The second day:

Chinatown

I started my day at 8h30 and headed to the pier near khao San: number 13 Phra Athit.

The ticket cost me 15 Bahts (0,40€).

You have the tourist boat and the public boat. I took the public boat. It’s easy and cheap. You just need to pay attention to the stop you want.

Chinatown is the Pier number 5: Rachawongse.

After that I walked straight until the Yaowarat, the main road in Chinatown.

You’ll find a lot of food stalls and a lot of Chinese souvenirs like necklaces, key chains Chinese traditional clothes, etc.

My only regret is not to buy more stuff. The streets between shops and stalls are narrow and full of people.

You’ll find a lot of gold shops around Chinatown but I skipped those.

I walk straight until I found an awesome shrine called the Kuan Jim Shrine and saw a few Chinese people praying. It is free of charge you just enter.

A few meters after on the opposite side you have the:

Wat Traimit, the Temple of the Golden Buddha

I didn’t had planned to visit but when I got there it just started to rain and we decided to visit.

Once again I wasn’t prepared to enter the temple with appropriate clothes but on this temple the rules aren’t so rigid.

Men could enter with sorts and women could just cover the arms and chest with a scarf.

You can rent one with them and leave a deposit. I preferred go to a stall of vendors inside the site and buy a traditional scarf. It only cost me 120 Bahts around 3€ and at least since I spent money I got to keep it.

You can buy just the entry to the Golden Buddha or you can include the Exhibition as well.

I’m glad that I visited it is totally worth it. I paid only the Golden Buddha visit and cost me 40 Baths (1€).

I continued my visit to the Chinatown Gate and walk back the same way to the boat.

A very difficult thing in Bangkok is that you hardly find trash cans…it can be a bit difficult when you’re surrounded with street food and all the plastic that you are lifted with.

I was really surprised when I asked a member of the ticket office boat where was the trash and he said “oh no, no we don’t have that here” and suggested me just to throw it somewhere. Of course I took the plastic with me until I found a trash bag on the side of a road.

I passed the amulet market on the way back and bought one in a case. It cost me 500 Bahts (13€). You probably can get it for less but I am not an expert on amulets and they never have the price marked so I just paid what the nice lady asked.

You can get some really nice deals on souvenirs at the piers. You have a lot of small shops and I found the best prices there. You can find some Buddha images, thai masks, soaps, elephant bags and so much more.

The rest of my Bangkok shopping was made in Kao San road and the nearby streets with a little barging. I always got a good deal when the price wasn’t marked.

I had planned to go to the new part of the town and watch the sunset at the Sky Bar Red Rooftop but because it rained a lot I went to the hotel and rest instead.

On the next day I woke up really early because of my flight to the South of Thailand.

I head to my next destination: Krabi