Bangkok - Day 2

Today didn't exactly get off to an exciting start- I slept in till 9.30 and missed breakfast. I'm determined not to beat myself up about that though. After all it is a holiday and getting lots of sleep was one of my goals.

So when I finally did get rolling I headed of in the direction of the Lonely Plant walking tour. First stop a leisurely boat taxi down the river. Sadly although scenic this was not much better than the canal taxi yesterday. Still black and murky, but this time I saw people swimming in it! Yuck.

Then to a variety of temples - Wat Phra Kaew to see the emerald Buddha and former royal residences; Wat Pho to see a massive reclining gold Buddha (must be the length of the aisle at All Saints') and then Wat Arun which looks more like Cambodian temples (from the pictures I've seen) than the Thai temples. All interesting, colourful buildings and grounds and a nice change from Cathedrals and now Japanese shrines and temples. Not that they're not interesting, just nice for a change. At Wat Pho they have a variety of services, aside from the usual temple fare, including Thai massage and palm reading. I opted for the palm reading which was interesting, but I'm a bit skeptical as everything he told me might be applicable to any late 20's single traveller - marriage, children, gypsy like life style. Move now or your time will be over... Somethings seemed spot on but how much of a leap those predictions were to make is really anyone's guess.

Then tonight a bit of luxury - dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant. Really I didn't go for the food, it was the setting that made it worthwhile. It was in their luxurious grounds, next to a fountain and the presentation was quite something. All this not far off the main shopping strip and all the traffic and crowds that entails. A bit of tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle. And really for the price I paid I think I can safely call it affordable luxury, considering when I had to pay 60 cents for water earlier today I scoffed as this was 3 times as much as I'd paid yesterday... Really the other outposts of this hotel chain would be ashamed to know how little their Bangkok counterpart was charging for food.

I think I'm going to have to leave the pictures for tomorrow. It's getting late and the internet place is about to close.

Good night from Bangkok.