We spent four days in Bangkok at the end of June because of my husband's work, and this trip coincided with my birthday.
I started exploring the city while he was working. First stop was Jim Thompson's house. Jim Thompson was an American former CIA operative who spent 22 years in Thailand rebuilding the silk industry, before mysteriously disappearing in the Cameron Highlands in 1967. His house has now been turned into a museum.
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| in the garden, Jim Thompson house |
The house is beautifully and tastefully decorated.
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| view from Vertigo |
The next day my husband wasn't working, and we took the Chao Phraya express boat along the river of the same name:
Next we visited the spectacular Grand Palace. This has to be one of the most richly decorated royal palaces I've even seen.
The statues of mythological giants are known as yaksha.
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| Giant Swing, near Wat Suthat temple |
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| candles on sale |
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| Democracy monument |
Lastly, to head back to our hotel we took one of the river taxis that ply the klorng (canals) of Bangkok. They go very fast and don't stop for very long, so you have to be ready to jump out or in as soon as they do stop.
In a four day visit we could only scratch the surface of Bangkok, but it gave us a good first-time view of the city, and we'd love to go back some time soon. In any case, it was very different to our following trip, only a few days after we'd got back to Seoul : the Trans-Siberian train across Russia.
If you enjoyed this post you might also like:
- Thailand - the Andaman Coast - our second trip to Thailand
Suggested reading:
- Lonely Planet Thailand (Country Travel Guide)
- Bangkok: Lonely Planet Citiescape (Lonely Planet Citiescape Bangkok)
