Christmas in Bangkok

Bangkok

We spent our last days in Asia in Bangkok. On the one hand because it was Christmas and on the other hand because we wanted to do some shopping.

We wanted to relax and not do anything on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For this reason, we chose a hotel with a rooftop pool where we spent the two days.

For Christmas Eve, we treated ourselves to a little highlight. Since we wanted to have a traditional Christmas dinner, we looked for a German restaurant. We came across Guido's Restaurant. There was a 9-course Christmas menu, starting with potato soup, smoked duck breast, venison stew with red cabbage, Brussels sprouts and spaetzle, and ending with baked apple with marzipan. It was a real hit. The 5€ for a bottle of Krombacher beer were worth it,-)

Shopping

We wanted to use the last two days for shopping and a little sightseeing. The first destination was the MBK Center at Siam Station, where you can find fake branded clothing or used smartphones on 6 floors, for example. Unfortunately, we didn't find much there. Afterwards, we strolled through the other shopping centers at Siam Station. There are 5 huge shopping malls, including one dedicated to luxury brands and the largest shopping center in Southeast Asia.

In the evening, we went to the Ratchada Train Night Market. A very cool market that is divided into shopping, street food, and bars. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily that day, so not many stalls were open. But we still managed to find a few bargains. We visited this market again on our departure day when the weather was better, and it was definitely worth it. You can't bargain here, but the prices were already very good.

Another market with a wide selection is the Patpong Night Market, located in the red light district. Surrounded by strip clubs, where you are constantly invited to Ping Pong shows, you can get all kinds of clothes, jewelry, and souvenirs here. It's not super cheap, but we were very satisfied with the prices we negotiated.

In general, it must be said that shopping in Bangkok wasn't as good as we expected. On the other hand, we liked Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City much better.

Sightseeing

We also wanted to see a bit of Bangkok. So we made our way to the Royal Crematorium. It was built for 25 million dollars after the death of the king last year and unbelievably it was completely demolished at the end of December. The only purpose was to say goodbye to the old king.

The next day we flew back to Germany. Before that, we quickly stopped by an airplane graveyard. But when the little boy from the family who apparently lives there tried to scam us for €10 for photos, we quickly left.

We had a great time in Asia. We had to get used to a few things, but overall it was a good trip and there was a lot of beautiful things to discover.

After our short stopover in Germany, we will report next from Costa Rica.