A Day in Bangkok, Thailand
After what felt like a million goodbye drinks and a whole bag of nerves, I finally arrived in Bangkok after a surprisingly swift plane journey (despite being 10 and a half hours long) – though I expect the double gin and tonic and sleeping pill helped. What awaited me was a heat and humidity my pale English skin was entirely unprepared for. It hit me straight away, a heady combination of jetlag, sweat and exhaustion, so by the time I got to my new hostel digs at 5pm, I was ready to sleep. Despite the seven hour time difference, I slept from about 11pm til 7am, and was pretty smug about how fresh I was feeling in the morning.
With only a day to explore Bangkok (since we were leaving for Cambodia super early on the 31st) myself and my lovely hostel roomie Imani decided to go out and about and take in some of the sights. Despite the fact the temperature was only (ONLY! Ha) about 31 degrees, it was so unbelievably humid and sticky, we found ourselves drenched in sweat all day long. Since we wanted to visit the Grand Palace and the famous Wat Arun temple, we had to dress conservatively too which didn’t help the sweat situation. Nevertheless, we bought an all-day tourist boat pass to travel up and down the Chao Phraya river, stopping off at the Grand Palace to take some snaps and buy some beautiful obligatory sarongs. Yep – the ones in bright colours with elephants printed all over them –and for just £2 I’ve never been so happy with a purchase. It feels like the generic Brits abroad in Thailand look - I know - but everyone has them here and they’re not only really quite beautiful, but incredibly useful for covering up for temple visits and such like.
After stopping for some lunch and much-needed air con, we jumped back on the boat and headed to Wat Arun – one of Thailand’s best-known Buddhist temples. This staggering landmark is really a sight to behold, covered in intricately painted buddha and elephant designs, and standing tall at over 70 meters high. It also boasts beautiful views over the river and Wat Pho, making it well worth the 50 baht entrance price.
As we started to tire, we picked up some fresh mango and coconut water, and hopped back on the boat to head back to the hostel for our welcome meeting – side note, I’d decided to start my solo travels on a G Adventures tour to meet new people and get into the swing of things. After meeting our group and tour leader, we headed for a local Thai meal – I opted for chicken and noodles in black bean sauce which was as delicious as I’d hoped. After dinner, an early night called as we headed back to the hostel ahead of our 6am wake-up call for Cambodia, comprising an eight hour bus journey and border crossing.
I will be heading back to Bangkok mid-March with a friend for a couple of days so hope to check out more sights like the floating market and Khaosan Road then.