BANGKOK!

The organisation involved in disembarking 100s of travellers, re-uniting them with their luggage, and delivering them all to the right vehicle, be it bus, van or cab, then to hotels or the airport is truly a wonder to behold.

The cab to the city took over two hours! It’s a long way, but mostly fast motorway. Amazingly, our room was ready for us when we checked in at 11am! And a fabulous room we have again., with a view along the river. We are getting very used to this luxury travel… MUCH different to when I was last here, backpacking in the 70s. I prefer this kind of travel at my advanced age.

Well, we’ve booked up several exciting activities through the hotel. A Thai cooking lesson!! JR was very keen, and I’m keen to see if they can actually teach me anything…we go to the market first to pick the ingredients. How exciting is that! Also booked an evening buffet cruise that leaves from our hotel, so all easy to get to.

Today we popped across the river, on the free hotel ferry, to the most vast, over-the-top, glitzy shopping centre in the world (possibly) - and we thought Edinburgh’s new St James Quarter was ‘up there’ in world shopping centres… it’s NOT. (and I’m happy with that.)

I got vertigo on the escalators - I couldn’t stand on the view side! Eight floors up FULL of shops. I spotted an ice cream counter, but I couldn’t get a vanilla ice cream. No - it came with a big lump of sweet potato on top! Don’t think it’ll catch on in the UK.

A freshen up, then down for Happy Hour in the fabulous bar in the hotel - huge windows looking out on the river.

We popped out for a wander in the streets near the hotel. Lots of massage parlours and silk shops and restaurants. We chose a very busy restaurant, but it served mainly Italian food. We both had a delicious meal of grilled aubergine, feta, salad with balsamic vinegar. Perfect. I WILL have that sticky rice, coconut cream and mango pudding soon!


Photos show a HUGE photo of the Thai King hanging down a skyscraper. His photos are everywhere… (Don’t give King Charles any ideas…)

View from our room, with the pool below.

That strange delicacy - ice cream with sweet potato. It looks obscenely large here, but was just a couple of inches.