Bangkok, Thailand
Got in late on the 21st, checked into hotel, had dinner and slept off the jet lag
22nd went to the MBK mall - some good stuff there but also some not so good (backpacks haven’t held up too well). Took a walk through talat noi afterwards which was cool and worth seeing (narrow streets with cafes etc) then walked to Chinatown. Chinatown is chaos at night but worth a visit, we ate at a Michelin recognised (not to be confused with a Michelin star) restaurant for £2.50 each…
23rd went had a temple day. Went to Wat Pho first then onto the grand palace and Wat Phra Kaew. The temples are impressive but become a bit repetitive after a while so we gave up after those. Sidenote: if someone tells you the grand palace is shut until the afternoon and offers to take you on a tuktuk to see other sites before it opens back up, it is a scam, we got scammed £2.50 (between us). Tried Pad Thai for the first time then went on to khaosan road, we went during the day and avoided the night time chaos but was still good to see. Then we headed to songwat road, had a beer by the river and stumbled upon the wildest, narrowest, longest and busiest street full of shops.
24th we left for the airport to leave Bangkok.
Overall 3 nights was enough in Bangkok for our first stop despite not having much time on the 21st. It’s a must visit but the place is crazy, traffic is uncontrollable to say the least (taxi journeys always take considerably longer than the map says, to the point you are almost always better on public transport) and crossing the road is an extreme sport here.