After our short but eventful time in Myanmar we moved on to Bangkok in Thailand where things couldn’t have got off to a more un-cultured start! We met up with my friend Mostyn mid-afternoon and, after a spot of late-lunch, the plan was for Mostyn and I to go and see a famous tourist attraction but in the end we plumped for the Penis Shrine!! This is a small garden full of carved stone and wooden cocks surrounding a shrine at the back of a hotel that’s a short walk from Phloen Chit BTS station.

We saw Mostyn again that evening too along with friend and ex-colleague John for a night out on the lash in the Silom area. It was great to all be together again and good to catch up with John in such an exciting place and the fantastic mix of champagne, beer and yellow curry could certainly be felt the following morning!!

William was the next colleague to be met the following day where we had some $1 noodles for lunch whilst sitting amid the relative calmness of Lumpini Park

Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace by express boat were next for Rina and I due to a feeling of obligation rather than a real desire to go there! I’d been there before but thought she should see at least one or two of the famous temples in that same area as you surely can’t go to Bangkok and not view a few of its majestic temples can you?

Luckily our time in Bangkok coincided with the Chatuchak Weekend Market in the north of Bangkok which is a huge monstrous market selling just about everything under the sun. Ethan and I actually went here back in 2008 and we both enjoyed it despite not liking shopping!

Kao San Road is probably the most famous backpackers hideout in the world. I wasn’t really planning on going there this time but when it came up in conversation a few days before Rina seemed interested in seeing what it was all about and I thought it might be nice to see another side of Bangkok! It was quite strange being on this road and seeing absolutely everything displayed in English for the hundreds and hundreds of travellers  congregated in this area.

Street food was a staple part of our daily food intake and we had some great stuff at ridiculously low prices but we decided to splash out a bit more one night at a very popular restaurant in Silom. Now, I’m more than happy to just eat hawker food most of the time but it’s got to be said that the restaurant food we tried was absolutely lovely.

We then flew up to Chiang Mai for four nights over the New Year period. In among all the temples were some really amazing day trips. The elephant is the national symbol of Thailand and wherever you go you see them whether it be elephant souvenirs, stone elephants outside temples or posters of elephants being used to promote tours. We took one of those tours to do some elephant training and there was a stop at the fantastically named Elephant Poopoopaper Park en-route.

It was Rina’s first time to get up close and proper with the elephants, and she found it an incredible experience. More details here.

Animal experiences really don’t come more unique than what we did at Tiger Kingdom.  More details here.

It was then back to Bangkok for a few more days which included a couple of day trips mixed in with lots of eating, some shopping and meeting more friends.

Snake Farm in Silom provided another exciting animal moment. More details here.

One day trip included Muang Boran; the world’s largest open-air museum which houses 120 duplications, reconstructions and creative designs to educate modern people about the history of the ancient Siam with the layout of the place supposedly corresponding pretty much to the shape of the Kingdom of Thailand.

I had an ulterior motive for visiting this place of course as the ninth James Bond film ‘The Man With The Golden Gun‘ (1974) as well as ‘The Hangover Part II‘ (2011) used the place for filming. I also bumped into my number one Chinese friend Yayu there which was a hell of a surprise. More details here.

One of the things I really wanted to do was take a day trip to Kanchanaburi to do the bridge on the River Kwai tour. The bridge seen in the 1957 movie was actually a far more aesthetically pleasing one in Sri Lanka. The tour included the Allied War Cemetery, the JEATH museum, picture displays, a market and the bridge itself which could’ve merited the whole time but sadly we were given very limited time there. That’s tours for you!

One highlight of the day was feeding a young leopard.

We then went on the Death Railway with the best part of the journey being the creaking wooden Wampo Viaduct (Wang Po) where the train passes through some wonderful scenery. More details here.

This really was an epic trip full of so many wonderful and great moments. We vowed to return but probably did not expect it to be just 2.5 years later!

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper: Wat Is A Thai Temple Doing In The Middle Of Nowhere!’

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback: Time To Revisit Thailand To Travel Around Phuket, Bangkok & Ayutthaya (2008)’

Click here to read ‘Thailand 2016 Pt IV: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market’

Click here to read ‘Thailand 2016 Pt II: Dining Out In Bangkok’