Bangkok

Right next to our hotel is a cute little cafe called Cafe Passion where we grabbed breakfast before heading out to explore Bangkok. I dived straight into Thai cusine with some mango and sticky rice which is actually delicous (although very sweet) whilst Si decided to ease himself in gently with some eggs, bacon and sausage. Both were washed down with an amazing iced coffee (hopefully that will help the jet lag although we may have made a faux par as we probably aren't meant to have ice in our drinks).

Our first stop for the day was The Grand Palace. To get there we jumped on the BTS Skytrain and then hopped on a boat along the river up to the palace. Depsite many a blog warning that the palace would be jam packed with tourists and some even suggesting to give it a miss, it really wasnt that busy. I dont know if its because its my first Thai temple but it was absolutely breathtaking. The colours, patterns and craftmanship in the architecture is truly incredible and I could have marvelled the palace all day long.

Not far from the The Grand Palace is Wat Pho, home of the famous reclining Buddha. We got a bit lost on the way but stumbled across another big buddha. As we retraced our steps we stopped off to get something to eat. After persusing the many stalls of locals selling all kinds of delicacies we went for roti (I had banana and Simon had chicken) washed down with a very large juice (more ice opps!).

Wat Pho provided yet more beautiful architecture and the reclining Buddha which is actually massive! I was definately not expecting him to be that big! Well worth a stop.

To finish off we caught the ferry over to the other side of the river to visit Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) which provided more architecture to marvel. The upper levels were closed which was a shame as these would have provided amazing views over Bangkok. It has however been a 34° day today and having to cover both knees and shoulders when visiting the temples, we were both wearing far to much clothing and were insanely hot and sweaty! There was only one thing for it, to jump in a tuk tuk and head to Khao San Road for a much deserved Chang. Travelling by tuk tuk was a first by both of us and they are definately not for the faint hearted. I think we may have also got a particularly crazy driver as we overtook lots of other tuk tuks whilst driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic! We also had a very near close encounter with a bus! Slightly shaken we jumped out at Khao San Road and headed to the closest nicest looking place that sold beer. We lucked out on a really lovely spot that offered great people spotting views.

After our beer we mooched along Khao San Road which wasnt nearly as hectic as we thought it would be (as long as you ignore the people trying to sell you a scorpian on a stick every 10m). Its actually a really cool spot. For dinner we headed to a vegetarian thai restaurant, May Kaidee's Vegetarian Restaurant, I had read about which was down one of the little side streets. The food was delicous and coming to only £7.50. A complete bargain!

After dinner we decided to head back to out hotel for a much needed shower. Despite a taxi back to our hotel probably only costing £10 (which for a 30 minute journey is a complete steal) we decided to get the bus which cost approx 45p for both of this. This experience was not to dissimilar to the tuk tuk. We missed the first one as they don't really stop and instead you just have to run and jump on and hope that you both made it in time. The drivers drive like maniacs and really fast, the suspension is completely shot and they drive with the door open. In addition to that, there is only one stop button on the entire bus which is situated above said open door! I did think I was going to lose Simon out of the door at one point! For 45p though I guess you cant really complain!Read more