Bangkok

Relaxing...

We got an overnight train from Suratthani (the nearest train station to Koh Phangan) all the way up to Bangkok. It took around 12 hours and really wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t sooo cold. They really pumped up the air-con! When we arrived at 6am, we went to bed and eventually made it out to explore the area in the afternoon. We found lots of street food and massage parlours; both of which we tried out, of course! And perhaps a manicure/pedicure too. We went to a nice, if slightly pricy, restaurant for dinner. Yes, $7 per meal, that’s pricy! But it was delicious. I’ve fallen in love with Thai curries. After dinner we went to the local night markt. So different to all the other markers we’ve been to. They just want to rip you off..instead of starting at $5 for a pair of knock-off sunglasses, they’d start at at least $20. Surely no one falls for that. We managed to easily get them down to $2. 

Our very own PAD THAI!

Early the next morning we headed off for a Thai cooking class. This was probably one of the biggest highlights not only of Bangkok but of Thailand. As no one else had signed up that day we got a private class! This meant that we could pick which meals to cook. After making our selection we headed to the market to buy all the ingredients. Over a four hour class we made pad thai, two soups (Tom Yum & Tom Ka) two curries (Green & Penang) a papaya salad, and a sticky rice/coconut/mango dessert. I was most excited about pad thai but ended up being most impressed by the dessert. Jo and I are officially in love with sticky rice. With any luck I’ll come home a professional Thai chef. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Afterwards we went to the Grand Palace. It was not like anything I’ve ever seen before, I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s full of beautiful buildings, most of which are decorated with gold. And there’s an amazing temple; the temple of the Emerald Buddha. Inside almost everything is gold, except of course the Emerald Buddha. It’s stunning. I read briefly about the history of the little Emerald Buddha, how he has moved between many countries over time. He’s not very big but he sits perched in the middle of the huge temple. 

The following day we went to the Chatachuk weekend market. I reckon it’s the biggest market I’ve ever been to. They had everything you could possibly imagine; from shoes, to jewellery, to homewares, to food, to massages. Yes, we got another massage, a foot massage. Not a good one. We shopped until we ran out of money, then spent the remainder of our last day in Thailand lying by the pool. 

Goodbye Thailand... And hello Cambodia! My last stop!