World Trip 2011

With much of our travel and visas etc locked away, today we explored a bit more of the sights and sounds of Bangkok. First stop was the Golden Buddah which is about 3.5 tonnes of solid gold atop a pituresque 4 storey temple. We kept travelling by foot from there westward towards the river and eventually located a ferry stop. We took about 3 stops northbound for 14 baht each and then disembarked for a brief walk to Wat Pho, the site of one of the largest reclining (i.e lying down) Buddah's going around. However before we could find the entrace we were sweet talked into a tuk-tuk tour which fairly quickly became clear was a waste of time so we called it off at the first stop and caught a taxi to check out Siam Square.Siam Square is apparently the hip and happening place for shopping and being seen for young, wealthy Thais and also seems to attract it's fair share of wealthy tourists looking for real-deal clothing and accessories rather than the cheap imittions available at the many street markets. It was interesting to see, but not really my cup of tea so after dinner we thought we'd head back to our hostel. I'm not sure exactly why but for some reason we ended up walking the 3km back home which meant we were bloody exhausted by the time we got there. Sometimes hailing taxis is almost as exhausting though as many drivers speak very little english which makes it hard to give directions, as well as some refusing to take you if it doesn't suit them, or refusing to switch on the meter...such is Bangkok!Anyway back at our hostel we recouperated with some food and a shower, a beer or two before taking yet anoher taxi to the Banyan Tree Hotel to check out the Vertigo Bar located on the roof of the 61st floor. It is a truly spectacular view, expecially given it is all unenclosed with only handrails around the sides. The drinks were massively overpriced (as we'd been warned) so we drank our drinks slowly while we enjoyed the view. Afterwards back at the hotel we played some cards and enjoyed another drink before calling it a night.