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Published: October 12th 2016
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Suzanne here...
The eleven hour flight to Bangkok was fine. I had wondered what a long-haul flight with a budget carrier would be like, but Eurowings were pretty good. Neither of us managed to sleep though. We arrived in Bankok at 9am, and took the City Line to Phaya Thai. I felt just a bit of trepidation on the journey in for some reason. Not because it was new, we've been to Bangkok before. It was more because it was familiar. Seeing it all again reminded me of how noisy and chaotic Asia is, and we were willingly putting ourselves through it once more.
After a bit of confusion which way to go (managed it as much by luck as judgement) we found our hotel easily enough. The Royal View Rang Nam was expensive by backpacker standards at £30 a night but we wanted a decent room after a long flight. It has to be said it was worth it. Nice big room and very helpful staff who let us check in before noon. If you are not used to Asia, my advise would be to splash out on some decent accommodation at least for the first night or
two, it provides a much needed retreat.
We could have slept, but decided to get out and do something, so we visited the Jim Thompson House, which was nice enough. No point in saying much more, it's in every guidebook. It started to rain while we were there, but had slowed by the time we left. We wanted a drink, but could we find a bar? In the end we took some Chang's back to the hotel. That night we had some nice green and red curries for dinner. Our first taste of proper Thai food for a long time. Never underestimate the simple joy of ordering a mountain of food knowing it will be cheap and delicious. We didn't bother hunting for a bar again but sat on our balcony with some beer and music. It was only about 10pm when we went to bed, but we had been awake nearly 34 hours.
After a good nights sleep in the amazingly comfortable bed we took slow walk to Lumpini Park. We'd been before but enjoyed it. It's a place of welcome calm and it's always fun to watch the huge monitor lizards. On the way we stopped
in air-conditioned mall bliss for a coffee and exeptionaly tasty doughnuts. We didn't get nearly so hassled by tuk-tuk drivers and touts as last time. Perhaps our initial wild-eyed excitement has been sucessfully replaced by a feigned air of boredom. By the time we got back to the hotel we'd walked for miles. That night we decided to try the famous Boat Noodles near Victory Monument. You get a tiny bowl for THB 12 (27p) which arrives quickly, and you just keep ordering until you've had enough. They were very tasty but I didn't quite get why they are quite so renowned. Good fun though. On the way back we stopped off at a makeshift outdoor bar where a local duo were playing, which we rather enjoyed. So much for our plan not to drink before a travel day!
This morning we got up quite early as we were unsure how long it would take to get to Don Mueang airport. There was a direct bus from Victory Monument, but we decided it might be quicker to get the BTS as far as it went (Mo Chit) and the A1 bus to the airport from there. This all went
very smoothly and only took about 45 minutes which meant we were at the airport an hour earlier that planned. Oh well, better that than late.
We enjoyed Bangkok. A couple of days was enough given that we've been before, and will be back in December. As for my inital worries... well it's just as hot, manic and stinky as I remember. The heat and chaos can get to you if you let it. But it does have it's charm. There is always something new to see or do. Now we fly to Bali, exciting as it's the first new country of our trip.
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