Return to The City of Angels.

Community Highlights Asia Return to The City of Angels.

We decided it was time to treat ourselves to a few days away in Bangkok. I reckon it has been well over a decade since we were last here. We first came to Bangkok for Christmas 1997. At that time, when we told people we were going to Bangkok, they were very negative about it, describing it as a huge sprawling concrete mess with gridlocked traffic and excessive heat. In some ways it is, but despite that, we still found lots to love about it and going to Thailand for Christmas became a regular occurrence for us for several years in a row. Then we just started discovering new places and Thailand became largely forgotten. It's been a long time, but we are finally back!!!

We normally came to Thailand around Christmas time in the past. That's winter here and, in my opinion, it's still really hot, though perhaps not unbearable. This time we have come in the rainy season, which is still hot, but with thunderstorms and rain thrown in!!!

I've already done most of the well-known sights here: The Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, The Golden Mount. It's long enough ago that I could do them again, if I want, or not if I don't. I've also been doing a bit of research and discovered quite a few new sights that I have never done. Peter, on the other hand, has his heart set on a resort style holiday centred around the pool. That's definitely his best option nowadays, so I guess I will just have to see how things turn out.

We flew to Bangkok on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong. It took around three hours. The food was not great. We ordered the chicken and rice. I was expecting chicken in some kind of sauce, but it turned out to be deep fried in batter, very greasy and tasteless. I watched " Wicked Little Letters" which starred Olivia Coleman. She's always good in everything. The film came with the usual warnings about adult scenes, violence, bad language. I have started to believe they just put this on everything. However, considering the wicked little letters in the title were rich in abuse, in this case it was certainly an accurate warning about the language. Quite an enjoyable film though and apparently based on true events. Then, I started to watch "One Love" a film about the life of Bob Marley. I couldn't finish it, because we landed, but the music was great and I learned many things about Bob Marley that I didn't know.

Chek Lap Kok International Airport, Hong Kong.

Coming in to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.

We had booked a wheelchair for Peter and we got the person who came to help us to take us to Level One Gate Four. The easiest and quickest way to the city centre is to use the Airport Rail Link then change to the SkyTrain, but this is now not so easy for Peter, so we decided it was better to get a Grab. Our driver was pleasant. The price was Thai Baht 350 and we were taken right to the door of our accommodation.

We passed this building on the Grab ride to the hotel.

We had booked three nights in The Novotel, Siam Square. Our room was on the executive floor and included lounge access. This means Peter doesn't need to traipse around looking for a restaurant, but can eat in the hotel. Nowadays with his eyesight and mobility issues this is our most sensible option. Our room was very nice and, as is normal in Thailand, it had been made very attractive with a bed covered in orchids and an elephant made out of towels.

Our room.

Peter in our room.

Towel elephant.

Eddie bonding with the towel elephant.

Our room had great views. It looked out towards the SkyTrain and a wat that I decided I would go and visit later.

View from our room including the SkyTrain.

Overlooking the wat.

Overlooking an old building.

View from our window as it started to get dark.

It was evening cocktail hour in the lounge shortly after our arrival, so we showered, changed and headed downstairs. There were two hot dishes which didn't really appeal to us. One because it was a bit boney and one because it was seafood and I was worried that it may contain scallops which I am allergic to. We mainly stuck to bread, cheese and cold meats.

In the Novotel Kuala Lumpur we had a lovely server but she didn't seem to think people should drink too much alcohol. In this Novotel, the server replenished our drinks the instant we put them down. I joked that she had sixth sense and she said it was true and showed me the wine I was drinking, a French brand called 6 Sens. She said the bottle whispered to her when I needed more. She was quite funny.

After dinner Peter just wanted to relax, so I went for a stroll in the area around the hotel. Siam is one of the major shopping areas of Bangkok, so it is filled with many different shopping malls such as: Siam Paragon, Siam Square One, Siam Centre and Centre point Siam Square. I am so not a shopper, but I had a wander nonetheless.

I was on the street nicknamed Siam Walking Street. It was certainly suitable for walking without traffic and lined with restaurants and shops. It was filled with bright lights and there were lots and lots of people. It reminded me very much of Japan. I took lots of photos.

On the walking street.

Passing tuk tuk.

On the walking street.

Then I wandered off the walking street and found a shrine filled with zebras. I was surprised by this, as I don't associate zebras with Thailand. I googled 'Why is there a zebra shrine near Siam Square?' later and discovered that Thailand has many zebra shrines. Noone is certain why, but I found several suggestions. One was that zebra shrines are associated with zebra crossings and safety. Thus zebra shrines are found near traffic blackspots where there are many accidents and they are there to cancel out bad luck. Another suggestion was that the flower garlands found at Thai shrines are called 'maa lai' and the Thai word for zebra is 'ma lai‘ , so putting zebras in shrines is a play on words. I don't know if either of these are true, but the zebras are certainly cute.

Shrine in the park.

Elephants and zebras.

Elephants, horses and zebras.

Zebra and shrine.

Banyan tree.

After looking at the shrine, I had a wander through Siam Sky Train Station to a couple of shopping centres on the other side of the main road: the Siam Centre and Siam Paragon. I passed a shop dedicated to Liverpool FC on the way.

Heading into Siam Station.