I love Thai dishes. Out of countless Thai dishes available
in my home country, tom yam is my favourite and mango sticky rice holds a
special place in my heart. In my attempt to have a taste of the authentic
sticky rice, I flew to Bangkok last November to find the famous sticky rice in
town.
Ok, no I was kidding it was not for sticky rice. I was in
dire need of vacation and since I was short in fund, we decided to go to our neighbouring country. That’s all.
This time around we flew with Malaysia Airlines after
finding a pair of return tickets through Traveloka at only RM400++.
Day 1
We landed in Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok exactly
at 5 pm. Right after collecting our luggage, we bought a local sim card
from DTAC booth located just outside the exit of the arrival gate.
The cheapest airport transfer in Bangkok will always be the Airport
Link at only 35 Baht per person to go to our Airbnb Apartment in Petchaburi
Road. From Petchaburi station, we walked for around 30 minutes before finally
reached the RCA I-House.
Day 2
Besides searching for authentic Thai food, the star
attraction of our visit was the sunflower farms in Lop Buri. Early in the
morning when local people are rushing to go to work, we joined the hectic by
rushing to Hua Lamphong train station. We took the MRT from Petchaburi station
to Hua Lamphong to catch the train at 9.25am. The train was not really punctual
but the delay wasn’t too long either. Upon arriving at Lop Buri station, we
were approached by a man informing us that he could bring us to sunflower farms
at only 200 Baht per person. Since my research through Fie's blog told me that was the standard
rate hence we jumped in to his minivan in no time.
The journey to the sunflower farms took us about 15 – 20
minutes. Our first sunflower farm was errrr well I certainly did not know its
name, to be honest. When I ponder back what we’ve done that day, it was silly
of us to just trust the man to chauffer us around. The farm has got two
separate fields and the flowers are definitely taller than anyone of us. It got
a wooden swing and a few visitors were taking turn to get their picture taken.
Then we moved on to the second location which was of course
sunflower farm again. The scenery around us was pleasant to view. It was miles
of never ending sunflower farms on our left and right side.
On our second stop, we were charged with 10 Baht per person
for entrance fee and the farm owner/employee allowed us to walk into the farm between
flowers.
There was a stall selling sunflower seeds we call it kuaci
(ku-ah-cee) and some drinks. The woman there gave us a few bananas for free. I
bought some kuaci to bring home before headed back to the town.
*Our guide, Mr Pancha was a very nice and friendly man. If you want to have him as your guide in Lop Buri, you can contact him via phone/whatsapp. I personally think his minivan was the most comfortable drive in Lop Buri. It was air-conditioned and you don't have to get at the back of a truck.
*Our guide, Mr Pancha was a very nice and friendly man. If you want to have him as your guide in Lop Buri, you can contact him via phone/whatsapp. I personally think his minivan was the most comfortable drive in Lop Buri. It was air-conditioned and you don't have to get at the back of a truck.
Day 3
The third day was miserable. Really. Prior flying to
Bangkok, I have to admit, I didn’t have time to sit down and the trip was
planned one month before. I was very busy at work and even weekends didn’t
allow me much free time due to handling the department alone. In my original 6
days in Bangkok itinerary, the plan was getting to Thonburi train station and
ride the train to Kanchanaburi. Simple as that. I know train to Kanchanaburi
was available twice a day. But due to the exhaustion the day before, we woke up
late. Funny, we arrived at Thonburi exactly 10 minutes after the morning train
after hitting some traffic. SO LUCKY.
Oh by the way, I have to mention here that the easiest and
most convenient mode of transport to reach Thon Buri is by taxi. Thon Buri is
located at the other side of Bangkok and other mode of transport available will
have you taking the BTS Skytrain and express boat.
We were so lost and didn’t know what to do so we just sat
around, eating our packed meals while googling the nearest attraction: to the
Wat Arun we go.
After Wat Arun, we spent our afternoon strolling Chatuchak
Market and bought some souvenirs.
I will continue my Bangkok story for Day 4, 5 and 6 in my next post. Stay tuned.
I will continue my Bangkok story for Day 4, 5 and 6 in my next post. Stay tuned.