Bangkok, and Thailand, is famous for many things; Bangkok features in lyrics from the musical Chess; it has been the gateway to SE Asia for travellers for years and it has a bit of a reputation……

….for easy sex (how many old Western men did we see hanging around young Thai women?! Being a sex worker, and getting as much as you can from the farang for the family back home, is seen as a perfectly normal career path to follow);

….as an enormously corrupt place (if you were watching the news, you will remember that of the two previous prime ministers, one has recently resigned and the other was forced into exile in Britain; both were heavily corrupted);

....as a place were easy money could and can be made (the Thai Mafia runs very sophisticated organized crime rackets across the country);

….where the Thai bhat is worth very little now of its previous value before the last stock market crash (many buildings and capital infrastructure projects seem like they are just waiting for somebody to turn the plug back on; there is almost a sense of suspended reality here);

….where you will see Mercedes drivers eating in a scruffy, tatty part of town at roadside cafes because the food is so good (the food we had at roadside restos was, more often than not, outstanding);

…..as the home to the only reigning monarch who invented a water aerator and holds its patent (it looks like a water wheel that floats on a lake. The Thais have made a statue of it as well).

Thailand was formerly the Kingdom of Siam. It changed its name after WWII but it retained the monarchy; it was never colonized by anybody and, in fact, ruled great areas of SE Asia in its recent history; Buddhism is the religious spine of the culture and monks are revered here; as is the King.

You notice all of these things because they are so unusual. There seems to be a very different rhythm out here to life. All is not what it seems…….

One minute you can be locked up in gritty, exhaust fumed and dirty vehicular traffic trying to get from A to B and the next you could be on the spotless underground or skyrail trains. Where these modes don't work, you can always take the river boats that play their transportation trade. But even with all these modes to choose from, getting around Bangkok can be hard, long work.

From the river you appreciate Bangkok a little more. The buildings that have been completed stretch into the sky, but there is no definable central area. The buildings seem to have been constructed without thought to the surrounding area. One hotel has realized that views are appreciated and have created the Dome Bar. Sitting on top of one of Bangkok's highest buildings, is a place to enjoy the high elevation (but not the highly evaluated prices of drinks!)

In amongst the buildings are numerous Buddhist wats or temples whose gold like inlays and beautifully decorated roofs glisten and glitter in the sun. No wats are more famous than those of the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Getting off the boat and walking through the market, you emerge into an area of beauty and organization the likes of which you cannot helped be impressed by!

Here you can wonder around and marvel in the immaculate nature of the buildings, their decorations and ambiance. Here are places that all visitors, Thai and foreigner alike, are subdued in their reverence and awe. Close examination of the paintings and inlays reveal a clear and telling devotion to the subject, but also indicate an incredibly high level of skill from the creators and craftsmen! And every wat reveals a little more Siamese history, thought and philosophy.

Just as the Thais look back on their history and are proud, there are those that look forward to help create a future. One person is "The Condom King of Thailand". He started a restaurant years before called Cabbages and Condoms. Although quirky and fun, it fulfills a very serious function. HIV/AIDS and family planning are key areas of concern and the resto allows people to engage these topics without overwhelming them. Here is a place where the mannequins of Captain Condom and his team are dressed in condoms or packets of the Pill, where the walls are decorated with fun cartoon posters describing what profession would use what condom, where a substantial portion of the proceeds fund the various NGOs created to educate those that need it, where your after dinner mints, are in fact, funky favoured condoms (have you heard of a choco-coconut flavoured condom?).

Since we had come to understand this unusual aspect of Bangkok, it was no surprise to find an Italian running an Italian resto just downstairs from where we were staying!

"You wanna try my mama's cherry chocolate pie? Widda a liddle italia corffee?" And how could we resist? After weeks of noodles and rice, a little pizza and pasta, Italian red wine and some of mama's homemade cherry chocolate pie seemed just the right thing to try!