A day in the new Bangkok

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Today we had our first (and maybe last!) tuk-tuk ride in Bangkok - 100 yards before we were rudely ejected after Emma's 10+ stoic refusals to allow him to make "one stop only at high fashion shop!" Instead we took an air-con taxi to Hua Lamphong station, hoping to try the new undergound railway - but alas it was closed.

We then tried a local bus which was slow but cheap but allowed us to see lots of the city. We jumped off (literally) at Siam Square and bought day passes for the Skytrain which allowed us to zip across the city taking in the beautiful 'Erawan shrine' (dedicated to the Hindu god Phra Phrom) and seeing a 'prayer dance' by ladies in traditional Thai dress, Sukhumwit, Chatu Chak park (not a single westerner in sight) and Patpong preparing for the night (a strange area where all of the bars seem to have structural problems solved by erecting large shiny chrome poles apparently to hold the ceiling up).

Whilst we were in the new town we splashed out on a fine dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (no noodles or rice in sight!).

We ended the day with a couple of speeding bus rides home (they open the doors and literally pull you off the street). We're pretty sure that these buses never actually come to a complete stop. Good fun and we saw Chinatown by night.

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Photos

The new part of Bangkok
(Photo actually taken later than this blog entry - on our second visit to the city)