I decided to take a few weeks off and explore the Far East a little more, got a cheap flight from Spring Airlines and arrived in Bangkok last night. The first thing I noticed was that it was considerably hotter than Shanghai and even hotter than Nanjing. However, I was pleased to experience no pushing to get on the subway or spitting, although I did see a man pissing on the street by my hotel. I scowled at him.
The hotel is quite nice – took about a day to chose it on Laterooms.com! However, there are two Park Plaza in Bangkok and guess which one I turned up at first.. yes very annoying and I spent the next 40 minutes wandering around the bars of Soi 22, 20 and 18 and asking a lot of people before I found it hidden away.
I stupidly left my hat in the hotel this morning and suffered as a result, when I went to see the reclining buddha and Granf Palace – the heat was splitting the pavements. I had some nasty bowl of rice and chicken for lunch and also for breakfast, However, I did find a mango seller who sold mangoes peeled and ready to eat for a pittance.
There were hordes of people of course, in the temples but it didn’t take away from their splendor. The intricate decoration was breathtaking. There are a hell of a lot of foreigners in Bangkok and many of them seem to be Chinese. Certainly at the temples today there were a lot of groups of Chinese posing soldier-like for photo after photo throughout the sites. I came here to get away from them but it seems I can’t shake them off.
Tomorrow I have a ticket to Chiang Mai and have spent the last few hours choosing a late deal on a plush hotel for three nights. I figured if I liked it I would move and spend another three nights or so in a homestay to make a change.
The train leaves at 8:30 and arrives 12 hours later – and that’s the express train! I hope there’ll be something interesting to see out of the window.
Going to check out the hotel swimming pool before dinner and settle in for a spot of Wimbledon I think…. hide from the heat a bit.