Bangkok

Enroute to Bangkok we had a 7hour stopover in Sydney airport whilst outside the rain was relentless - glad we hadn't gone ahead with our former plans to revisit Sydney! We eventually arrived in Bangkok at 2am, Thai time following a 20 hour journey so now 7 hours ahead of UK. By the time we got to the airport we ended up skyping the boys at 4am as our last chance before they join us in Phuket next week.

Decided to have a lie in and catch up on some lost sleep but managed to make breakfast before setting off to explore Bangkok. The Chatrium Hotel has a river bus shuttle to the main central station, so jumped on board thinking that we would like to visit the Grand Palace. All going well until we were advised (by a local!!) that we were inappropriately dressed especially as it was a Wednesday during which services were held in the temple. He offered an alternative, which was to visits the 'Tall Buddha' with round Tuk Tuk trip for the grand total of 40bhts (80p)! So we happily jumped into a Tuk-Tuk to see said Buddha at Wat Intharawihan but surprise surprise the return journey took us by way of a tailors for a sales pitch!

It was good fun though and the Tuk Tuk a great experience as we dodged through the busy Bangkok traffic. A very hot and humid day so called it a day and returned to the hotel pool to reflect on the day ie: a chat and a drink in the sunshine! That evening we took advantage of a complimentary drink on the 36th floor and decided to stay for dinner. Meal wasn't that good but the views were spectacular. Ended up on our balcony for a nightcap and watched a remarkable dry thunder and lightning display over the Bangkok skies.

Up early next day as back on track. Made the most of the inclusive breakfast and returned to the Grand Palace, this time suitably dressed with shoulders and legs covered and closed footwear. It was the first time for 10 weeks that we had worn such clothing and it was bliming hot! Added to this although we had arrived early it was heaving with tourists most of whom were Chinese and insisted on moving in 'packs' which we were constantly circumnavigating and taking care to avoid the umbrellas!

The Palace itself is amasing and very ostentatious, clearly the monarchy and Buddhism is well supported in Thailand. Within the Place grounds is a temple in which stands Thailand's most famous statue of Buddha. From the palace we walked to Wat Pho, Thailands oldest and largest temple where we got to see the world's largest Buddha. The Buddha is reclining along 45m and reaches 15m high.

Having done 2 temples, a grand palace and suffering for heat exhaustion and sore feet we decided to go back to the pool for further reflection. That evening we took a Tuk Tuk to the Asiatique area which is a local riverfront development and market area where we got some ridiculously cheap street food. No trip to Thailand is complete without visiting a ladyboy show which we did and it is truly hard to believe that most of the beautiful show girls were all indeed boys. The rest just looked like trannies!

Next day, off to another temple the Wat Arum on the opposite river bank. The river ferry crossing cost the equivalent of 2p each so we literally pushed the boat out - well we are on holiday. The temple is presently undergoing extensive refurbishment; the old parts looked really tired but the refurbished areas were so expertly restored and actually gleamed. It was fascinating to see these restorers at work. Back on the 2p ferry and off to see our final temple, Wat Arun created from white Italian Marble and really quite beautiful. This temple was quite a distance so bartered with a Tuk Tuk driver to get him down to a third of his original quote. He was clearly not happy with the agreed price and drove like a lunatic, overtaking everything, driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of coaches and lorries, a Tuk Tuk kamikaze / nutter. Had a more relaxed Tuk Tuk back to the river boat station. Having done what we set out to do today and having had our full quota of temples we took up one of Matt and Rachaels suggestions to visit Siam Central, which is Bangkok's biggest shopping mall (not sure what he was thinking !!). Jumped on the sky train to spend sum total of 15 minutes before Tom was threatening to self combust so back to the hotel for further reflection.

We had been advised to go to the Night Market in Pac Pong, which is also Bangkok's red light area where we had a lovely meal in a street bar (£18 with drinks) and then took a stroll around the area. There were at least 20 offers to see a 'Ping Pong' show, (Sue will explain) but she politely declined, Tom was game !!

We have taken heed of Matthews advice re; early starts (forget the shopping tips) and so next day we set off at 6am to visit the floating market which is some 100k south of Bangkok. We had our own guide (Peter) and transport, on the way we stopped at the fish / food market just as the locals were buying their food. Peter brought a number of local delicacies [TL1] for us to sample, mostly fruit based and quite sweet, many of the locals were having noodles and curries for breakfast, not so sure about that? Moved off to the floating market, established in 1866 and originally intended to provide a venue for the local farmers to sell their produce and then for transportation via the river to the city. In fairness, it had changed from its original intention and has become more of a tourist venue, that said there were abundant amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as cooked foods available from the boats. We boarded a boat paddled by an old lady 60+ (ha ha Tom wrote that!)and as the morning progressed, lots more tourists arrived, resulting in boat jams and heated discussions between the vendors and other tourist boats, really quite amusing.

Back to the hotel at 12.30 to reflect and get ready for our 5am pick up to move onto our last port of call and meet up with kids !!, both looking forward to it very much.

[TL1]