Day 3

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Day 3 – an earlier rise than anticipated as we got texts awaking us around 7am. John took the opportunity to visit the gym (probably the best-equipped hotel gym he has experienced) whilst Julie updated her Facebook. After another excellent breakfast we decided to set off for The Royal Palace only to be turned back by the hotel porter who advised we didn’t meet the required dress standards of no knees, shoulders or ankles showing (the latter was incorrect as we found out) so a trip back to the room to change into longs was required. We caught a taxi there and joined the healthy group of tourists and a pretty hot and humid afternoon amplified by the state of our over-dress. Boy it was hot and sticky! The temples and the Royal Palace exhibited the normal extravagance witnessed all over the world when it pertains to religion or royalty – this being a combination of both. Spectacular would be the word to describe it. Gold leaf featured everywhere and total opulence on display. But well worth the visit. Gareth suggested we catch the Express River boat back to the CBD but after thinking we were at the right pier and being told we weren’t , getting caught in a 10 minute deluge (well not really, we took shelter in a coffee shop) and trying another pier about 500 metres away after being given directions, only to be told once we got there to go back to the first one, we gave up. At that point totally frustrated and over-heated we decided to grab a cab. It seems that it was a captive market in that area and the fare jumped 350% from the outward fare. Gareth’s suggestion of using Grab didn’t work as nobody took the job so we haggled and caught a cab with what turned out to be the most maniacal driver in Bangkok. He was so aggressive he actually collided with two pedestrians on a crossing on the way as well as having a slanging match with a scooterist (more Italian than Thai!). Julie reckons he must have been on P. We took a well-earned shower and then went to a mall with Gareth and Mika for a late lunch and then later on met Mika’s parents for dinner at an Italian Pizzeria. Lovely company and pretty good food too. We got home at 8:30 for an early night for a change.

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