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Another delayed flight brought me into Bangkok at 2 o'clock in the morning, and it was 31 degrees outside. What sort of temperature is that for the middle of the night?!
Bangkok is a hot, bustling city, that is currently in its rainy season, so I discovered on the first day when the heavens opened from nowhere and cats and dogs
literally fell from the sky.
I spent the first day navigating my way round the city, awaiting the infamous inquiries from the locals into my need for a tuk-tuk (a motorised three-wheeled carriage-bike), suit or foot massage. Bizarrely I received none. This was to come later as I moved to the legendary Khao San Road, or backpacker street. For now though I was invisible, and meandered through the Chakutak Weekend Market, splashing out for a bit of local Thai food for lunch (55p!), and generally used the underground to see as much as I could of the place.
On my way back to the hostel I got off Bangkok's Skytrain, and went to look at a local map fixed to a board, taking little notice of the music that the station started to belt out over the
tannoy. But when I turned round, to my surprise, every single person in the busy station had stopped moving, and were rooted to the spot with their arms by their side. It was as if I was in The Truman Show or something, where everyone was an actor just for my sake.
I was just about to start going up to people and waving my hand in front of their faces when I realised what it was! They were playing the Thai National Anthem, in respect for the King. It is played in all train and bus stations at 8am and 6pm
every single day, and everybody is expected to stand there while it plays. They also play it before all films at the cinema. Luckily I remembered in time.
That evening I watched the England game with some guys from my hostel (which was part of a block of flats), and the next day moved to Khao San Road, where everything you've heard about Thailand comes true. Well, the annoying touristy stuff.
I spent the next couple of days visiting all the temples I could until I was completely Buddha-ed out. Bangkok has a lot, as
people are very religious over here, so I limited myself to the most important ones:
Wat Pho - home to the giant reclining Buddha, who lives in a temple that was actually built around him
Wat Arun - accessible only by the river ferry, which costs about 5p
Wat Phra Kaeo - the main attraction, located with the King's Golden Palace, where you can see his golden throne. Inside the temple is the Emerald Buddha, and he sits atop a dazzling shrine of jewels and golden treasures that even Bill Gates might have to take a loan out for.
All of these structures are so lavishly decorated that you could never expect to see anything so extravagant in the UK. Entire buildings are coated with gold, with the Buddhas made of nothing but. They really make an effort with their places of worship here, and our churches back home pale somewhat in comparison.
Conscious about my trip drawing to an end soon, I decided not to dawdle too long in the capital. So having met an English guy called John, who that day had bought himself an overnight train ticket to Chiang Mai, I decided
The King of Thailand
He is the man. There are posters and giant framed pictures of him everywhere you go.to accompany my new travel buddy to the station to see if I could get a ticket too. As I walked away with my ticket, I saw what has probably now become my favourite shop in the whole world......
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