A Grand Day Out

2nd November 2012

After our busy day I was expecting to fall asleep as soon as I got tucked up in my sleeping bag liner but that was not to be. Instead I stayed up all night listening to Taylor Swift and reading my Kindle with a head torch. At one point I got up and looked out the window which was really cool – I had a clear view of a little side street and it was completely deserted apart from a dog, which was probably rabid and most definitely had fleas as it was rolling all over the road but who doesn't love dogs?!

Despite my sleepless night, Rory insisted I got up before noon and after a minor protest on my part, we were up, showered and on our way to the Grand Palace. We took a Tuk Tuk which at100Bhat (about £2) was much cheaper than a taxi and pretty cool if a little terrifying. The Grand Palace was a bit expensive, 400Bhat (£8) each but it included several temples and it's the sort of thing you should do when you're in Bangkok, or at least that's what our Lonely Planet travel book says.

The Palace and temples are unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was like being in Mulan. I kept waiting for the Huns to attack so we could get down to business and defeat them. We also thought the place was extremely well kept, everything was clean and despite its age, the Palace and temples were in really good condition. If you plan on going to the Grand Palace make sure you're wearing long trousers and a top that covers your shoulders. It was ridiculously warm but it has to be done – you can wait and hire trousers or a sarong but it's much easier and faster to just come prepared. I wore trousers from home but I'm going to purchase some parachute/MC Hammer style traveller trousers with some sort of groovy print on them, they look excellent.

After a few hours at the Palace we had a quick walk around the surrounding area and braved another Tuk Tuk ride. Once again it was 100Bhat and both exciting and insanely dangerous. If Thailand has a Highway Code everyone needs to brush up on it. The concept of indication and keeping in the proper lane is completely lost on people here but I haven't seen an accident yet so it's obviously working for them. We wanted to see a few more temples but with the heat, malaria tablets and my lack of sleep I couldn't face trekking all over Bangkok so we came back to the hotel and had a swim which was excellent because you can't be sweaty and gross when you're swimming.

We also hadn't had anything to eat and while we did consider braving street food, we decided to go back to the restaurant we went to yesterday. I had the yellow curry and Rory went for some sort of chicken stir-fry. Our meal came to 285Bhat so just under £6. In an attempt to keep costs down (after splashing that £8 on the temple visit) we came back to the hotel and got packed up. It's amazing how messy a room can get in three nights! Bangkok has been fun, if a little strange but we're off to Sukhothai tomorrow which is the old capital of Thailand and promises some pretty cool ruins - if we can get up that is!