Bangkok

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The emotions of leaving London behind after almost 5 years kept my mind off a slight fear of flying and before I knew it we were approaching Bangkok or Krung Thep (City of Angels) to the Thai people. Welcome to the oven! 37 degrees and time to ditch the jeans, well at least for the next couple of months.

Joel and I checked into and checked out the crazy backpacker central that is the Khao San Road over the next few days. With the Lonely Planet as our bible we explored the city on foot, fought off the hoards of scamming tuk tuk drivers, took the Skytrain and joined the locals on a taxi boat - a long tail boat on the filthy canals through the slums of Bangkok. And we fought off the jet lag and acclimatised by the pool on the roof of the Palace Inn until Priscilla and Jahna joined us from the fine land down under. Then it was definitely time to crack out the Changs.

We headed into town to their hotel (air-conditioned comfort) for the big reunion. Was awesome, big hugs all round and lots of excited chatter about the happenings of the last couple of years then a taxi to the bar across from our hotel on Khao San. Couple of towers and buckets later we called it a night and I passed out in our room that was reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio’s room at the start of The Beach while Jahna passed out in the taxi.

Anadins for breakfast next day then we all headed to Chatuchak Market on the Skytrain. Huge market, had just about everything including rabbits in dresses. Didn’t buy one.

Met up with our Geckos tour group at the Bangkok City Inn. Sumart, our leader took us on a tour of the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. He spent years of his life as a Buddhist monk in the Temples so was very knowledgable. The Temples were awesome, the detail and colour stunning and the stories behind them very interesting. Unfortunately it was so unbelievably hot that day and we all had to be in long trousers and sleeves! Very uncomfortable. Joel had his jeans rolled up and sleeves rolled up once we left. Good tourist look.

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