It's quite unusual for a travelling Pole to never have visited Thailand. It's almost like not being to Paris or Greece. Yet we've saved this Asian staples for our second (after brief visit to Korea) trip out of our new home - Japan. Truth be told, we only settled for Thailand when a friend couple decided they were making it their honeymoon destination. So we booked the plane and joined them in Bangkok for the first part of the Thai experience.

As most tourist coming to Thailand, our trip started in the capital. Pleasantly surprised with the transportation culture (read on to get the tips on reaching the airports) and rested after a good night sleep, we headed to get a guidebook at a local bookstore. We find them very useful, especially if you choose not to purchase any data SIM. At the bookstore we were pulled from the search by the staff ladies surprised screams. A friend of them just entered the store with... a snake in a plastic bag. They screamed a bit, took a few selfies and returned to the business as usual, explaining the snake was found just outside the shop. A good reminder that Bangkok is just a part of the wild Asia, however civilised the taxis.
Another important note on Thailand, however used to tourists, would be the legal and cultural don't-s. The major ones would be the drug possession which, similarly to many countries of the region, can be subject to a death sentence and criticising or even discussing Thai king or his family. You'd better giggle on the juicy bits about the royal family life in private. Last but not least, beware of the usual tourist scams such as being led to a special shop, told your fortune on the street or being too drunk in very touristic spots. A more comprehensive list of legal troubles you can face in Thailand can be found on the World Nomads blog.

The city is packed with wats. On every other corner there's a huge stupa, and either a temple or a government building. Even without a proper itinerary, you can just walk around and come across variety of lavishly decorated buildings. The old Bangkok makes a strange impression comparing to other big cities - as if it's mainly for institutions, rather then the daily life.

On your tour through the city's most famous spots there are few that cannot be missed. Wat Ratchanatdaram is one of the most unique. It's the only metal wat in Thailand and the only such pyramid-like buddhist temple in the world. It hosts a big Buddha statue. It's other charm is the significantly less tourists around than in the most renown Bangkok temples, which allows to soak the atmosphere and enjoy the architecture in peace. Wat Suthat Thepphawararam, one of the biggest complexes in the city, is somewhat more crowded but still allows for a calm contemplation. It holds the highest temple rank in Thailand and within its walls an 8-meter bronze sacred Buddha statue is enshrined. In front of the temple there's another Bangkok's famous structure - red Giant Swing, Sao Ching Chaa. Until the 30's of the last century it hosted the annual Brahman ceremonies, which consisted in men competing to swing high enough to grab the price - a bag of gold - and were suspended due to a number of fatal incidents.

A bit further away but still a walking distance, is another must-see - the Gold Buddha hidden inside the Wat Traimit. What distinguishes this one from many others scattered in the city is it's value. The statue is made of over five tons of gold. For centuries its true value was hidden within an outer layer of plaster.

The number one biggest and oldest wat in Bangkok is Wat Pho. The main hall with the most sacred Buddha representation was splendid and so was the 45 meter reclining Buddha statue. The latter was rather crowded. You can trot your way through the huge viharn hiding the lying statue with other hundreds of visitors, lucky to be able to stop just for a minute. On the statue's back, there are 108 jars that allegedly bring you good fortune if you drop a coin to each one of them. You can purchase a pack of coins for few bahts right inside.
The temple etiquette requires the visitors to cover their arms and knees. Given constantly high temperatures in Bangkok and the usual tourist outfit, all the temples are equipped with cloth pieces and skirts that are usually rented for the duration of the visit for a deposit. Only the Grand Palace complex is an exception, where those who are not clothed properly must buy the correct attire at a local shop. The price is not steep so if you want some yoga pants, it's ok to go unprepared.

Right next to the Wat Pho, there's the Grand Palace. We say "right next to" but in fact there's only one way in and given the size, it took us half an hour to go around the whole complex and find the entrance. Judging by the confused tourists going back an forth, we weren't the only ones that didn't get the memo. It also seemed the most guarded place of all Bangkok, with plenty of checkpoints and officers.
It's easy to get lost there and not see everything you've planned for, since there's a lot of people and no marked route for visiting. In any glimpse you're noticing different architectural styles and the abundance can make the place seem almost hectic and cluttered. The must-see would be the Thailand's most sacred Buddha's representation - the Emerald Buddha. Compared to the other statues it is quite petite but its significance for the nation great. Make sure to walk around the complex and focus on the details - there are many gems hidden in the decorations. The ticket you purchase to get in includes a traditional Thai theatre show. There's a free shuttle that can take everyone interested there after you're finished visiting, free of charge. The bus drops you by the entrance to the Royal Theater, where you need to request a ticket for the show. It's a masks show with traditional music and English commentary on the screen to allow the foreigners to follow the plot.

Bangkok is also the city of markets. On every other corner you can come across a small plot for vendors selling all sorts of things, including awfully smelling dried fish and seafood or intense spices. One of the most renowned and a spot on our wedding challenge list, was the Flower Market by the river. The flowers there are mostly used for religious offerings so at any given time you can come across ladies making floral compositions to be later brought to the houses and temples.
It would be a crime not to mention incredible Thai massage. Coming back from a party in the Bangkok's most touristic Khao San road, everything could have disappointed you but not a night cap being a back or foot massage at one of many salons along your way. The pleasure is doubled by the price - for less than 25 euros you can get 30 minutes happiness for four people.

This rule is universal but feels even more true in Thailand - you'll need to make an effort to reach the truly rewarding places. After a ride to the airport, an hour flight to Trang, an hour ride in taxi to the pier, half an hour boat ride and half an hour in a local tuk tuk, we arrived at our destination paradise to unwind for the rest of the stay. Koh Libong is a tiny island with virtually one good hotel, Andalay Beach Resort. It took us four hours by bikes to explore every road on it. There's a waterfall, some nice beaches with interesting rock formations, a pier for dugong watching (we didn't get lucky) and you can do it all in one day. Pleased with the fact there's nothing else to do on the island, we finally got to relax. If you're after amazing food, beautiful sunsets, kayaking, watching geckos, warans and hermit crabs making their impossible journeys when the night falls, Koh Libong is all you need.

Eat, eat, eat. The food in Thailand is something else. You will have the best in your life tom yum, tom kha,massaman curry, pad thai and many more over and over again during your stay. There are some great Michelin recommendations you should give a try. Shadily looking Nai Mong Hoi Thod will welcome you with an incredible, crispy pancake topped with oyster sauce and crab rice. For the best pad thai in town you'll need to queue for over an hour, irritated from time to time by groups cutting the line, by Thipsamai. Ridiculous queue is compensated best with unfortunately the most expensive, probably also in Bangkok, meal on the menu - disassembled pad thai. Another very famous spot, Jay Fai, was unfortunately closed, so we'll need to save it for the next time. Remember to eat in the shady looking street food stalls as well. After all, what's Thailand without these?
The sweets are incredible too, even though we hardly have a sweet tooth. Do not leave Thailand without tasting sticky mango rice with most probably the sweetest and deepest tasting mango you'll ever have. If you're lucky to come across thai pancake, do not skip it. It's a crispy pancake with usually banana or egg (or both!) inside, served with honey-like syrup.

Still a bit ignorant about the distances in Asia (Japan and Thailand look fairly close, right?), we decided to go for the cheap option and picked NokScoot to get us back and forth. That was unmistakably the worst part of the trip. It's a merge airline between Singapore Airlines low cost branch Scoot that we flew with back in 2018 during our first trip to Asia and Thai airline Nok. The result is a very oldschool plane, where during a seven hours flight there is not even water served (and a bottle of 200ml costs 70 THB), both the service and th pre-flight customer service is dreadful, not to mention complete lack of entertainment, since there is no TV aboard - get prepared!
Another lesson from this trip, that applies to any flights to and from Tokyo, is that one should avoid Narita Airport in every possible case. Depending on where you are in the city, the trip can take about an hour in the best case scenario and over two hours in case of our starting point from the very south. After spending 2 hours switching between at least three badly marked trains, you arrive at the airport already tired, and the trip hasn't even begun yet...

Bangkok is fairly easy to travel around. The two main airports are in a reasonable distance - no matter which one you end up flying to or from, Don Mueang in the North or Suvarnabhumi in the East, you can get there from the centre easily with Grab for about 250 THB. Minding the terrible taxi experience from Lombok and Bali, we caught airport Wi-Fi to order a Grab instead of trying to just catch a cab. Turnes out Thailand is way more civilised this way and there's no nagging or harassing and you can just get a regular cab at the airport without getting anxiety. In fact, our pre-ordered Grab turned out to be a branded taxi.
Additionally, the most famous Bangkok mean of transport are tuk tuks. You can find them almost everywhere and you'll get asked or honked at many times to check if you don't need a ride. The prices range depending on your destination but be prepared to pay about 100 THB for a 15 min drive and try your luck bargaining.