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Independent Travel Show Notes: Bangkok, Thailand


 Independent Travel Show Notes: Bangkok, Thailand

In this episode: FAQ is my favorite place to visit? Today, the destination is Bangkok, Thailand, and the mistake is booking the absolute cheapest room possible, and the tip is to get both motivation and perspiration in the right amounts as you travel.

FAQ: What is your favorite place to visit?
People ask me that all the time, because they want to hear some great stories.
Which of my hundreds of best places to go should you visit? That depends on YOU, of course.
I love Australia and New Zealand, Banff, Canada, and Yosemite, California, for different reasons. The South Pacific region, especially in Australia and the real people there Down Under make me feel like I belong. Jasper and Banff National Parks in Canada were on my bucket list. Yosemite was where I got engaged on Half Dome. All great memories and I’ll share more about these destinations in the future.
So those are my votes for today.

Today’s Independent Destination   Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is a fast growing country….covering a lot of area, and the most popular tourist regions include Bangkok in the central area, Chang Mai in the north and Phuket and Krabi in the southern area.

Getting around is best with BTS cards refillable as auto traffic is jammed up most of the time.
Massages in Bangkok are about $6 to $9 each or more, depending on your level of service.

Bangkok is a sprawling city. So huge. Hard to get a grip on how big geographically it was. Boat cruise on the rivers is a good way to see a lot.
At the Temple of Dawn, I was asked to cover my legs, past my knees, so a second pair of pants over the first was required. I ate dinner at Indian Restaurant, Bukhora’s was good Indian Food. And saw pop up local bars in a VW bus. That’s right. The entire minibus was transformed into a bar.

Ancient City of Muangboran, ancientcitygroup.net
… a long ride on the BTS, past an elephant stature with three heads!
Replicas, not always the originals at this “ancient city”, but that was ok for me at the time.
Throughout my stay, I took the wrong BTS twice and ended up going to all but two of 35 BTS stops in the city of Bangkok.
One of the best memories was a Formal Tea at the Mandarin Oriental. Yellow curry for Tina, Satay for me. The Mandarin was right on the water and delightfully peaceful.

How is the shopping? Cheaper than shopping used at Goodwill. The quality is average, so be careful of what you buy.
Rooftop deck swimming at two different places where I stayed. One rooftop pool required a password, a fingerprint to access, so the landlord had their fingerprints created and a fake finger. That was strange, but it worked.

One tip: Don’t miss this in Bangkok. Find the Flower Markets, wholesale warehouse, near the fruit market. You can visit this on your own 24/7. Spend as much time as you can soaking the smells, colors and the energy levels here.

Today’s Mistake: Going cheap, too cheap.

Don’t let this happen to you. My mistake was booking the absolute cheapest room possible. It was my first night in Europe and I was age 20 with a backpack and four girlfriends. I booked us a room in a punk neighborhood in England and yes, people were wearing safety pins in their ears and noses. All I wanted was to sleep. However, getting the door kicked in by the painters woke me and my friends. That’s right, the painter said that he needed to paint our room in order to get paid. So, he kicked the door in, and we let him paint the room, then he left. What a mistake that was, but we were young! And foolish, too. Don’t go too cheap.

Today’s Travel Advice

Motivation and perspiration, and a combination of insight will make for a great trip. Know when to use which one. The motivation is sometimes the hardest, especially if you just feel sick or tired. Try the motivation five second rule. Count down from five and then go forward. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Get it done. Once you get that, you can rally thorough and perspiration is just ahead. Expect it, plan for it, and execute on these for a better trip than you ever thought you’d own. No one can take away your memories.

Thank you for sharing this edition of the World’s First Guide to Independent Travel with Dr. Mary Travelbest with your girlfriends. If you want to know more, just search for Dr Travelbest.com, Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and every podcast channel. Helping women travel best is my goal. Please send me your travel questions so I can help you and help others, too.

I’m looking for you to travel best, so go ahead and let me know what’s on your bucket list.










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