Elephants, skyscrapers and temples: 14 of Thailand's entertainment in addition to beaches

Ride a boat along Bangkok's canals

Boat Rhaa Hang Yao, which translates as a "long-tailed boat" & raquo; — The main means of transportation along the rivers of Bangkok and its 150 canals. They appeared in the city earlier than roads. The fact is that the new capital was built in the image and likeness of the old one, where the canals were the main transport arteries. Having dealt with their intricacies, you can navigate on boarding boats, avoiding city traffic jams. Boats can be rented at the Tha Chang quay near the exit from the Great Palace.

Exploring the ancient temples of Chiang Mai

If Bangkok as a business capital can be compared with Moscow, then Chiang Mai will undoubtedly be the Thai St. Petersburg, the cultural capital. There are more than 300 monasteries in the city and its environs. Among them, — located on the mountain majestic and ancient Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, it can be reached by cable car. And also Wat Chedi Luang, based on the place of death of the Thai king from a lightning strike. And the Sighing Buddha's temple — an elegant sample of the architecture of the ancient Thai principality of Lanna, built in the distant 1345.

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Get a famous umbrella

Once a small village of Bo Sang was no different from hundreds of other settlements in Thailand. Except one: during the time, free from growing rice, the local population was fond of creating umbrellas. The legend says that one local monk began to make them two hundred years ago from bamboo, silk and paper sa. His skills, he gradually handed over to fellow countrymen. Umbrellas were incredibly beautiful and durable — the glory of them scattered all over Thailand. In 1941, local residents even put together a cooperative that is still flourishing.

Try fried grasshoppers

Krabi Town, the capital of Krabi Province, is famous for night markets, which on a weekend work on a special scale. The main local night market — these are the glowing rows of mobile kitchens on wheels, hissing and shaking incomprehensible goodies and a spicy aroma that twists his head. And also fried noodles, sweet rice with mango, masterly sliced ​​fruit on skewers and, of course, fried caterpillars and grasshoppers — Thai yummy in all its glory! The market opens with sunset and continues until midnight.

Turn up in Thai Disneyland

Phuket FantaSea — the most popular family attraction in Phuket. In fact, this is a typical American amusement park with games, carousels, shops and a super-restaurant — only for historical Thai reasons. The most interesting part is — & laquo; Elephant Palace & raquo; huge props mansion, resembling Cambodian Angkor, where in the evenings they arrange performances of circus perform dances and elephant concerts. Three-ton giants build figures, perform tricks and waltz, like trained cats Kuklachev. Children are delighted!

Visit the travesty show

Exotic lovers will find in Bangkok a few cabaret with transvestite actors, but & laquo; Calypso & raquo; — the most popular among tourists. Free places in the hall almost never happen, bright costumes and grandiose scenery compensate for the lack of choreographic abilities for those who are lost in self-identification. After the presentation, those who wish can be photographed with & laquo; girls & raquo; for a small tip. Another option — a quality show made by Tiffany & raquo; in Pattaya.

Get lost in the wilds of Chinatown

The Chinese have been living in Bangkok since its foundation. They historically dealt here with trade, usury and other commerce. Today, almost half of the population of Bangkok has Chinese roots, and in the heart of the city, the life of Chinatown still boils up — Chinatown. Tea shops and offices of fortune tellers are replaced here by counters with saris and the collapse of precious stones from Kashmir. Between all of this, the salesmen of the flat cakes, masala-tea and refreshing lassi

Go shopping in giant malls

In shopping centers in Bangkok, you can disappear for a week and not notice how the time will fly. Be sure to visit the largest Central East World in South-East Asia, where you can buy everything from socks to exclusive equipment. Do not miss the popular 8-storey MBK, Siam Paragon shopping and entertainment center with the oceanarium and cinema, the huge multi-story electronics market Pantip Plaza with the lowest prices in Bangkok and other malls.

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Take part in the elephant training

Elephants — Intelligent animals and easily amenable to training. Throughout Thailand there are several special training centers for elephants, where they are taught the basics of the future "profession" & raquo ;. One of these schools is located in the suburbs of Chiang Mai. & laquo; Lessons & raquo; pass daily in the morning. At this time, you can see how elephants are taught to walk in the procession, stand on their knees and head, collect trunks and work with logs with logs. And after classes you can ride on a giant on the jungle.

To marvel at the temple built of bottles

In the 1980s, the Buddhists of the town of Khunkhan decided to spit on all the grandfather know-how and build a fundamentally new church. Building material for future construction chose non-traditional — empty beer bottles. Brown from local Beer & la Chang & raquo; went to the walls, green from underneath 'Heineken & raquo; — on the roof, beer bottles — on numerous mosaics depicting the Buddha. Over 25 years of construction, Thais have donated more than 1,000 bottles to the construction site. This figure also determined the name of the temple. Wat Lan Quade, or "The Temple of a Million Bottles & raquo; — so it is often called.

A visit to the mountain tribes

Dozens of trekking routes are laid on the evergreen slopes of Doi Inthanon Mountain (2565 meters) in the national park with the same name. The best views of the foggy valleys below appear from the foot of the stupas, which were built in honor of the present King of Thailand. On the way to the park there are several beautiful mountain waterfalls. On the territory of the reserve live mountain tribes — in their villages you can look at a cup of excellent, coffee grown here.

See the huge Buddha on Koh Samui

The most notable attraction of Samui can be seen even from the air. A huge statue of a smiling Buddha 12 meters high stands on the territory of the temple of Wat Phra Yai. To get to the gilded giant, you need to climb the hill on an impressive staircase. At the foot of the Buddha there are prayer bells — if you strike at each of them, then, according to legend, karma must certainly improve. By the way, this site is considered the best place on Samui for watching the sunset. Another giant Buddha can be seen in Phuket.

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View Bangkok from a bird's eye view

In Bangkok, there are at least a dozen good viewing platforms. One of the most popular — on the 84th floor of the Baiyoke Sky hotel: from here you can clearly see both the Thai capital and its surroundings. Other options: a place called Sky Bar on the 63rd floor of the State Tower — one of the tallest skyscrapers of Southeast Asia, — as well as a bar on the roof of the Banyan Tree hotel, from which the grandiose panorama of the city opens.

See the world's largest butterflies

Nong Nooch Tropical Park was founded in 1954 and today is a beautiful example of landscape design in the style of a regular French park. Here you can see the Butterfly Garden, where about one and a half thousand colorful insects live (the pride of the collection is the world's largest butterflies of Attacus Atlas), a unique collection of palm trees and ferns, many of which are found nowhere else in the world, a garden of bonsai trees, and also one of the best in all Thailand, an orchid park.

Source: Rambler's Top100& raquo;.