Bangkok

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On Sunday Nellie and Monk flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Their flight arrived at 11:15 and Floss and Flower's flight was due to arrive at 15:40. Monk decided to hang around the airport to meet up with the girls. Their flight landed on time and by 5pm they were all on their way to the Lebua botel (see below).

Over the next few days, they managed to see as many of the sights of Bangkok as they could squeeze in. Since they had only limited time, they decided to see the two most impressive wats - Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew. Wat Pho houses the Reclining Buddha, which Flower was very impressed with, and also has many chedi, buddhas, temple halls etc. They are irresistible for the photographer in all of us. Wat Phra Kaew is also a large site and its main attraction is the Emerald Buddha which, for some, can be disappointing given that it is less than 1 metre in height. It's been around though in its 600 plus years of existence and might as well be called the Travelling Buddha. After doing gigs around Thailand it was stolen by Laotian invaders and spent a couple of hundred years in Luang Prabang before being returned to Thailand.

Whilst wandering around the small food market by the Wat Pho boat station, Tha Tien, Flower had her first exposure to some of the cooking ingredients on offer. She was horrified at seeing so much dried fish of all sorts (and even more horrified when Monk chose a dried fish dish in the restuarant that evening). Monk doesn't think that Flower, or Floss, will ever become fans of Bangkok street food - such a shame - they could eat so cheaply and so well and it would be a great experience for them!

Floss and Flower wanted to experience the famous Bangkok shopping scene so Monk took them to the glitzy Siam Paragon centre where just about every designer label can be found. Monk set them loose in the shopping centre and retired to a quiet corner to do some research into the next round of sightseeing when they got to Phuket. At the other extreme of the shopping spectrum, Floss and Flower tried, successfully, haggling for bags in Khao San Road, in the Banglamphu backpacker area of Bangkok.

Jim Thopmson's House

Jim Thompson has been credited with internationally promoting the Thai silk industry after the second world war. His former home is very close to the shops and malls around the Siam Square area and is a good antidote after overdosing on the ultra-modern shopping malls. The house gives an insight into the Thailand of yesteryear and the guided tour makes one feel a bit like a peeping tom peering into Jim Thompson's private rooms and posessions as they were when he last left the house. Again, Flower was impressed with their visit there and has now developed an obsession with the mystery of what happened to Jim Thompson when he disappeared without trace in Malaysia in 1967. The site also houses a shop of Jim Thompson silk garments and a peaceful cafe, by a small lake, overlooking part of the old house.

Travelling Around Bangkok

An absolute must, on the travelling side, is a trip on one of the express boats on the Chao Praya River viewing some of the sights from the vantage point of the river. All very hectic - the boatman at the back whistling to the captain at the front guiding the back of the boat snugly against each of the docks, usually with a bump or two sending passengers reeling. Queues of waiting passengers at each station eager to squeeze onboard an already crowded boat, however, being on the river, they have natural air-conditioning. The river boats are very cheap, about 20-30 baht depending on the number of stops involved. For artificial air-conditioning while getting to the sights, take the Skytrain, if only to cool down from the heat and humidity of the city. The other travel must of course is a tuk-tuk for short journeys - anything too long and you might find that your nerves can't take too much of the almost reckless driving techniques of the tuk-tuk driver. Always haggle over the price of the tuk-tuk before setting off. On the charging front, taxis, called 'taxi meters', are almost as bad as the tuk-tuks. You should only pay the price shown on the meter, however, they all try to charge extra. One, when challenged by Monk at the end of a journey, just turned off his meter and laughed - Monk met him halfway between the price Monk had seen on the meter and the price he wanted to charge. Another favourite trick is to persuade you to go to a gem showroom or tailor or somewhere on the way where they will receive a kickback from taking you there. One honest taxi driver admitted to the gang, that if they agreed to go to the gem store, he would receive petrol tokens as a reward from the store owner. Yet another ploy, probably universal amongst taxi drivers worlwide, is to drive around pretending not to know where the detsination is. This happened to the gang when they tried to go the short distance from the Lebua to the Blue Elephant restaurant one night. After ten minutes of being 'lost', and with some persuasion from Monk, he finally managed to end up in the right place. If you use the Lebua lobby staff to call a taxi, they have a very good scheme where they write the taxi's licence plate number on a card and give to you in case you have any problems with the taxi, although this didn't stop the gang's taxi from 'getting lost'.

Lebua at State Tower

The Lebua at State Tower is a an excellent place to stay. It's located at the end of Silom Road and is close to both the river at boat station Tha Saphon and to the Skytrain station there, Spahan Taksin. It's a 5 minte walk from the Lebua to the station, although, it will likely take longer if you take time to soak uo the atmosphere and investigate the food and shops on the way. The river boats and the Skytrain are the best ways to travel any distance in Bangkok without getting caught in the traffic chaos.

The area around the Lebua is not as tourist-oriented as some areas and the street markets and street food stalls are mostly frequented by Thais.

The State Tower is the tallest building in Bangkok at 64 floors plus a gold dome at the top. On the 64th floor is the Sirocco restaurant and the Skybar. Both of these are open-air and have fantastic panoramic views over Bangkok, particularly impressive at night. There's an another restauarant, Breeze, and a bar on the 52nd floor with views almost as stunning as the 64th. Even if you're not staying at the Lebua, it's worth goiing up there just for the view or a drink at one of the bars. If you're staying there, you'll likely have a room on one of the higher floors so you'll get the great views in any case. You have to sign your life away before they give you the key to open the balcony doors - just in case you decide to jump and land on some poor unsuspecting monk down below.

Irene and Monk had tried the other 2 hotels nearby, the Oriental and the Shangri-La, but their preference was always the Lebnua. It's a suite-only hotel, with a suite consisting of a large bedroom, a spacious bathroom with shower and separate bath, a kitcchen area and a lounge. It's not as expensive as you might think and it's got free wifi. On this trip, Monk booked it through Expedia for £87 per night including breakfast - that's a lot of hotel room for the money. Check out their website although you'll probably get a better deal going through one of the hotel booking sites such as Expedia.

Restaurants Near the State Tower

While the Lebua at State Tower hotel is good value, the same can't be said for its restuarants. Nellie and the gang ate at Sirocco on their first night in Bangkok. It's way, way overpriced and the standard of cooking is poor. They tried Breeze on another night and had appalling service, the food was cold and had to be sent back and even after that they didn't get things right. In addition, both restaurants are very dark becuase there is no overhead lighting, just the stars. However, some sensible table lighting could help could one see what one is eating..

Ban Chiang, five minutes from the Lebua, is set in an attractive Thai style wooden house and specialises in North Eastern Thai cooking. Monk finds that the standard of the food can be a bit variable there but it's reasonably priced.

On the more expensive side is the Blue Elephant, in Monk's opinion, the best restaurant in the area around the Lebua. It has a wide range of unusual Thai dishes and the wine list contains half a dozen or so Thai-producued wines. It's a shame more restaurants don't stock the locally-produced wine.

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