Tell me something I can’t do and I will do it twice ! There is a challenge in doing things you aren’t deemed capable of. This year in the session break we (me & my parents) spent a short time in the lifeline of Thailand, the city of Bangkok, to break the monotony of routined life. What amazes me is the fact that Bangkok never fails you. Every time we are there we find something new to explore and that makes it a favourite among tourists.

After a super year at school, it was finally time for relaxed days, days when you put aside time to do absolutely ‘nothing’. I wasn’t even complaining when my parents surprised me with a reward trip to Thailand, four days dedicated only to me. Which meant that I was free to decide on how to spend it and they would just accompany me and get caffeinated (winks). We had one full day in Bangkok. I had immense fun there and these were the things I immersed myself in –

 

Safari World –  This one is an unmatched winner for me in all the possible things one can do in Bangkok. And hence this will be the longest. Forgive me, but I have lots to say. I am the kind of person who loves to admire animals from a  distance and this open zoo in which animals roam around free while humans are caged seemed much more meaningful to me. Safari World is a combination of two parks – Safari park and Marine park. I am more biased towards the Safari park because I think terrestrial animals are just like humans. Besides, who knows we might just be intelligent large land animals ourselves. Spread on 5 km land Safari park can be covered in mere 45 minutes in the comfort of your car or their coach service. The scariest part was when we reached the separate area in the zoo for tigers and lions. It remains enclosed by walls and barbed wire and has double iron gates to keep the animals restricted to their space.

Points to remember if visiting –

1. Safari park is open from 0900 hours to 1630 hours. Arrive early to enjoy all the feeding shows.

2. Everyday at 10 am there is a lion feeding show where visitors can encounter lions up and close.

3. It’s much cheaper to buy Safari Park tickets online from websites like klook but buy it the previous day or at least three hours before you are planning to enter the park. They take three hours to process your request.

4. There is a giraffe feeding platform where you can feed them bananas.

Why I think these points are important enough to be mentioned separately? Because I didn’t do any of them and regretted heavily. Failures make you a better person (wink wink). However, I did see a fair bit of exotic animals and which is why I am recommending this place to you.

 

 

 

 

Trampoline Park – I am not sure about you but in India we don’t have many trampoline parks for recreation but they are in plenty in Bangkok. Just choose the one near you. My first encounter with it was overwhelming. Boys and girls, men and women, young and old, all bouncing on a strong fabric stretched across a huge space. I have always looked at birds with longing eyes and thought why I wasn’t one of them. On a trampoline you cant fly but you can do pretty much everything else because gravity loses control over you finally. Twenty minutes after setting my foot on it, I was running walls, slam dunking and showing aerial manoeuvres. Though I generally enjoy games involving brain, I enjoyed letting my body take control over my brain this time. A must do suggestion from me no matter what age !

 

 

 

 

Sub – Zero Ice Skate club – Sub – Zero ice skating club is an indoor ice skating rink which is transformed into a disco in the evening. It is the best place for novice skaters like me. There are props you can hold if you fear falling or take skating lessons from trainers while your family can watch all the action seated right outside the rink. I however didn’t take any and was still able to skate decently after a few falls. Since we were there in the beginning of April which is also the time when Thailand enjoys the hottest spell of weather, it was a fun activity as well as the need of the hour. Still I am pretty sure I would love to hang out there even when the weather gods are merciful. Ignore my no smile face, I had the time of my life 🙂

 

 

Flight Simulator –  Have you also been curious about what’s inside that cockpit every time you fly ? Lets admit it, we all would like to be in there someday and see how a giant plane like that can fly. I am so glad now we can have a first hand experience of flying a plane without even leaving the land using a flight simulator. I haven’t seen the cockpit of a real plane so I cant tell you for sure if it was an exact replica of the real one, however, I found it as complex and close to the ones I have seen in movies. With a trained pilot beside me and no fear of crashing I absolutely loved experiencing the feeling of flying a plane. They say a fearless mind can conquer it all and believe me the absence of fear made all the difference. Though it’s an expensive activity it is also once in a lifetime experience. I totally suggest doing it even if you have less than a day in Bangkok.

 

 

Get yourself a beautiful portrait done – On the streets of Bangkok you can find the world. I came across a sketch artist in Siam Square who did a sketch of mine in less than 30 minutes (they are just about everywhere, oh so talented). Now that’s real quick especially when you have only a day in hand and you want to make the most of it. Gone are the days when you had to sit and stare into the artist eyes while they painted you. In present days, we just had to transfer an image of mine to his phone and then off we went shopping for more.

 

 

 

Take a ferry ride – Bangkok canal and river tours are exciting, especially when you can’t stand on those feet of yours anymore after a full day of adventure and fun. These boats are available for a ride till late in the night. We were however lucky to use it both during the day and night. Once as a transport and second time to experience the night view of Bangkok’s illuminated skyscrapers and the amazing display of fireworks near the Asiatique waterfront mall.

 

 

 

 

With only one day in hand we could only explore a handful of things. If time is no constrain there is much morw you can indulge in. Bangkok offers entertainment as well as edutainment stuff for kids. I had a superb time meeting new people, learning new things and doing different activities. After all not all classrooms have four walls.