Lotuses at Suan Luang, Bangkok. Steemexclusive

When I was in Bangkok for the first time, I visited only one park, Lumphini, and I admired it. I didn't know there were more diverse parks in that city.

Pond in Rama IX Park. For Landscape Contest by @axeman in World of Xpilar Community. All photos were taken by me with Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 on Nikon D750.

The best of them is probably Rama IX Park or just Suan Luang. Some of its areas look like a public park, a very tropical one, of course, some work as a botanical garden (cactuses, orchids, ferns, medical plants) and others resemble more an abandoned garden or even a jungle. In the morning on weekdays, 80 hectares of the park are practically empty apart from gardeners, monitor lizards, and herons.

Here, I am showing a small piece of the Suan Luang universe at the very end of May some years ago - a pond with lotuses.

It was a hot and very damp day, you even could not know if the rain stopped or not. Too many raindrops were evaporating on their way to the ground, too many of them were evaporating hardly touched my skin. The thick air was full of smells of flowers, vegetation, and soil. I had a Thai companion with me so the walk was twice more pleasant and educational.

A lotus flower after rain for Flower Contest by @mirla33 in World of Xpilar Community.

The conical box on the top contains edible seeds. Once the box grows bigger, you can collect it and eat the seeds raw. The taste is nice and resembles young hazelnuts. Actually, they say, all parts of the lotus are edible, but I've only tasted the seeds.

One of the cool things about this park, you can't come there by subway or a direct bus from areas where travellers usually stay. Due to remoteness and no obvious affordable transportation, fewer random foreigners come there. Too complicated, too time-consuming for visiting "just a park" whereas most tourists are in rush to see Grand Palace and leave the city towards a beach area.

So Suan Luang keeps being a hidden gem with few foreign visitors. A gorgeous prize for those who aren't in hurry and invests their time in learning the city and the country.

#steemexclusive