Exploring Bangkok with Amari Watergate, Thailand

Hello from Thailand !!! Today I am super excited because I have been marking a new destination for my bucket list thanks to my family from Air Austral.

As you know, I’ve been collaborating with this airline for 5 months ago, producing content and traveling to most of their destinations where they fly. When they offered me their Bangkok route, the truth was that I didn’t even finished blinking when I said absolutely yes!

What I was more excited about this trip to Thailand was that one of my best friends from Panama: Pilar Sinclair was joining me on this project so I know it will be super fun. I definitely needed a girl time (sorry Robert)

The last time I was in Asia was many years ago when I was 12 and traveling to Taiwan to visit my dad’s family. So, returning to this side of the world was something special for me because I had some flashbacks of the beautiful memories that I spent with my family when I was little.

I meet my friend Pili at Bangkok’s airport since I was traveling from South Africa and she was traveling all the way from Panama. Incredible, right? We were fortunate that our flights arrived almost at the same time so we end up meeting at the airport so we could go together to the hotel. As soon we left the airport and looked for a taxi we felt the Bangkok rush: the traffic, many people around (honestly one of the busiest airports I have ever seen), everyone wanting to offer us something. All this was screaming Welcome to Bangkok!!

Our experience in Thailand was with The Asia Collective, an agency that is dedicated to inspire people’s vacations. Aimed at the social world of bloggers and influential people online, The Asia Collective helps organize dream getaways with collaborations between influential people and a variety of luxury hotels in the most impressive regions of Asia, including Thailand.

My visit to Thailand was quite short since it was only for 2 weeks with a very tight schedule but I still knew that I would enjoy every moment because I was going to go to with one of my best friends. Our first visit was in Bangkok with the Amari Watergate Hotel which is located in the heart of the Pratunam neighborhood, in the center of Petchburi, known for its bustling landscape of commercial bazaars and lifestyle shopping centers.

If any of you guys are traveling to Bangkok something you need to be prepared for is the traffic seriously it’s one of the heaviest traffics I’ve seen. It took us about an hour to get to our Amari Watergate hotel even though it was not too far from the airport.

After being stuck almost an hour in the taxi we were received by the kind and friendly staff of the Amari Watergate, which opened our taxi doors so we could approach to their beautiful lobby followed by two refreshing cold teas and refreshing towels.

My friend Pili and I were so impressed by the beautiful lobby that we immediately took our cameras out. I don’t know if I mentioned to you guys but my friend Pili is one of the best interior designers in Panama, so this trip was very enriching for both of us but from her designer perspective I know it was a great inspiration.

Luckily our room was ready even though we arrived before check-in time. This had one of the best views of the city, it really was our best way to wake up in the morning light and drink coffee.

The Amari Watergate hotel itself has a luxurious modern vibe and is super well located. The first day we arrived we took a day to enjoy their fabulous facilities so that our bodies could adapt, as you can imagine that we both had jet lag. Especially my friend Pili since the time zone difference from Panama to Thailand is a big change.

Our mornings at Amari Watergate hotel started with a beautiful and delicious breakfast. I have to say one of the most complete breakfasts I have ever had in my life as well as seriously photogenic. I swear I didn’t know what to get, so I almost ended up trying one of everything lol!! They have the traditional Thai breakfast to American classics, to their own juice bar, even gluten free!! Seriously it was incredible!

Amari Watergate has an outdoor terrace on the top floor that I do not recommend skipping. Without doubt the best way to relax after a long day of traveling is taking a refreshing coconut water which is one of the iconic drinks of the hotel enjoyed with its beautiful views and swimming pool.

Something we also did was touring some temples. Bangkok has many beautiful temples and the truth is that doing everything was impossible for us since we were very limited on time. But we took time to go out and explore some of them through the main and traditional method: the tuc tuc. Definitely a must do. I recommend doing it as we did – we hired the guy for the whole day and he took us to different places and even took our photos hahaha

Remember that to visit the temples you must bring a stole or wear clothes that covers your arms and legs. Try to go with comfortable shoes especially because you have to take your shoes off every time you visit a temple.

The first temple that we visited was Wat Traimit – Temple of the Golden Buddha and it really is beautiful. We went after lunch when the sun was really shining and the reflection of the white marble with gold details made a beautiful touch for the pictures.

The second and my favorite was The Golden Mount or also known as Wat Saket Temple: the moment Pili and I entered, we fell in love with the entrance with the pink bamboo leaves and the reflection of the sun entering which really made a wonderful light. This also has the best views of Bangkok from the top of the temple.