Hannah and I couldn’t pass up the airfare deal we found on google flights. LAX to Bangkok for only $496 roundtrip. We used Southwest points for our ATX-LAX flights making this an unbelievable bargain. This is my strategy any time I search for international flights. I check for flight prices out of other airports that Southwest flies to. I use my card enough that I always have points and rarely ever pay for a flight.
Our longest flight was 14 hours long, most of which I spent binge watching The Sopranos. Hannah Banana slept most of the way and we’ve agreed to spare each other on the embarrassing mouth-open, passed out photos.
Before leaving Texas, I went to the bank to exchange currency. They did not have any baht on hand but the pay out conversion they offered was 28:1. You can exchange currency through your home bank for little to no fee but they need 1-2 weeks notice to get it. Austin airport was very similar with an additional $10 fee so I decided to just wait until arriving in Thailand. In most cases, exchanging currency is cheaper in the US. I’m glad I waited because the entire Thailand airport offered 31:1 with no fee.
Our lodging at Casa Nithra organized our airport transportation for an additional 1000 baht (roughly $25-30.) I definitely recommend Casa Nithra as the rooms were clean, efficient, the wifi worked great and the location was excellent. We were able to walk to most of the attractions on our itinerary. Arriving at 2am made it easy to adjust for the time change. We went to bed and got up around 9am putting us on a normal schedule. If your flight is landing mid-day/early evening, you should really try to stay awake until bed time. From Texas, the time change was 13 hours ahead.
Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha)
Our first stop (after receiving a $6 pedicure) was Wat Pho, the gigantic reclining buddha. We read several blogs ahead of time suggesting long pants and sleeved shirts for temple entry but I completely forgot about my tank top. I ended up purchasing a cute light weight elephant shirt outside of the entrance for 150 baht.
Getting an early start was crucial to beat the crowds. It was still busy but manageable. The buildings and temples are so elegant. They are intricately decorated with many tiny pieces of stained glass, jewels and porcelain. The reclining buddha lays in the back of the complex allowing you to see the other temples beforehand.
Before venturing to The Grand Palace we walked to Suppaniga along the water; recommended to me by the great Austin American Statesman restaurant critic, Matthew Odam (@matthewodam.) Not only does he assemble a list of Austin’s finest dining experiences and most skilled culinary artists BUT other cities across the US as well. It has become a traveling prerequisite of mine to see what Odam’s suggestions are before searching elsewhere. I tried making a dinner reservation ahead of time and they were completely booked. Luckily, we walked in around lunch time and they were able to squeeze us in. This was our first Thai meal and we were eager to dive in. We ordered several dishes and they were all beautifully presented (something we got used to over our 2 week trip.) The appetizer plate including Ma Hor, Mien Yong and Khaotang was my favorite.
Ma Hor, Mien Yong & Khaotang 
Photo cred: Hannah 
The spread. Photo cred: Hannah
The Grand Palace
With full bellies we made our way towards The Grand Palace. We passed a few shops on the way where I purchased a new journal and a pair of elephant pants. The Palace wouldn’t let me in wearing leggings so the elephant pants were a great buy. The Grand Palace was beautiful with even more detail than the temples at What Pho. The downside- it was afternoon and it was unbearably crowded.
I recommend visiting Wat Pho and The Grand Palace as early as possible. They are within walking distance of each other but if you want to save time and use a ride share you can download the “Grab” app which is the Uber of Southeast Asia. There is an option to link your card and pay through the app but you can also pay cash which is what we did.
Our second and last day in Bangkok was quite a mess! Hannah and I were walking to the pharmacy when a very kind and helpful man stopped us. He said he was a professor here and recommended a couple places for us to check out. He also mentioned that today was a Buddhist holiday and tuk-tuk’s with the yellow flags do not have to pay for gas today, making them very cheap. The Floating Markets were our only plan for the day so we went along with his plan. He flagged down a tuk-tuk for us and told the driver our itinerary. The transportation was only going to cost us 40 baht for the entire day! We should have assumed this was a scam but they seemed so nice!
Our first stop was the Standing Buddha that required a 40 baht donation to enter. As I was getting out of the tuk-tuk, I smacked my face off of a metal pole. I still cannot believe I didn’t break my nose. My first injury of the trip and trust me there were a lot of them. It was a quick stop but I really liked his shimmery gold toes!
Our driver took us to The Lucky Buddha. Also a quick stop and we were still so impressed with only paying 40 baht to get around.
Whatta dick
Now this is where it started to get sketchy. The original Thai professor told us we were going to be taken to a Thai fashion festival. Instead we were taken to one of the custom tailor shops. I was told by friends to check one out so we went along with it. We immediately fell in love with the “Thai silk” scarves and kimonos so ended up spending a pretty penny there.
He then took us to a drop-off zone for the floating market. The Thai professor explained it would be more expensive than the group boat because it was a private tour with several stops along the Chao Phraya River. We each paid 1500 baht (Insane) and were loaded onto our own long tail boat. We were taken to the Taling Chan Floating Market which was NOTHING like what we expected. We planned on shopping from the boat along local floating vendors but the market was on land and very small. The boat then took us back to the city with no additional stops as promised. The helm did not speak English so we were unable to dispute the issue.
We stopped for lunch in an alleyway near our hotel. For 200 baht ($6) we ordered two Pad Woon Sen and two Coca-Colas. This was one of our favorite meals. Not only because of the price but also because it was delicious and convenient. Hannah and I constantly reminisce on this legendary meal.
Pad Woon Sen
We both had a weird feeling about the day so we tried looking up the tailor shop and could not find it online. I then searched the brand of the kimono (which I was told was made in store) but I found the POS on amazon for $12. My blood was boiling. I mean we each paid like $90 for three pieces. How did this happen? The best part- as we were walking out of the hotel later that night, we found this sign posted in the lobby:
Luckily we were just scammed out of some money and thankfully no one was hurt. Later that evening we took a “Grab” to the Unicorn Cafe. I was very excited about trying their rainbow waffles. We were the only customers and the store was dirty AF. Look at these dirty ass stuffed animals! When we walked out of the cafe towards the night market, we realized we were in Unicorn cafe Zone B. At the corner was Unicorn cafe Zone A. I don’t even know what the f*** that means but zone A was clean, with cooler decor and lots of customers. #BoycottZoneB
We were having the worst luck getting in anywhere that night. The hostesses kept denying us entry because we were wearing shorts and flip flops. They asked that we wear dresses or capris and shoes with a heel. So if you plan on visiting more up-scale restaurants and bars, make sure you dress accordingly. That is not our style so we continued shopping, had an hour long foot massage for $6 and grabbed a beer on Khao San Rd. (the crazy street from The Hangover 2.) It was a little too WILD for us. People were shoulder-to-shoulder packed in on the street with loud club music, promoters trying to drag you into their bars, shops and food that included bugs you could eat! Tarantulas, beetles, etc. WE had one brew and went to bed! Bangkok had worn us out and we were flying to Chiang Mai in the morning.