is the description of this itinerary, with many photos, lots of information and a short travel diary.
(For general information on prices, climate, transport, etc., visit The General page On trips to Thailand and Laos , where you will also find links to other destinations, including Phuket and Southern beaches).

Bangkok and central Thailand: photo and travel diary

The chaotic capital of Thailand is the ideal city in which to spend their evenings, between markets and cheap restaurants, bars, massages, etc.! The most touristic part of Bangkok is around the Animatissima Khao San Road.

By day we followed the typical tourist itinerary for Bangkok, visiting the Royal Palace and the main temples of the city, remaining impressed by their magnificence.

There were many travelers, of course. Instead, when we came to Chinatown and his alleys full of markets at good, tourists were very few.
Chinatown and surroundings, in Bangkok, they are very characteristic and deserve a few hours of a sightseeing, despite the Thai capital is often very hot and walking long and a little suffering, especially while the strong smells of Chinatown restaurants arrive.

We hiked the Thonburi canals, or the Bangkok area beyond the Chao Phraya river. It was quite interesting: on the canals looked beautiful cottages, barracks, temples and the long varanes a meter.
we arrived at the modern city, full of skyscrapers, with chic bar where you had to be dressed well and book: we preferred a breaked bar On Chao Phraya, more suitable for our idea of travel itinerary in Thailand to adventure.

The next day we took a flight to Krabi: our destination was the island of Ko Yao us. You can read Here the report of our travel itinerary in southern Thailand , finished which we flew to Udon Thani to visit the Laos (travel itinerary Described here) . After Laos, we returned to Thailand, immediately beyond the border, Nong Khai, on the Mekong River. So to go to chronological order Follow the two links on our holidays in southern Thailand and Laos, but if you want to stay at central Thailand ... here, the diary of our travel itinerary starts from here. Indeed, from Nong Khai.
Visiting Nong Khai is pleasant. We reached it by bus from Vientiane (the capital of Laos), we soon found an original Guesthouse and spent the evening on the riverfront. There were stalls, some local, music ... Tourists, little numerous, focused in a beautiful western pub. Many of the travelers passing to Nong Khai are not normal tourists, but long-term travelers, many of them, around for months and months, need to get out of Thailand and return from Laos to renew visa.
The day After a minibus, for a modest figure, he took us to Udon Thani airport, where we retreated a rental car. Guidammo (on the left) to Phimai, a quiet town, which puts serenity, even because of his fantastic Khmer ruins and his curious baniano.

Phimai's Khmer ruins, in the style of Angkor Wat, obviously smaller but on the other hand, almost free of tourists, are really scenic and relaxing, as well as free.

The Phimai baniano is perhaps the largest in Thailand - and, who knows, of the world. The baniano is a tree, a ficus, from whose roots numerous trunks rise, with branches and fronds that intersect and join. This only banan covers an area of half a soccer field, and the refreshing shadow under its fronds is a religious place for the Buddhists ..

Phimai is a little tourist town that offered a rustic market and hotels and restaurants much cheaper than Thailand's most famous destinations.

The next day we resumed our travel itinerary in central Thailand and Phimai Guidammo to Khao Yai Natural Park; We crossed him by car, stopping to do some walking. We saw monkeys and deer, admired the vegetation and the beautiful Waterfall by Heo Suwat (that of the film The Beach).

One of the walks, along a stream, was particularly fascinating, between water and jungle.

Not UNMISSABLE, Khao Yai Park, but still pleasant ... and then we spent there.

The next morning, on early, the car to Nolo brought us to Erawan waterfalls; It was a long enough trip, but it was worth it, because Erawan's waterfalls, as well as being really fantastic and rich in jumps and natural pools, offer the opportunity to bathe and walk along them, from an all level More (in all are seven).

From the waterfall I drove up to an artificial lake upstream. Just time to take some photos and resigned to Krachanchaburi, the town with the famous Kwai river bridge. Even in Krachanchaburi guesthouse and restaurants are valid and cost little compared to Bangkok.

The Kwai river bridge has an important meaning in the history of the Second World War, and it is also rather photogenic if admired at dawn. Then leave Krachanchaburi and we continued our travel itinerary by driving to Ayutthaya. Old capital of Thailand, before Bangkok, Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese in one of the many wars among the nations of the area.

At Ayutthaya there remained many ruins, some really impressive and spectacular, others left to abandonment between dirt and Varani. However, Ayutthaya is absolutely inserted in a travel itinerary in central Thailand, because it is great.

At Ayutthaya there are also a very fake floating market and a lively night market with good stalls.
In the evening we left Ayutthaya and headed to Bangkok's international airport. The journey ended, but our rich itinerary in central Thailand remained in the heart together with the memories of the wild Laos and the fantastic experiences of southern Thailand. Goodbye !!!

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