Adventures in Bangkok

Greetings friends! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying American Thanksgiving and all other holidays one may be celebrating. Since my last blog post where I mentioned I would be travelling to Thailand, I have now arrived in New Zealand for a wedding and will be off to Puerto Vallarta for the winter coming next week. I will write a blog in the future on how I keep up my practice while travelling in general, however, in today’s post, I will focus on my trip in Bangkok specifically.

First things first, Bangkok was amazing. As many of us yogis know, outside of India, Thailand and south east Asia are some of the greatest locations to see Buddhist iconography and experience yogic culture and religion. In Bangkok alone, there are a multitude of Buddhist sites, two of which I will note here: Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha) and Was Pho (the Reclining Buddha). One thing to note, Thais and Thailand Tourism authority, do not look favourably on using these sites as photo ops for yoga poses. One social media influencer was called out and she respectfully deleted her photos in regards to this, and was allowed to remain in Thailand. 

So, where is one to practice yoga? There are many gyms that are available where you can purchase short term memberships, depending on the length of your stay. And, of course, there are a variety of yoga studios with different styles for you to try out. An internet search can help you find any of these. For myself, however, I was blessed to have access to my family’s condo swimming pool area which had a beautiful space for me to practice at. Located in the heart of Bangkok with a view looking out over the sprawl of buildings was quite a sight to behold.

Not to sound ungrateful, but the condo gym was not the best. And as you may know, besides yoga, I am also an avid fitness dude. I love weight lifting and calisthenics. In fact, my body needs it to stay fit and healthy. Luckily, on my very first walk through Bangkok, I came across the outdoor gym in Lumphini Park. The concession asks for 20 Baht for a drop in or 200 Baht for the month. The equipment is great. They have everything for chest, back and legs. Even an ab wheel! Mirrors, lights at night, a full weight set, benches, machines and pull up bars. And the best part- there are free outdoor showers available at one of the toilets close by. Oh… I guess I should also mention, this is just blocks away from Silom and Soi 4, the gay strip. You can get fit, so for dinner and then dance the night away!

If you’re not keen on the outdoor gym, you can always try out Sauna Mania which is a few blocks away from Soi 4. They have a great gym, although its small and there are others who do use it. So, you might find yourself sharing equipment, which is okay. Make new friends! It was a reasonable price for the sauna, and they would give me a free pass for next time. besides the cruising area, which seemed always busy at night, no matter the day, they had a wet and dry sauna, along with the hot tub. A great way to relax after a workout. They even served booze, which was a nice surprise compared to Canadian saunas. One great feature they had was a type of onsen, and open air area with relaxing benches and semi-private beds. There is plenty of space to do a full yoga practice here, if you do not want to do it in the gym proper. 

I hope you enjoyed this little expose on my trip to Bangkok. Looking forward to sharing more info with you on my travels and yoga. Stay tuned!