4 nights in Bangkok...

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Bangkok 9th - 13th May 2006

Well we made to Bangkok - No upgrade on the flight but no problem plenty of room to spread out and try and get some sleep. Bartered our way into a taxi and were safely delivered to Sofitel Silom. Fantastic hotel, and the honeymooners(!) were upgraded to an executive suite on the 32nd floor with awesome views of Bangkok and access to the club lounge and complementary canapes and cocktails every evening - we could get used to this!!

After a day of orientation (having sleep in until lunch time and missing breakfast - jetlag!!) we set off to explore some of the sights of Bangkok only to discover that the Grand Palace was closed for annual royal ceremony! Good timing or what. Anyway undetered we took the skytrain and boat to Wat Pho (The temple of the reclining Buddha and the oldest and biggest Wat in Bangkok). The pictures will give you an idea but don't do it justice - it's absolutely amazing. Treated ourselves to a traditional Thai massage at the massage training school here - paid good money to be stood on by a thai lady and I (Heather) think every bone in my body clicked - we like it alot!

Then we visited the Golden Buddha at Wat Triamet in China Town having to use our (Simon's) best haggling skills to get there and back - thankfully Simon's good at that because we had no idea where we were and the maps are a bit vague and misleading to say the least.

Back to the pier (Tha Tien) an a welcome breeze on the ferry to Wat Arun. This Wat is built in the Cambodian style - less ostentatious but no less interesting and spectacular.

Needless to say it was a very busy day in 36 degree heat and blazing sunshine so, tired and a bit bedraggled, we retired to our hotel for a much needed shower and canapes and drinks before dinner.

The next day (Friday) we headed to the train station to sort out our overnight train to Surat Thani to head ot the islands. We followed our map (big mistake) whch made it look like the train station was near the final skytrain stop (makes sense?) but no. As a last resot we decide to take a tuk tuk (another mistake) after hairing down back lanes, in a heavy rainstorm, we were delivered to a 'travel agent!' After much discussion with the tuk tuk drive we set off walking - thnakfully we were close to the station (but very wet). After all that the train was fully booked (big holiday weekend in Thailand - good timing again) so we settle for the overnight VIP bus (we hope). Tired and bedraggled we retired to the sactuary of the hotel pool.

Finally the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew is open (saturday). Again the pictures (good as they are) don't do it justice, it's so amazing it's almost unbelievable. We thought it couldn't get any hotter - we were wrong it was an absolute scorcher - but it was well worth the effort.

That's all for now - going to check out and head for our bus. Hope you all enjoy the photos.

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