The grand tour of Bangkok

The last time I visited Bangkok I was a teenager on my gap year. As a teenager I remember visiting Khoa San Road and getting lost amongst all the stalls at Chatuchak Market. Nothing could prepare me though for the bustling metropolis that I arrived to. On arrival at Bangkok airport I decided to board the train for the city centre. Once I arrived at what I thought was the city centre, I soon realized that
Bangkok was a lot bigger than I remembered, with train lines sprawling across the whole city. Tired from the plane journey I jumped into a tuk tuk and after a bit of negotiating on the price (I'm pretty sure I got ripped off) I set off and arrived at my hotel minutes later. Rich was waiting for me at the hotel. I was exhausted from the journey and I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the hotel before going straight to bed.
A friend had recommended for us to do the Co Van Kessel bike tour.
So the next day we arrived at the bike shop ready to explore the city.
The bike tour was fantastic and a truly unique way of seeing the city.
We started off next to the river and then wound our way through the
back alleys of Chinatown, stopping at temples to take pictures,
before crossing over the river to the residential area. We biked
through residential suburbs both poor and rich, and stopped for
lunch on a boat, where we tasted a selection of local food. The tour
finished with a speed boat ride - James Bond style - back to the bike
shop. A truly fantastic experience.
The next day we organized a half day tour to the floating market at Damnoen Saduak. We were picked up from our hotel and driven to

the market. As we arrived we soon realized that the market was a
tourist trap selling trinkets for tourists. We still enjoyed the
experience though as our boat navigated through the narrow canals bumping into other boats full of tourists trying to haggle for clothes, wooden figures and jewellery. On the way back we stopped at a snake
show where Rich got to hold a snake around his neck! We watched
the snake show where the local performers prodded the snakes with
sticks to antagonize them. The worst was when they brought out a
mongoose and python and we watched the mongoose nearly strangle the python to death. I was glad when we left! In the afternoon we went to Khoa San road for a beer and found ourselves having a foot
massage on the street. In the evening we went in search of a bar that Rich had read about. After a hour of looking and stopping off at
Starbucks to use their Wi-Fi we found the bar named The Iron Fairy.
The bar was a mystical oasis with delicious cocktails and live jazz music.
The following day we visited the infamous Jim Thompson house
where the former silk trade owner and ex CIA agent lived. His house
was made up of numerous traditional wooden houses on stilts. Inside the wooden houses was an impressive collection of paintings, sculptures and tapestries. The gardens were lush with ponds full of
lilies and there was a delicious restaurant where we had lunch. In the evening we went to the Banyan Tree hotel which was just down the
road from our hotel. The hotel has a fantastic roof top bar overlooking the city and we had drinks while admiring the view.
The next day Rich had to go to work, so I took myself on another day
trip, this time going to visit the ancient temples of Ayutthaya and the Summer palace. We set off in a coach and made our way out of the
city. Bangkok has one of the worst traffic rates in the world and we
spent a lot of time sat in traffic. After an hour or so we arrived at the
Ayutthaya Temple. Ayuthhaya was the old capital city of Thailand but
all that was left now was the crumbling ruins of the old palace. The

architecture was similar to Cambodia's Angkor Wat and was
impressive even in its deteriorating state. Afterwards we visited the Summer Palace which was a summer retreat for the Royal family. The golden temple in the lake was the most impressive structure. The
gardens were pleasant to walk around and you could see why the
Royal family would escape the city in the heat of summer and retreat
to the summer palace next to the lakes.
On my last day I visited the Grand Palace. I had a private tour guide
who explained all the different buildings. The Grand Palace was a
huge complex of pagoda's and temples with Buddha’s set in gold and emerald. My tour guide showed me around the vast complex and told me the history of the Royal family. It was extremely crowded and full
of people trying to have their picture taken. It was a fascinating place
to visit and a great end to my trip.