In partnership with Local Alike

If someone said, you could find lost treasure in a hidden city in Bangkok, would you go on an urban adventure? How about a monk bowl village in Bangkok? If you answered yes without hesitation, then let me share with you why Finding Lost Treasure with Local Alike will be on your list when you visit Bangkok next. 

Looking for an ethical elephant tour in Chiang Mai led us to find Local Alike who had dozens of options all across Thailand and expanding into Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Encouraging community-based tourism is a pillar of their mission, which is also an initiative promoted to the broader tourism industry in Thailand.

My only regret was I should have joined this tour the first day I landed in Bangkok. On this tour, I was given a crash course on the history of this country through religion, the effects of progress on artisan communities. I ate like royalty in these nearly forgotten cities of Baan Bat and Kudejeen. 

Baan Bat Community - Monk bowl village in Bangkok

"Many tourists tell me how they have seen so much of Bangkok," my guide starts our tour. "When I ask them if they have been on a bus, truck, or tuk-tuk they say 'no'." He smiles, "you haven't seen Bangkok if you haven't been on local transportation."

We get on a tuk-tuk and take a short ride to our first destination, the quaint community of Baan Bat, a monk bowl village in Bangkok. Tucked away in a maze of concrete corridors, we meet one of the elders of the city. 

Conclusion

I changed my mind about tradition. Some traditions seem archaic, and the instinct is to make it better immediately. In our efforts to be more efficient, reducing steps for convenience, we lose the art of traditions. Or did I mean 'heart'?

Throughout the day, I refreshed my perspective on history inspired by the power of one community embracing each culture's differences. Understanding this lifestyle is possible, encourages me to seek this in my own home. 

I am incredibly inspired by this tour. I found lost treasures in the corridors of these hidden communities in Bangkok. 

If you'd like to discover these treasures for yourself, read below for tour details.

Details

Book: Let’s Find Lost Treasure! Baan Bat & Kudejeen, Bangkok

Cost: USD 76 per person

More: www.localalike.com