Old Town Bangkok sojourn

We arrived in Bangkok in the wee hours of the morning. Finally settled and in bed by 1am at a very eclectic hotel. Not a long sleep, but restful enough. The room had a decent bed, and the A/C kept the room wonderfully cool and humid at a tolerably level. The hotel had more of a hostel feel to it with an open communal courtyard, and lots of interesting decorations.

In the morning we enjoyed the breakfast and beverage. A fair number of young French-speaking families were staying at the hotel too. We soon headed out on a mission to find a tourist SIM for A's phone. The front desk suggested going to 7/11 to get one. We walked a full massive city block, and tried a half-dozen 7/11s; there are soo many of them. The final store luckily had a 30-day SIM stock for 1/5th the price (199baht) of the ones offered at the airport kiosk! J noticed Fisherman's Friends chocolate-mint and salted-caramel flavours, so we had a buy them too 🍫😋

Once back at the hotel, A set up his phone. Simple swap of the Sim and voila! We checked out of the room, storing our bags, before heading out to explore the area. A very polite tuktuk driver stated chatting us up. He had the classic scam story of free temple admissions and wanting to guide us. Later we read how they also take you to stores in an attempt to get sales and commissions 🙃 Glad we dodged that!

We were caught in three sudden mini-Thunder downpours. The rain was warm and refreshing, and greatly reduced the humidity. We did take shelter from the worst of it under a bridge and a couple trees.

Our 10km walk took us past Wat Tri Thotsathep Worawihan, through Phra Sumen Fort, and along the river to the complex with The Temple of the Emerald Buddha and The Grand Palace. We enjoyed a couple iced coffees and slice of white chocolate cheesecake on a patio near the river were we enjoyed watching the boats bouncing and manoeuvring along the river, across from Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan.

After wandering a bit longer decided to catching a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. Fare was negotiated from 300 to 160 within 8 seconds 😂 We enjoyed a refreshing shower, then lounged in the courtyard before a taxi back to the airport for a night flight to Phuket.En savoir plus