orwellianTwo

Well I didn’t make to Wat Arun for the sunrise on Wednesday. Never mind. But what else did you expect…

Later that day I flew down to Ko Samui for six nights, and now we find ourselves on Chaweng beach, its biggest town and hottest nightspot, round the corner from the airport. The narrow high street is crammed with bars, restaurants, beach clubs, more bars, more beach clubs, and every now and then through it goes a convoy of pickups advertising the latest club event or the upcoming Thai boxing night – not just any Muay Thai night but The BEST of The BEST!

But you don’t want to hear about any of that do you. You’re just here for the beach pics, right? Here they are.

Leaving so soon guys?

The tiny islet of Ko Mat Lang.

There’s more to Samui than Chaweng, and even more islands to pop over. Tomorrow we’ll see more of Samui, but now it’s happy hour! Cheers!

Bangkok is a huge, pulsating megalopolis bursting with traffic, fumes, people, energy. Any opportunity to shut out the noise for a while should be taken and cherished.

Lumphini Park, in the southwest of the city centre, was created by King Rama VI of (then called) Siam in the 1920s.

That’s him there.

It’s not very big, but like all such parks you don’t have to go too far before the sound of the roads subsided and…everything…just…chills…

I for one was grateful. These were taken on the Tuesday after the Monday night before.

Time to head back into the city…

…and its frantic mix of South-East Asian tradition, and the very now.

Monday, after Wat Arun, further up along the Thonburi bank.

Bangkok’s elevated BTS Skytrain metro is a world-class public transport system that rivals anything we have in Britain.

The normal overground railway, isn’t.

This is Thonburi station, Bangkok’s second terminus. I think it’s rather more charming than the BTS.

One of the great attractions of Bangkok is seeing its breakneck modernisation sit next door to the ramshackle older world – sprawling clumps of achingly hip skyscrapers (there are lots of clumps) towering over faded shopfronts, Dickensian-dark workshops and corrugated shacks.

In the distance, not really a Bangkok-style clump, more of a freckle.

Ok.

So here’s my new blog, and we’re going to be covering my return trip to South East Asia.

I was hoping to push something out yesterday (Monday) but got a little delayed. More later.

Anyway…

So here we are in Bangkok, hot, smoggy, stunning Bangkok, and we’re on the best place to be on a steamy, sticky day – the river.

Where are we going? To one of Bangkok’s essential sights, the Grand Palace, and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Sounds exotic. However half the world thinks so as well, and I got there to find the place rammed with visitors. Not the best place to be standing around when it’s hot. (As we’ll see, my plans are subject to revision and even cancellation). So, it was over the river to something you may recognise…

Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, used to house the Emerald Buddha (which we’re not seeing of course) before the capital was moved to the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya river in the 18th century.

In the 19th century the king had the spires done up with porcelain and coloured glass inlays. Last time I came they were under scaffold, but the renovators have been and gone and a splendid job they made of it.

Temple of the Dawn? The panels are highly reflective and the whole thing turns golden in the light of sunrise, and at sunset. They don’t look too shabby at midday either.

I’m hoping to come again tomorrow morning.

This western bank of the river is actually the Thonburi side. I hadn’t been here before and I fancied a look so got on the tourist boat and headed upstream to the train station – pictures later.

So that was that, and it was back down the river to my hotel.

Which isn’t one of these.

Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand, is 70 km away and its fabulous ruins and streets are a must-see. It was one of the reasons I came back to Bangkok and I’d lined it up for today, Tuesday.

However I hooked up with some other travellers around the famous Khan San Road last night – and got to bed at five. I’m writing this blog post at ten to two in the afternoon, still in bed. This is my last day in Bangkok. Ayutthaya will have to wait.

So I’m going to have to come back again!