Bangkok, Thailand

The boat dock at Laem Chabang, Thailand, then it was a 2 1/2 hour bus trip into Bangkok for a highlights and river cruise tour.

First stop was the Wat Traimit Temple of the Golden Buddha, which has an amazing story attached to it. During the Thai war with Burma, a priest hide the statue by covering it in plaster, unfortunately the knowledge of this was lost and after the war they were moving the cement buddha to a new temple and the ropes broke and they dropped it, as it was late and they were tired the priests went to bed the next morning when they examined the broken statue the solid gold Buddha inside was revealed.

Lunch unfortunately was at the Ramada and while it was a lovely location right on the river, lunch was an international buffet, so those of us hoping for an authentic Thai meal were disappointed.

Next stop was the flower markets, where all manner of flowers are sold, we learnt how to fold the leaves of the lotus flower as left in temples. My attempt wasn't very successful.

After that we went on a wonderful river cruise, including many of the canals that originally provided passage in and around Bangkok. One of the most amazing sites was one of the tallest building in Bangkok, MahaNakhon, which is designed to look like a spiral.

Where the river cruise dropped us off, we had some free time to do a spot of shopping before heading back to the ship.Read more