Wandering Through Lumphini Park
Though there’s no time difference between where I live and Bangkok, it can get quite overwhelming after a long trip. I didn’t know that it was Saturday but apparently it was. Figuring out how the BTS works was another mission. I find that in Thailand, I get to walk a lot more as it’s actually pretty convenient walking around the area. Thankfully, it isn’t hot and quite breezy. I see that Thailand has been gaining more traction compared to Bali these past few years. Now, I get why. Thailand has much more freedom to live our life compared to Bali. They are one of the few SEA nations that are also open to unvaccinated travellers. Weed is legalised, transportation is quite okay, it has the mix of western living + south east asian living to it. There are also many interesting places to visit in this capital.
I am sure that anyone who has been to Thailand has visited the iconic Lumphini park. This is the park that you simply can’t miss but getting around to that place is quite a hassle if you use public transportation. I suppose that was because I was first timer, so I had to figure out how to buy the ticket, where I should stop ,and walk up to the station using the stairs. From where I was staying to Lumphini, in total it took around 100 baths to use the BTS and the MRT. Even then, I was still getting lost because around that park, there are a few exits such as the Lumphini park view which apparently is a condo. At least in the end, there’s Starbucks and it saved my day from being exhausted figuring out how to get to the Lumphini.
From across the Starbucks, all I had to do was cross the street and walk away from the traffic.
Then, I was greeted by this massive green park and well, from what I know, they’re also home to monitor lizards. When I was walking around, the monitor lizards were near the canals and slightly in the middle.
What I saw was also the crows who gathered and flew around the area.
a NatGeo worthy type of documentary.
What was most intriguing was when I saw the monitor lizard trying to eat a bird. Its head is covered with flies and the lizard seems to be having difficulty chewing it. It was gruesome but fascinating to watch, kinda like a NatGeo worthy type of documentary.
There were a lot of people jogging but also trying to take pictures of the lizard. I guess it’s one of the must-see things in Bangkok, especially in the middle of the city.
The lizards are pretty chill and they creep me out because when they swim, the little ones look like snakes.
On the canals, I also saw this bird trying to catch the lunch. It’s also interesting that they don’t really get scared by people. I think by now, they have gotten used to visitors.
Though it’s the weekend, I am surprised that it’s not that packed. I was expecting that it was quite packed and jammed. Although the traffic was pretty jammed and getting around was a bit of a hassle.
Almost by the end of the park near the school, there are a few cats walking around. Their face shape is similar to Indonesia's cat except the Indonesian ones don't have that long face. They also have delicate features to it that truly makes it distinct compared to the cat where I was from.
The cats look pretty friendly too and even know how to pose. When I pointed my camera at them, this cat stood and sort of knew that I was taking a picture of it. After that, I left the place as the sun was up high and I was already exhausted.
Icon Siam
Anyway, it was lunchtime and time to get something to eat. I am not too well-versed about places to eat but Icon Siam was something on the list. Apparently on the ground floor they have a small street food type with various options. The prices were reasonable but I reckon, the market has it cheaper. There was a lot of Thai food that was scrumptious and even seafood seemed to be at a reasonable price. I saw a whole roasted pork on display and an alligator icon and was wondering if the satay was an alligator satay. I didn’t try it though and ended up choosing pork. I was very happy to find plenty of pork options from jerky to stir fried pork.
Another Lesson Learned
I have to say, I am still a bit stupid on the money system over here. I thought that 10 baths is quite a bit but apparently it’s around 4000 where I am from. That’s like car parking fees in Indonesia but here, I can get some small snacks from 7/11 like my favourite fish snacks. From day one, I think that a daily average spend if you’re on the budget including transportation would be something over 500 bath or somewhere around 15$. It’s definitely still reasonable considering where I live, that’ll only get two starbucks and not even a satisfying meal. My daily expenses in Bali were even more but I think I can get better deals around the market and some better deals on the money exchange.
I think that, if I go back around here, I'll never ever exchange a lot at the airport, at least the ones in Bali. I exchanged it from the bank that I use at the airport but it was at a bad rate. 1 Thai baht is like 437.15 IDR online but I got it around 560 IDR - 1 Bath. I am hoping I can find better rates where it’s like 500 IDR/ 1 Bath. I think I was losing around 30$ from that exchange rate. Oh well, another lesson learned. Anyway, that was the weekend in my life lately.
You can read my Bangkok wandering here :
Bangkok Missions: A Fast and Furious Wandering Tale
The Journey Begins: A Wandering Tale Adventure!
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |