Page 54 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Bangkok

52 ❯❯ The Top 10 of Everything

Off the Beaten Path

EmQuartier
1 SI RAT-OUTER RING 0 km 2
ROAD EXPY
Tropical
Garden Chao Phray a DUSIT SIRAT EXPRESSWAY 0 miles 2
MAP T6 • Scala Building, DON MUANG TOLL WAY HUAI KHWANG
5th floor, EmQuartier BANGKOK DIN DAENG
NOI
Mall, Sukhumvit Road RATCHATHEWI
No luxury goods are DOWNTOWN SIRAT EXPY
for sale in this part of PATHUM WAN
EmQuartier mall – it’s BANGKOK YAI Lumpini
Park
just an amazing rooftop PHETKASEM RD BANG RAK WATTHANA
garden with lavish displays SIRAT EXPY
of tropical plants, shaded BANG KHO SATHON
resting spots, ponds, and C H A L ERM MAHA NAKHON EX P Y
a grassy meadow. The CHALERM MAHA N AKHON EXPY Chao Phraya
French designer, Patrick 9 km YAN NAWA
Blanc, added a rainforest
Chinatown’s Soi Nana
chandelier as a finishing touch. 4
MAP F5 • Between Charoen
Wat Hua Krabeu
2 Krung and Luang roads, Chinatown
MAP T2 • Bang Khun Tian
Not to be confused with the go-go-
• www.wathuakrabeu.com bar area of the same name on
This amazing Buddhist temple is Sukhumvit Road, this residential
the work of an eccentric monk neighborhood buzzes with chic
who pays tribute to the water buffalo, cafés, art galleries, bars with live
Thailand’s traditional draft animal, by music, and small restaurants.
collecting their skulls – he currently Try the Tep Bar for innovative tunes
has around 10,000 of them. The and Thai food (see p81).
temple is located on a canal, and a
Sathorn Road,
number of passing boats offer tours. 5
Sois 10–12
MAP M6
Japanese cuisine, vegetarian food
and Western comfort food can be
found in this cluster of chic in de pen-
dent restaurants and cafés on a
tree-lined loop off Sathorn Road.
With a range of hot nightspots located
nearby (see p92), it’s very popular with
young professionals, both Thai and
from the expat community.
Queen Sirikit Museum
6
Buffalo skulls at Wat Hua Krabeu of Textiles
Often overlooked by visitors to
Chao Mae Tubtim Shrine
3 the Grand Palace (it’s on the right
just after the main entrance), this
The phallic architecture found
here represents fertility and good superb museum displays a fine
fortune. Large stone penises stand collection of textiles from throughout
amid the trees. Women hoping for a Asia, with an emphasis on royal
child come here to make offerings of attire and the renowned Thai silk.
incense, flowers, and wooden penises The building (formerly the Royal
to the resident spirit. This is a peaceful Treasury) gleams with white
spot by the Saen Saeb canal (see p88). marble from Italy (see pp12–13).
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