The Land of a 1,000 smiles.

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After flying into Bangkok we spent the fist 5 days relaxing by the pool and enjoying the sunshine. It was nice to take it easy and stay in one place for more than a couple of days. It also helped that it was 37 degrees!!

Once we had recharged our batteries we set about exploring Bangkok. We started with a trip to the biggest market, the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Totaling over 8,000 open air stalls, it was very easy to get lost among the vast array off, clothes, shoes, touristy bits, food etc. There were also quite a few unusual smells!!

No trip to Bangkok would be complete without a visit to the Wat Phar Kaeo temple and the Grand Palace. It was sparkly and spectacular and bloody hot!! You have to cover your shoulders and legs and wear proper shoes which when it is 37 degrees and very humid is quite hard work! The Palace is filled with many wonderful buildings which you will see below.

We visited lots of Buddha's on our travels, including the Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade!) at the Grand Palace, the largest golden Buddha which is 5 and a half tons of solid gold worth $14million in weight alone and the largest reclining Buddha totaling 45 meters in length.

We negotiated the city using the Chao Phraya river express boat which is a lovely traditional way of seeing the city as well as getting you from A to B. In complete contrast to this we also used the BTS Sky Train, a very cheap way to travel across the city in AC comfort.

Half way through our stay we moved to the infamous backpacker district in the heart of the city called Banglamphu and stayed on the Khao San road. We were surrounded by travelers of all nationalities on a road that contains just about every type of stall, bar, restaurant or shop that you could possibly need. Among the things available on the street are, hair braiding, cocktails by the bucket, meat on sticks, spring rolls, pancakes, noodles, or a suit! It was non stop 24hr noise, food and fun. Good, but only for a couple of days! We could eat lovely curries with rice and a couple of cold Chang beers for 1.50pounds each.

We had a wonderful afternoon at Jim Thompson’s house, the famous American war vet who disappeared very mysteriously in 1967. His house is traditional Thai style on stilts, built entirely from wood but using no nails. It is filled with many Asian artifacts that he collected over the years. He is very well regarded by the Thai's for resurrecting the silk trade in Thailand after it had been in demise.

A few off our favorite things about Thailand so far are the pumpkin red curry, Chang beer, cheap clothes, fresh exotic fruit and the warm weather.

Our original plan was to now head North into Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia however the weather there is due to be very wet making many roads impassable. So we are heading South to soak up some more sun in Ko Samui and Malaysia before returning North once the monsoon has passed in a few months.

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Photos

Inside the grounds of the Grand Palace.
There is no palace just a complex of buildings.

Mini roundabout Thai stlye.
These Elephant statues were life size!!

Lumphini Night Bazaar.
A huge night market with the Thai equivalent of a beer garden complete with live music (including a Thai man who thought he was Michael Jackson!!) and lots of cheap food and beer.

Comments

[Nick Moss]

lucky
Nice to hear from you both. The beard is looking good,some nice pic's of the Grand Palace

[Karen]

yay
Yay for the latest update! (Thanks Vicky because I suspect it is you who writes most of them!!) I was just sitting at my computer when it came in! So wierd imaging you sitting there writing it whilst I'm here - talking of rain we are havin torrential rains and flooding. Many parts of Birmingham have been evacuated!! Jason - what is with the bandana?! You are becoming ever more the typical backpacker! Glad you are both well.

[matt nolan]

Beardy weardy
Nice photos. Can I see evidence of man boobs? Must be all that rich oriental food that you are enjoying? Josh thinks you look like Jesus!

[Amanda]

Jealous!
Hi Vix, Have just read the Thai blog whilst sat here at my desk with rain lashing my windows. It was great seeing it all again and makes me miss the place. Not sure about Chang though Singha is better!!