Bangkok - Saturday 3 September 2016

Woke early. Lots to see today.

Caught Skytrain to Central Pier to catch Express Boat to Grand Palace.

Skytrain...sounds more futuristic than it is...

Got on the wrong boat which only goes back and forth across river. D'oh. Came back to starting point and got on right one up river. Crowded but fun. Pay a small amount onboard to a girl with a tray thing.

The river is a main artery and good way to get around.

Central Pier...

It's warm but not unbearable.

Had a nice breakfast at a local restaurant somewhere up river. Nice pad thai.

Went into Grand Palace. Very busy. Joined a free walking tour which was good. Very impressive temples and statues.

Left after a couple of hours and walked next door to Wat Pho - Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Much less busy. Impressive.

Then caught boat across river to Wat Arun. Had scaffolding on it and couldn't be climbed. Nice to see.

Boat back to Central Pier and Skytrain back to hotel.

Grand Hyatt Erawan lobby...

Had a quick rest then back to Central Pier by Skytrain. Skytrain is good but you need the right change which is a bit annoying as you can only buy tickets at a machine. The have people at the ticket office but all they do is give you change for the machine...

Got a feeling for the scale of the city. Very large and spread out. Doesn't seem to be a city centre per se.

Then caught special Mandarin Oriental water taxi to Mandarin Oriental. Had a nice beer at Verandah Bar. Even at a nice hotel, drinks very reasonably priced.

Mandarin Oriental boat...posh...

Then back on Skytrain to meet some work colleagues for dinner. Had drinks by the pool at their hotel (Sheraton Grande) then dinner at nice outdoor restaurant called Rosabieng.

Back to hotel and crashed.

Erawan Shrine right next to my hotel. It was bombed in 2015 and 20 people died.

Skytrain on tracks above the road...

Traffic...no worse than Sydney...