Bangkok

Full day in Bangkok today so we headed to the royal palace, the main tourist attraction. Fran and I took and expedition to get there involving 2 metro lines and a boat so we really felt like we’d seen the city! I bought some dumplings in a bag for breakfast- going local! Holly and George got there via a restaurant they put their names down for a table on later in the day so we all met there about 11. I’d been here before in 2012 but to be honest my only memory was being very hot. Can confirm it was still very hot...

Anyway it’s a really impressive palace with a very good temple in the grounds. Took lots of pictures and then had to stop for an ice cream in an air conditioned cafe before walking down to the reclining Buddha which is also very impressive - a gigantic gold Buddha!

Holly and George left for their reservation so Fran and I found a cafe for some food- a mango only cafe which was interesting! Then we walked down to the flower market which was pretty and the got a cab back to the hotel. We were pretty exhausted by then as it’s so hot!

Spent a couple of hours by the pool as the sun went down which was a nice way to end the day. FaceTimed mum and dad as getting a bit nervous about travel bans and visa cancellations for countries - India has already cancelled all tourist visas until April 15 (I’m supposed to be going on May 2) and Vietnam is getting strict too. Decided im still going to Myanmar tomorrow as flight already booked and will keep a close eye- if it’s getting more dodgy or UK travel advice changes then it’s likely I’ll come home early.

We decided to go to Chinatown for some street food for dinner, had some delicious noodles in a slightly questionable place, and then went fancy and went to a rooftop (63rd floor) bar called Moon bar for a very expensive drink, but amazing view!

Called it a night about 10.30 as were all flying tomorrow. Time to say goodbye to Holly, George and Fran and get back to travelling alone!Read more