Sukhumvit

Another fantastic few days in the vibrant city of Bangkok. After visiting the Triumph factory, we took a walk around Siam Paragon and Centralworld shopping mall, the 7th largest mall in the world. It's fair to say the mall was absolutely massive so we only managed to get around two of the eight floors in total. In addition, its food court was not dissimilar to a small town centre. After the shopping mall we made our way to Chinatown, also one of the worlds largest and the most prominent for street food. Sure enough we ate there after watching a TV commercial being filmed down a back street.

The following day and in desperate need of some relaxation we booked an infinity pool overlooking Bangkok for the day. If only this was our hotel as this one really was 5* luxury! It was really nice to lay out under a bit of sun 25 floors up subtly hearing the sound of the busy streets below. Early evening with street food on our mind… again… we caught a taxi to Jodd Fairs night street market and enjoyed a variety of dishes, although again we weren't able to face the fried insects, maybe another time. This was definitely our favourite street market so far with a buzzing atmosphere and endless food stalls with different cuisine to try, all surrounded by the views of skyscrapers lighting up the night sky.

Our last day took us to Wat Arun, an amazing temple complex. On the way in we saw a giant monitor lizard resting in a stream. These are commonly found in Bangkok’s Lumpini park, although when briefly walking through the park days before we didn’t see any. Reading about this a bit more, these lizards are apparently out of control in the park and regularly need removing by local authorities. The lizard we saw was at least 3m long. We then enjoyed wandering around Wat Arun temple, admiring the exquisite, colourful mosaic detailing covering the entire temple.

We’ve both been keen to have a go at Muay Thai since being in Thailand so we booked onto a 1.5 hour group introduction session at a highly rated gym. This actually turned out to be a 1:1 session with us having an instructor each. Unfortunately the gym did not have air con, however, despite sweating litres it was a great experience and very different to martial arts Dan had done in the past. The sport is extremely technical and in the session we certainly learnt a lot, but knew we were only scratching the surface.

On the way to the Muay Thai class we walked through what looked like a very deprived area along a canal. Houses were built from corrugated sheet metal, bamboo and tarp with front doors no more than a garden gate. Mattresses laid on the concrete floor inside a living room, kitchen and bedroom all in one, without lighting in some cases. In some single roomed homes, a ‘bed’ was simply be a roll mat on the floor. Chairs were always the children's coloured plastic kind and they were for those not sitting on the floor often seen listening to the radio. If such buildings were seen in the UK today there was no way we'd expect them to be occupied. Children were seen sitting around piles of rubbish most likely ridden with insects being by the canal, yet despite all this, both children and adults would watch us walk past, smile and say hello to which we’d greet them back in Thai. It was clear that tourists very rarely came into this area and despite the kind greetings, you could tell some locals seemed slightly perplexed to see us walking through. This was a real eye opener and extremely saddening to see these sights, especially as not far away is one of the world's largest shopping malls with an entire floor dedicated to luxury designer jewellery, watches and handbags. Hours before this we'd seen a crowd of individuals sprinting towards a car that had just pulled up right in front of us on our walk back to the hotel. Not knowing what was going on we watched as a couple got out, set up a table and began to hand out free pre-packed meals. Realising what was happening, along the same road we saw possibly hundreds of what could only be assumed homeless individuals and families. It's apparent that Bangkok really is a city of contrasts with significant luxury and wealth yet poverty in many areas too. Seeing these extremely deprived areas really puts into perspective what we often consider to be problems. Despite the hardships and challenges many seem to face in the city, people would always have a smile.

It's been a packed five days and an experience we won’t forget. This concludes our time in Thailand where we've had the best month travelling, seeing its beauty and culture and would absolutely recommend anyone to visit this incredible country. Next stop … Laos!Read more