This morning we woke bright and early at 7am and got ready to go to the Grand Palace to see the Emerald Buddha temple. We had an iced coffee and munched on some dried mango and began the 10 minute walk. People in Bangkok must not walk anywhere because within 200m we had been approached by well over 5 tuk tuks. That or we are white British travelers with presumably lots of cold hard cash.

We arrived at the Grand Palace and took in the detail of the architecture. The temple and surrounding area left no building untouched by Asian influence. Taking inspiration from Sri Lanka, the temple grounds housed golden spires with relics inside. A contemporary Thai library housed a scripture written in mother of pearl. On entering the main temple, I was surprised that the emerald Buddha was as big as my head, I was expecting something larger. The Emerald Buddha was in its rainy season dress- much more prepared for the oncoming downpour than Robin or I. The Buddha compensated with the encompassing golden shrine which put even the most decadent Catholic Church to shame. We moved round the complex to the grand palace and the silk museum. We viewed hundreds of outfits worn by the Queens mother of Thailand. She was a stylish lady with a favorite dress of gold silk. Some of her outfits would’ve suited Queen Liz just fine like the purple two piece we spotted. The members of the consort wear a different silk pattern based on their rank and role with some taking considerably more time to make than others. We left the museum just as the heavens opened and drenched everything below.

Next stop was the famous reclining Buddha Wat Pho which we renamed ‘Wet Foot’ following the rain. This Buddha was huge and made up for the Emerald Buddha. No shrine compensation needed here!

For lunch we ventured into Chinatown to an area called Yaowarat where we found the busiest looking place and sat down. We ordered a minced pork rolled noodle broth with spring onion for the equivalent of £0.90! I found it yummy but Robin hated it and so off we trotted to a 7/11. She got a spicy chicken roll. Forgetting the 200 baht (£4) card limit we also found ourselves some face masks and even more snacks.

We returned to the hostel for a well needed nap before we head out to Khaosan Road for a night of street food, speakeasy’s, and rooftop bars.

-M