Wat Phra Kaew

What a city! We weren't sure what to expect but of the few days we’ve been in Bangkok so far, we’ve seen such diversity from high-end designer outlets to unfortunate sightings of families living under shacks along what looked to be a sewage. The city is crazy with scooters and tuk tuks everywhere. Scooters carry more than most cars can and on a regular basis - families of five or a fridge stacked 10 feet tall. Their traffic light system is interesting as both green and red apparently mean go and zebra crossings… well no idea what they’re for. Despite this, it’s a great city with so much to offer.

We visited the Grand Palace on our first day. As expected this was exceptionally grand however the photographs simply did not do it justice. We also visited the Wat Pho temples to see the absolutely massive reclining Buddha all covered in gold leaf. In the evening we went to Chatuchak market and took a stroll down Khaosan road, an extremely busy, westernised road full of bars and clubs.

On our second day in Bangkok we went to Baiyoke Sky Hotel to take in the skyline views over the city. At the top, they had a 360 revolving floor overlooking the entire floor. The views were incredible and allowed us to appreciate the scale of the city. Afterwards, we mooched around the area taking in the atmosphere of the buzzing, chaotic city followed by a quick trip to Lumphini park. This evening we went to Octave rooftop bar for some cocktails. Despite a sunset initially looking promising, unfortunately a dark storm cloud began to form pretty quickly. The rain held off but after 3 hours of enjoying the music and atmosphere, our night was eventually cut short as the heavens opened causing everyone to evacuate the rooftop. Nevertheless, for the time we were there we enjoyed the views over the city, watching Bangkok transform into a beautiful, colourful mass of bright lights as the night fell.

We've been whizzing from place to place via taxi, which if you request on the meter, is incredibly cheap - 100 Baht or about £2.30 for a half hour journey. As expected, the roads are pretty manic with some interesting driving to say the least, but we're absolutely loving the atmosphere of Bangkok. A packed couple of days but an amazing city to explore. We still have another few days left in Bangkok before we call an end to our Thailand travels and move on to Laos.Leggi altro