I arrived in Bangkok late in the afternoon and checked straight into my hostel, located at the end of Khao San Road, essentially the backpacking district. After dumping my rucksack in my (thankfully) air-conditioned room I headed straight out for food.
Later that evening I met a couple of other Brits and went for drinks but soon retired to the hostel.
The following day I woke up later than I'd hoped to so went straight out to my first full day in Bangkok. I wandered down towards Loh Prasat. Firstly though I stopped at the October 14 Memorial, which commemorates the death of protestors from the 1973 protests that led to the Governmental change - quite apt I thought considering the recent and current events across the Middle East and North Africa.
From here I took tuk tusk around the city to visit such sights as the Giant Buddah and the Temple of the Lucky Buddah. From here I headed back towards Loh Prasat where I scaled the temple, reaching the top for maginificrnt views across the city and to hear, over the loud speakers, the prayers from the monks. I climbed back down the temple and as I was making my way out saw the Monks praying and chanting and stood to watch for sometime.
My next port of call was the Golden Mountain and Wat Saket. Again, making the long journey to the top as the sun began to fall across Bangkok was wonderful but soon it was time to make my way back to the hostel where I had a quiet night in to recover from the previous few nights.
This meant I was up early the next day and set off for the Grand Palace. The biggest issue with visiting here was not money or number of tourists but that you must be in long trousers and covered shoes - hard work in the heat!
The Palace though is beyond words, from the temple compound to the main palace area the architecture is staggering and there is so much colour that you are totally captured by the magic. It takes an hour or so to walk around the grounds but I could have stayed far longer had it not been for the heat!I
strolled south, taking in Wat Pho and it's tranquil maze of temples and food stalls before crossing the river in a crossing-boat to visit Wat Arun, the huge temple that dominates the river skyline. Climbing to the top, for someone with mild vertigo, was a daunting experience as the staircase is practically vertical - the views though were definitely worth it.
I crossed back over the Chao Phraya River and grabbed a Tuk Tuk back to Khao San Road and rested in the hotel before heading out for dinner and a few drinks.
