Here we go, day 2 in Bangkok! I was so excited because I had the entire day to explore places in Bangkok as much as I could. To get better experience, I always choose to use local transportation; this time I wanted to take bus to go to the city center.


When I was on my way to the city center, the bus passed the Chinatown. It had a vibrant vibe, looking at those signs and crowds. The traffic that day was quite heavy, so I gotta be patient until I arrived to my destination.

Anyway, It's kinda cloudy that day, even it was 1 pm when I arrived. I didn't expect it would be wet around Wat Pho and Grand Palace since in Chinatown wasn't raining at all.


So I got into Wat Pho. It was... pretty crowded. No wonder it's huddled because it was Saturday and obviously many tourists visited Wat Pho that day. To enter Wat Pho, I had to pay entrance fee for 100 Baht. Then I strolled around the area until I found the main temple. Another perspective of the reclining Buddha. The length itself is 46 meters. On this spot many tourists tried to take pictures of themselves with the statue as background, or, like what I did, captured the Buddha only.


What I really like from this place is, each temples has amazing details! Everything looks majestic and beautiful. Each gates also has vibrant color and beautiful details.

After strolling around Wat Pho, I went to the next place: Wat Arun. It's pretty close from where I was, but I should across the river first by taking public boat! It's cheap because it only costs you 4 Baht per person. Since it's not really far, I only spent like 5 minutes to reach the other side of Chao Praya River.



The famous hanging small bells at Wat Arun!Visitors can buy the tiny bell for 20 Baht, there's no attendant around so you only need to put the money into a box. After that you can write your name on it using provided marker pens. Finish with that, you can hang your bell on the 'bell tree'. I forget which one to do first, you pray or wish then hang the bell, or do the otherwise.


A lot of bells and hopes are hanging here. Mine is also there, the silver bell! My name is on the other side so you might don't see that 😁



Finally, Wat Arun! As you can see, this temple is currently under renovation, possibly it's repainting job but thankfully visitor are still able to enter Wat Arun area. If you want to visit Wat Arun, don't forget to buy entrance ticket for 50 Baht right in front of the gate.





Wat Arun is one of my favorite places in Bangkok. I did enjoy my visit here since I could relax more and get to see some fascinating temples. This site was not really crowded compared to Wat Pho. I also could understand why this temple has title "Temple of the Dawn".

I saw few people around Wat Arun that time. Some were taking photos, sitting on the stairs, or chatting with their friends. I also noticed some students wearing their graduation robes had some fun by having group photos.

Then I sat on one of the stairs and looked around. The wind blew so soft but it's still able to strike the bells around the temples. The bells gently rang, creating serene sound. While everybody started to leave the temple, I stayed and had my private moment to relax and contemplate.

In my opinion, the perfect time to visit Wat Arun is from noon till dawn. This place is a perfect spot to watch sunset. You can sit or chill outside the temple area and Chao Praya River will be on your side while enjoying the sunset.




So after I wandered around Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and Grand Palace, I wanted to go to Khaosan Road. The problem was, I couldn't find the right shuttle bus around Wat Pho. I didn't realize that day was the coronation day at Grand Palace so there was temporary traffic change and I definitely couldn't take any bus from there.

I walked and walked until I said, "Okay enough, I should take tuk-tuk." I was totally lost! Then I saw a tuk-tuk driver and started to bargain the price. At first I was hesitant to take tuk-tuk since I heard so many rumor about the expensive price. First he offered me 100 Baht (what?!) then I asked for 60 Baht (I really just wanted to sit and go to Khaosan Road a.s.a.p).


My impression about tuk-tuk? Damn it was so faaast! I sat alone on the passenger seat and the driver drove it in high speed. I even couldn't stay still during the ride OMG! 😂

When I arrived at Khaosan Road, it wasn't too crowded. Perhaps it's still early since I got there at 7 pm. And yeah, it's a very touristic street. I could see lots of thing at Khaosan Road: from clothing shops, food and beverage stalls, massage booths, bars, until ID sellers (I can't understand this one haha).



I didn't spend much time here but I got the chance to try pad thai. It cost me 80 Baht (quite expensive compared to the others because I just realized there's cheaper stall after I finished) but it had huge portion.

Still curious about food, I found a blood cockles seller that was near to River City Bangkok and my hostel. It was quite cheap! If I am not mistaken, it was 100 Baht per portion. The green sauce was amazing, by the way!


The night was long! After I took a rest a bit, I continued to go to a bar that was extremely close to my hostel; less than 2 minutes by walking! I found out this bar when I checked Google Maps about which bar or café was recommended to visit. SoulBar is known for the great ambiance and music; I am a huge fan of 70s and 80s funk/disco/jazz/soul musics, so I was interested to come.


Since I came on Saturday night, it's full of people, plus there's live music so I didn't get a seat. I stood up, asking the bartender for the menu. I gotta say it has unique theme! Every drinks are named based on song titles. So I ordered "Heard It Through the Grapevine" (vodka, grapefruit juice, lime, brown sugar), drank it while enjoying the live music.



Overall, second day in Bangkok was extremely amazing!