Stayed for 4 nights in Bangkok whilst waiting for my friends Lorna and Sophie to join us.
We stayed in 4 star luxury hotel called chillax. Such a change from camping! The room had a balcony and spa bath in the room. Was awesome. The break fast was lovely n a buffet. The pool on the top floor looked out onto the city.
We used the free tuk tuk to the grand palace. I did think we might crash o a few occasions!! I like how it zips through the traffic and is open aired for a breeze.
The grand palace has gone up in price since my guidebook. Its now 500b but includes entrance to the emerald buddha and other museums around the grounds. The temples in the grand palace were spectacular. Golden buddhas and ornate works of art telling stories of old on the walls.
The thai people love the king and Queen as they have pictures of them everywhere. They are both very old in there 90s.
We walked around the outside of the palace to the reclining buddha. A gold statue severak hundred s of years old and around 200m in length. You must dress appropriatly for temples such as no shoulders snd knees. This is for both me and women. It says so in all the guide books but so manh tourists are idiots. I keep a scarf in my day bag for unexpected visits to temples.
On our second outting we took the local orange flag barge down the river to see the Orient hotel and the temple of Dawn. The barge was 15b each. Monks sit at the back and locals pile up in the middle. The hotel was not as grand as I was expecting. It was a pretty colonial building though. If I had more money then I would have liked to have had high tea there.
We managed to get a bit lost finding the entrance to the temple of dawn. However, it was nice to get off the tourist path. Thai people dont bother you unless they want something from you. We aaw monks teaching a class of novices.
The temple of dawn is well worth visiting. However, if you lack mobility then its not great as there id 3 sets of very very steep steps to climb up. The view is impressive and the temples decoration is rather unique and colourful.
It costs 3b to get the barge across the river to the other side for the orange flag home.
