Surprised to say - I really enjoyed Bangkok! So much for chilling out at the pool - there's too many better things to do! On my first day, I went for a walk at 11am and didnt get back until midnight! Found the skytrain which is a bit like the London tube except its over ground not under. Its a great way to travel around, very efficient (never had to wait more than 1 min), very clean and air conditioning which is a great relief from the outside sauna. The views are great as its zooms around Bangkok and unlike the London tube faces, if you make eye contact with any of the locals they always smile back! Here'a a pic of one of the carriages....
Bangkok rush hour....
You can 'shop til you drop' in bangok, I went to the 'Siam Paragon' - a huge shopping mall with all the main brands, very swanky but also very expensive so I crossed the road to the 'MBK' which is the opposite! Its like an indoor market where you can buy almost anything fairly cheap (a lot of copies!). Its a huge place and great fun walking around, best of all I got a really good facial and an hour long foot massage (at the same time - 2 people!), it was bliss and only cost 20e! There's a brilliant international food court there - this is not your typical shopping mall food court but all kinds of food (Indian, Japanese, Italian, American etc) of restaurant quality and cooked from fresh in front of you. After a month of rice and noodles it was a sight for sore eyes! I ended up having a thai dish though! There's a bar too!
Yesterday I done the tourist things and went to see "Wat Phra Kaew" which is the temple of the Emerald Buddha, here's a pic - its not a great picture because they dont allow pictures inside the temple and you just have to take them outside which is a challenge with all the tourists (especially yer man in this with the black t-shirt who stood there for ages posing while his friend stood outside taking his picture!), the emerald budda looked pretty impressive from inside, apparantly it is the country's most "revered" Buddha!
Here's a pic taken in the area outside it...loads of bling!
There was heavy security in this whole area - I reckon if you disrespected Buddha they'd lock you up - seriously!
The Palace is in the same grounds...
These fellas guard it...
The royal family no longer live here but it is sometimes used for 'ceremonies'.
Went to see 'Wat Pho' next which has a very long reclining Buddha (46m long and 15m high)...
Travelled back to my hotel on the river express which is a just a boat bus. All the locals use it and its a nice way to travel, it pulls into various stops along the way.
A restaurant called "Cabbages & Condoms" (http://www.cabbagesandcondoms.com/) was recommended to me as a good place to eat so I decided to check it out. The money made here goes back into the community. They also run sex education and AIDS prevention programs and give condoms instead of mints at the end of the meal. Food was ok here and its for a good cause but it was a bit touristy and full of what the Asians refer to as "Fa rang" (Foreigners)!
So.....last few hours in Bangkok, heading to the airport shortly, had a great time but time to get back to reality!
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