Bangkok

Thailand is one of those countries and Bangkok is one of those cities that I can never get enough of. Every time I go back, I discover something new--a beach, a temple, a new food at a street vendor. There's a vibrancy and a kindness from the 'land of a thousand smiles' that keeps me coming back. Some of this desire to be somewhere kind was also down to the China effect--the in-your-face nature of day-to-day dealings in Shanghai has a way of wearing you down. And so I embraced Thailand with open arms.

Upon arrival in Bangkok, Rosa and I picked up Paul and made our way to the Sukhumvit region of the city. A nap later, we made our way to some old haunts including a ride through the city's canals on a longtail boat:

From there, we wound our way around one of the city's random food markets. One that pops up on the side of a road and goes on for miles. Standard pad thai was our first meal:

Our next and only Bangkok temple stop was to the world famous Wat Po, home to the 46 meter long golden Reclining Buddha. Beside this claim to fame, it's also known as the birthplace of Thai Massage. A school and discounted (as if they needed to be) massage centre are part of the temple complex, all above board, of course.

Here hundreds of Buddhas sit, stand, recline across the vast complex of temples. It's fabulous: 

 

Our classy borrowed indoor temple clothing, to cover our hussy knees and shoulders: 

Buddha languidly reclines, without emotion: 

For the rest of our little two-day stop, we wandered, people watched and attended some of the finer rooftop drinking establishments. Jay, my friend from high school, and his wife, Beth, met us for dinner and regaled us with the international life in the city. No surprises that they loved it, though I did question their ability to cope in the humidity.

What was particularly interesting was Beth and Jay's view of the coup that took place in May 2014. Thailand is no stranger to a peaceful coup and as such, life continued on fairly normally. For tourists, taxi rates became more regulated; but sadly, so did the ubiquitous street food vendors. In the background, large-scale constitutional reforms were taking place. The long-term effects of these are still to be seen but they seemed to place more power in the hands of the military. The press, particularly Western media, said little about the events taking place and so Beth and Jay's friends reacted either in panicked shock or not at all. No surprise there, really.

After one final Thai massage, a manicure and a spicy Thai curry, our time in the capital came abruptly to an end. Rosa made her way back to Vietnam and Paul and I ventured to Railai beach, via flight to Phuket. 

Onward to find more fantastic wonders of Thailand!