My UNESCO World Heritage Sites Journey

Whenever I travel to other countries or cities, any UNESCO World Heritage Sites would be my prime attractions to visit. These are places of great historical and cultural significance, some of them also portrayed the greatness what human mankind can do, and the great creation under the work of nature.

I have listed the sites that I have visited so far, and I will be adding more to the list in the future.

One Day Shopping Trip in Bangkok, Featuring Chatuchak Weekend Market, Terminal 21 and Train Night Market Ratchada

Day 4

On the second day of our Bangkok tour, we would be travelling further out of the Pratunam area for more shopping activities. But before that, we had breakfast at our First House Hotel first. The breakfast was buffet style and already included as part of our stay. They had a wide spread of food to choose from, including bread, sausages, ham, omelette, salad, fruits, and hot beverages, as well as local/Asian offerings like fried rice and noodles, Dim Sum and seasoned vegetables. Considering the price we paid for the hotel, the breakfast was well worth it.

Breakfast buffet at First House Hotel

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BTS Skytrain

After our sumptuous breakfast, we walked approximately 15 minutes to the Rachathewi BTS Station. We would be taking the BTS Skytrain on Sukhumvit Line to Mo Chit BTS Station, where Chatuchak Weekend Market (our destination) is located.

Train platform at Rachathewi BTS Station

BTS Skytrain is one of the rail systems within Bangkok city, with the other 2 main systems being the MRT and Airport Rail Line. Other serving different parts of the city, the main difference between BTS Skytrain and MRT is BTS Skytrain travels using the viaduct, while MRT is underground. 

We purchased the Rabbit Card at the Rachathewi BTS Station, which is a rechargeable contactless store value card, like EZ-Link Card in Singapore and Oyster Card in London. Other than using it for rides on the BTS Skytrain, the Rabbit Card can also be used for payment at many retail outlets and fast-food restaurants. Do note that Rabbit Card cannot be used for MRT rides.

Adult Rabbit Card

The BTS Skytrain is air-conditioned, spacious, and ride is cheap, which is a good option to beat the sweltering heat and the slow-moving road traffic in Bangkok.

Chatuchak Weekend Market

After we arrived at Mo Chit BTS Station, it was just a short distance walk to the eastern entrance of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Chatuchak Weekend Market is the World's largest weekend market, with more than 15,000 stalls selling a wide variety of the things, such as clothing and accessories, handicrafts, home decor, plants and gardening equipment, pets and accessories, and food and beverages. Over 200,000 visitors (both locals and tourists) visit the market every weekend, so you could image the crowd. 

The stalls are organized into multiple lanes within large market, making it like a maze and visitor could easily get lost inside. There is a Clock Tower in the middle of the market and serves as a very prominent landmark to meet and gather. The main market is sheltered, but open concept with no air-conditioning. On a hot day, like the day we went, the interior of the market can become warm and stuffy. 

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Lunch @ Amulets Gallery & Coffee

We toured and shopped around the market for approximately 2.5 hours, we were tired and hungry by then. We eventually dropped by a small restaurant called Amulets Gallery & Coffee for our lunch, which was one of the few eateries that was air-conditioned. 

Amulets Gallery & Coffee

We ordered their shrimp and pork fried rice, which was tasty, reasonably priced, and nice looking in a "Heart-Shaped" presentation. Most importantly was we could enjoy our lunch in the air-conditioned cooling environment.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Pork Fried Rice

Terminal 21 Shopping Center

We departed Chatuchak Weekend Market after lunch and headed for our next destination, Terminal 21 Shopping Center. We returned to the Mo Chit BTS Station and took the Sukhumvit Line to Asok BTS Station, which has a direct link to Level 2 of the shopping center.

Terminal 21 Shopping Center is a popular lifestyle mall, which is themed as an airport terminal. Each level of the mall is decorated with a different travel destination theme, such as Caribbean, Tokyo, London, Paris, San Francisco, and Hollywood. This is where the mall stands out from other typical shopping centers in Bangkok.

We mainly window shopped around, taking photographs of the different "landmarks and icons", such as the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge at Terminal 21

Mural of San Francisco

Train Night Market Ratchada

As it nears the evening time, we departed the mall for our last destination of the day, Train Night Market Ratchada. We went to the nearby Sukhumvit MRT Station and took the Blue Line to Thailand Cultural Centre MRT Station, which is just 3 stops away. The market is located behind the Esplanade Mall, so we had to skirt around the mall from the MRT station exit.

Train platform at Sukhumvit MRT Station

The plastic token used for MRT ride

Train Night Market Ratchada. also known as Rot Fai Market Ratchada, is an outdoor market with rows of colourful tents selling clothes, fashion accessories, hand phone covers, toys, street food and beverages. The market is huge and took us a long time to cover all the rows of stalls. As it was dinner time too, we also took the chance to buy some of the street food, which included grilled pork, pork ribs, sweet potato balls, crispy crepes, and mango sticky rice. 

Entrance to Train Night Market Ratchada

Rows of colour tent stalls

It had been a long day of walking and our legs were already sored and tired. We decided to call it a day and headed back to our hotel, retracing the same way we came by taking the MRT and BTS Skytrain.

One Day Shopping at Bangkok Pratunam Market and Platinum Fashion Mall

Day 3

On the third day in Phuket, we checked out of our hotel (Saladee Gallery Residence) very early in the morning for the transfer to the airport. We would be taking the AirAsia domestic flight from Phuket International Airport to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport and spend the next 5 days travelling in Bangkok.

After a short 1 hour and 20 minutes flight, we arrived at the Bangkok Don Mueang Airport. As the Don Mueang Airport now mainly serves low-cost airlines and domestic flights, the airport was not crowded, and we managed to collect the luggage relatively quick. For our stay in Bangkok, we would travel mainly on free and easy, but we still engaged a local travel agency (WE Tour Thailand) to arrange for the airport transfer to our hotel and a full day city tour on one of the days.

View from our flight to Bangkok

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First House Hotel

After the pick-up at the airport, the bus took us straight to our hotel (First House Hotel) located in Pratunam, driving through the infamous Bangkok heavy traffic. We had chosen First House Hotel for our stay in Bangkok because of several reasons. The most important is it is in an excellent location, directly in the Pratunam Market, and within walking distance to BTS Skytrain Station, Platinum Fashion Mall, Central World and Erawan Shrine etc. In addition, it received very good reviews from other travelers on online platform such as Agoda.com. Lastly, the price was affordable too. When we entered our room, we were surprised to find the room space was big, equipped with all necessities like complimentary bottled water, coffee, and tea. 

Modern Deluxe Triple Room at First House Hotel

Bathroom

Lunch @ SabX2 Wanton Noodles

As it was lunch time already, we did not spend too much time in the hotel. So, we assembled again at the hotel lobby after dropping the luggage in the rooms. Our hotel is located exactly along Soi Phetchaburi 19 and guess what the most famous food was here, it was SabX2 Wanton Noodles! Literally just 60m away towards the Platinum Fashion Mall, we joined the long queue outside the shop to try out the popular Wanton noodles. I could sense most people in the shop and queue were tourists, especially Singaporeans. Interestingly, we could see many signboards at the shop claiming "No Branch in Singapore". 

Queuing outside SabX2 Wanton Noodles shop

Other than Wanton noodles, the shop also sells pig trotter too. After some 20 minutes wait in the queue, we were brought to the tables. As it was full house inside, we had to share tables with other patrons. The dry Wanton noodles I ordered came with the usual pork char siew, Wanton dumpling, vegetables like in Singapore. But on top of that, they have crab meat inside and lots of pork lard.

Full house setting inside the restaurant

My dry Wanton Noodle

Overall, the noodle was delicious, although the portion was small and expensive (100 Baht) by local standard. That explained why most customers were foreign tourists.

Pratunam Market

After our lunch, we headed outside for the official tour around Pratunam Market. Pratunam Market is a popular shopping destination for locals as well as tourists, which is known for selling clothes, bags, and other fashion accessories at cheap wholesale prices. The market is not located in a single building but refers to a large area comprising of several streets and shopping centres. 

Pratunam Market with Baiyoke Sky and Suite Hotels at the background

The offerings here was so large that it can cater to everyone's needs, for women, men, old, teenagers and children. Along the streets, we could also find many push-cart vendors selling local snacks and drinks. Most of the clothing and fashion shops require you to buy 3 or more pieces to enjoy the wholesale price, but many also sell single piece at higher retail price. 

Platinum Fashion Mall

After Pratunam Market, we went to the Platinum Fashion Mall located across the Phetchaburi Road for more shopping. The mall is fully air-conditioned and offers a much more comfortable shopping experience as compared to Pratunam Market, which is mainly open air and susceptible to the hot and humid weather. Platinum Fashion Mall has more than 1000 shops spread across 6 levels, selling pretty much similar items like at Pratunam Market, but in my opinion were of better quality. Approximate 90% of the shops sell lady's wear. 

T-Shirts

One of the many shops selling evening gown

Most of the shops were small outlets, packed in the many small lanes at each level. The entire area looks like a maze. There were many instances that we wanted to revisit a particular shop for the clothes we had checked earlier, but unable to find in the sea of shops! 

Dinner @ Platinum Fashion Mall Food Court

After hours of non-stop shopping, we were tired and hungry already. We went up to the highest level of the mall to have our dinner at the large food court. Other than the popular local Thai food, we could also find other cuisines, such as Chinese, Indian, and western. Many locals ate here as well, thus the prices of the food were quite affordable. We had ordered Pad Thai, Green Curry Chicken, as well as some desserts.

Bingsu Dessert

After dinner, we decided to head back to our hotel to wrap up the long day.

What to do on a One Day Big Boat Tour to Phang Nga Bay

Day 2

On the second day of our holiday in Phuket, we would be doing a full day Phang Nga Bay cruise by Big Boat. The Phang Nga Bay cruise, along with Phi Phi Island day tour, are the top 2 must-do activities for visitors in Phuket. The cruise would take us to the Phang Nga Bay for island hopping, sightseeing, canoeing, and swimming activities.

 

Map of our Phang Nga Bay cruise tour

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We had a early breakfast at our hotel (Saladee Gallery Residence) before we were picked up by the minibus transport to Ao Por Pier, located at the eastern coast of the island and approximately 1 hour drive away from our hotel in Patong. 

Phang Nga Bay

After the long road journey, we arrived at the cruise operator (Phuket Patri Tour P.P.T)'s premise at Ao Por Pier. We waited for a while for other passengers of the same cruise to arrive before we were picked up by the shuttle to transport us directly to the pier (only a short distance) for the boat boarding.

Boarding the Big Boat at Ao Por Pier

Another similar Big Boat with tourists beside our boat

The Big Boat consists of 2 decks. The upper deck is where the passengers will be located, and the place where lunch will be served too. Overall, there were probably close to 25 passengers on board, but the deck area was quite big, and we did not feel too crowded. Life jackets were provided for every passenger, including children, which were strapped to the side of the boat. The life jackets came with different sizes, so we just had to select the one that fit the individual. The lower deck is where the kitchen and the toilet are located.  The staff provided the safety briefing and introduced the itinerary of the cruise as the boat headed out of the pier and into the Phang Nga Bay.

Cruising into Phang Nga Bay

View from the lower deck

View from the upper deck

The weather was fantastic, sunny and the sky clear and blue, perfect for a cruise tour. Phang Nga Bay is sheltered from the open Andaman Sea, thus the water was relatively calm. In addition, since we were travelling on the big boat (despite slower), it was much more stable and comfortable as compared to travel on speedboat. Throughout the cruise, we would enjoy the sea breeze and beautiful view of the bay, while at the same served with complimentary beverages such as soft drink, coffee, tea, and fruits (bananas).

Hundreds of limestone islets seen across the bay

James Bond Island

After cruising for around 1.5 hour, we had finally reached the first attraction, James Bond Island. As our Big Boat was not able to dock on the island, we had to transfer to the Long Tail Boat, which would bring us to the island. 

Transfering to the Long Tail Boat

The island is officially known as Ko Khao Phing Kan. Within the vicinity of the island shore, there is a 20m tall limestone islet called Ko Ta Pu, which is the most iconic feature of the place. The islands were collectively called James Bond Island because they were featured in the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun and became famous worldwide ever since.

Arriving the jetty at James Bond Island

After we disembarked from the Long Tail Boat, we went directly to the towering Ko Ta Pu spot for photo taking. We could see many tourists making the iconic James Bond pose while taking the photoshoot. 

The iconic Ko Ta Pu at James Bond Island

The island is not very big. Other than the Ko Ta Pu photo spot, there is another catching fault feature, which a large rock cracked and now leans against the cliff. 

The rock fault

Introduction of the rock fault

Other than these, there were other tourist shops, especially around the jetty area. We stayed on the island for around 20 minutes only, before we boarded the Long Tail Boat at the jetty again to the next location, Panyee Island.

Panyee Island

Panyee Island is located further north of James Bond Island, and the Long Tail Boat ride took around 15 minutes. 

Panyee Island comprise of a Muslim fishing village, which is built on stilts over the water. The settlement here used to depend on fishing as their main livelihood. But over time, they started to open to tourism to supplement their income. 

Arriving at Panyee Island

From the jetty, our tour guide started to introduce us to the history of the island, as well as guiding us through the village. There are a few notable landmarks at the island, such as the floating football field (located just beside the jetty) and the mosque. Other than that, we could find a number retail and souvenir shops, and restaurants that catered to the visiting tourists.

Dome of the mosque can be seen at the background

Floating Football Field (Photo from ambitionearth.com)

Introduction to the Floating Football Field

The Mosque

The tour on the island was short, around 30 minutes, before we headed to the jetty to take the Long Tail Boat back to our Big Boat.

Hong Island

When we returned to our Big Boat, it was already lunch time. Lunch was already prepared onboard and laid on the table. Our Big Boat left for the next location at Hong Island, while we enjoyed the lunch buffet along the journey. The buffet was simple, but had a good spread such as fried rice, noodles, fish, fried chicken, and vegetables etc. 

Lunch buffet on board (Photo from Phuket Patri Tour)

The next activity at Hong Island would be sea canoeing. 2 to 3 people would be assigned a rubber canoe where a local would paddle us from the Big Boat towards the island. 

Rowing towards Hong Island

That was the point that we would put on our life jackets (although many others didn't). For non-swimmers, it was recommended to put on the life jacket, despite that the chance of falling into the water was low. We would pass through the caves and lagoons, surrounded by lush green cliffs. 

Rowing through the cave

Lagoon surrounded by lush green cliffs

Rowing through a narrow path

I must say that this was the best and most exciting part of the tour so far. After some 20 minutes, we were brought back to the Big Boat. 

A busy afternoon with many other visitors at Hong Island

Phanak Island

After Hong Island, we were brought to the Phanak Island further south. With the same arrangement as at Hong Island, we had more sea canoeing activity. 

Arriving Phanak Island

Paddlers waiting to pick us up

We passed through the bat cave, which was pitch dark inside. The paddler came prepared with torch light, which he pointed to the roof of the cave, and we could see lots of bats. Out of the cave, we were lucky to see a monkey around, which was given a banana treat by other paddlers.

Bats in the cave

Rowing out of the pitch dark Bat Cave

Monkey at Phanak Island

After we returned to the Big Boat, we moved to another location near an island, which we could swim around the boat. It was not shallow water, but those who were non-swimmer could wear their life jackets and had fun swimming with the rest too. 

Swimming around the Big Boat

After the swim, we had a 'shower' at the lower deck, which was simply a hose with fresh running water, to remove the salty water. That was the last activity and concluded the 5-in-1 Phang Nga Bay tour. Everyone onboard was tired and tried to catch some sleep as the Big Boat travelled back to the Ao Por Pier.

Patong Beach

After we returned to our hotel, it was still early for dinner. For those that were still energetic, we decided to head down to the Patong Beach. Patong has a long stretch of white sandy beach, but the water was not very clear or turquoise as compared to other smaller islands like Phi Phi. 

Patong Beach

It was quite crowded when we were there, with many tourists engaged with various activities like sunbathing, swimming, jet skiing and parasailing. Our kids started to build their sandcastles while the adults laze around at the beach and some eventually tried out the jet skiing.

Operator pushing out the jet ski to the sea

Parasailing at the beach

We were lucky that the beach is facing the right direction at that time, as we enjoyed the beautiful sunset at the beach.

Sunset view at Patong Beach

Dinner at Urban Food @ Jungcelyon Shopping Mall

As the day turned dark, we returned to our hotel to wash up. Next, we strolled to the Jungcelyon Shopping Mall in search for the dinner spot. Located just opposite the popular Bangla Road, Jungcelyon Shopping Mall is the largest shopping mall in Phuket. 

Outside Jungcelyon Shopping Mall

It has the regular apparels, footwear, souvenir shops, fast food, cafes, restaurants, and the Big C supermarket. We explored the big mall for a while before we settled at Urban Food for our dinner.

Urban Food had an extensive offering of food, such as Thai, Asian, and Western cuisines. The pricing of the food was acceptable, considering the fact it was in a shopping mall. We ordered a variety of food, such as pizzas, chicken cordon bleu, Thai curries etc. The food was delicious, and portion was big as well. Some of the food also allowed you to help yourself with the salad bar.

Chicken Cordon Bleu at Urban Food

Hawaiian Pizza

After the dinner, we went to the Big C supermarket to buy some snacks and local produces, before we headed back to our hotel and call it a day.