Our plan is to visit the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha today, two of the most important sights in the city. But on arrival we discover that Andy is not suitably dressed; sleeveless T-shirt and shorts not being acceptable. Instead we decide ride the Sky Train. There are two lines which run through the central part of the city north to south-east. We take a tut-tut to the nearest station at Victory Monument which is some way from where we are staying near the river. The Sky Train runs on an elevated track similar to the Docklands Light Railway in London, but is a considerably smoother ride We buy a ticket to the end of the line at On Nut to the south just for the experience – we aren’t going with any particular destination in mind. From the train we get quite a good view of the more modern side of the city, but we are not prepared for what awaits us at the end of the line – a massive Tesco Superstore much along the same lines as you find in the UK! Back at Victory Monument a taxi back to the hotel confirms our suspicions that the tut-tut we took earlier significantly over-charged. No more tut-tuts for us – the metered taxis are much better value, they are air conditioned and there are no choking exhaust fumes to contend with.
Bangkok is a dirty city – there are cockroaches in the streets and a glimpse of some restaurant kitchens is enough to make you wonder how people survive eating out. Our hostel, though is clean and well presented. The kitchen, interestingly, is in the reception area and is re-assuringly clean and tidy. Breakfast is a self-service affair and it’s a scramble to get a table as there are not enough for the number of guests. And unusually, guests are expected to wash up their own crockery and cutlery when they finish! A novel arrangement – presumably it keeps prices down.