Bangkok is brilliant. Thais are such wonderfully warm, gentle and hospitable people, it’s almost impossible not to have a fabulous time in the Kingdom. We loved BKK!
Check out my Bangkok photos over at Flickr
Thailand’s turbocharged capital is initially chaotic, and traffic remains insanely congested despite all the new expressways, but the city is safe, clean and significantly cheaper than Hong Kong (our other leading contender at this stage).
We arrived in the “cool season”, with temperatures averaging 33 degrees. So, warm climate, warm people, a monarchy where they worship their King, some of the world’s tastiest nosh, plus Amazing Thailand on your doorstep. All almost halfway between London and Sydney as the crow flies. And Thai’s love Premiership football even more the English. What’s not to like?
Arriving in BKK fter a 20 hour trip utilising nine different transport methods, we first spent two nights at the stylish boutique guesthouse Phra Nakorn Norn Len, with delightful decor, a lovely shady garden and cute little free-range bunny rabbits: a perfect place for kids.
Next, we were lucky enough to check-in at The Oriental, the Mandarin group’s flagship. Our room was luxury incarnate, service and food unbelievably good, plus we got free business advice from the boss of one of the world’s biggest fashion brands by the pool. To top it all off, we enjoyed our first ever Ayudevedic massage treatment: 5000-year-old method going strong!
Review here: www.travelintelligence.com/bangkok/mandarin-oriental
Our next stop was The Atlanta Hotel, a wonderfully quirky old establishment open 60 years, with the unaltered lobby to prove it.
View the photographs here on Flickr.
When we were not shopping or checking out potential neighbourhoods, Rachelle was tracking down new factories and putting bags through sampling, while I met editors at the Bangkok Post and The Nation, Thailand’s well-established English language newspapers.
Could we live here? We most certainly could: Bangkok is a serious contender.
We are now in Sydney for most of March, before heading across the Pacific. We are fully unpacked for the first time since the start of our trip: a real luxury!