Arriving in Bangkok

When we arrived, the first thing that hit us was the heat! Standing and waiting for our taxi, I thought I might melt. The region was currently experiencing record-breaking temperatures of 40°+, but we arrived just at the tail end, with most days reaching 39-42° and getting down to 36° at night. So basically, it was still boiling.

We made it to our rooms in a recently renovated building that was still undergoing some cosmetic work on the ground floor. The room was very nice but strangely laid out with two king beds at the back wall of the room, end to end. They were also really high up, sitting about waist height, so you had to jump up a bit to get on them. The AC worked excellently though, so we were going to be alright.

Having arrived at about midnight, we slept in late and awoke starving and in need of breakfast. We emerged from our room to more heat and humidity that instantly clung to our skin. We found a hotel buffet that let us eat next to a pool, which we were very jealous of, and then wandered around getting our bearings. We then headed back to do some admin and figure out what we were going to do for the next four days in Bangkok.

In the late afternoon, we ventured out, hoping it would be a bit cooler. We first stopped off to get some midday cocktails, (why not we're on holiday). As we were super central, we wandered down to the royal palaces, but before we could hit the main road, a man with a walkie-talkie told us we couldn't walk down there and had to go another route or stand back. We eventually figured out it was because the king was leaving the palace and driving down that road. After five minutes of waiting, literally 50 red cars drove past very quickly, and among them was a fancy cream car where we could just make out the profile of a man. The King! Less than 24 hours in the city, and we'd already seen the king. We learned later that the three pillars of the country are the nation, religion, and king, which one could argue are the same thing. They're pretty strict, and you can't even step on a banknote because it has the king's face on it.

We wandered down past the palace to the pier, where we got a cheap speed boat to another port near our hotel, then stopped off for a tasty dinner and bed.Читать далее