Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen

I had never been to Bangkok before and the adjectives for it are enormous, crazy and scorching hot.

It’s a city of massive contradictions.  The traffic is like nowhere I’ve ever seen.  Apparently it has the second most congested traffic in the world, with more than 4.5 million people living in the city.  We spent over 2 hours trying to go 4 kms in rush hour.

There is public transport including an MRT train line, buses and the ever present tuktuks.  If you haven’t been on one before they are great fun on a night out, with bright neon bands and music pumping.  They are also slightly terrifying as the drivers also have a blatant disregard for the rules of the road, and I swear one went up on two wheels when we were going around a corner.  Like with taxis, a good tip is to agree a price before you set off.

You can also get to where you need to go along the water, with ferries and river taxis being cheap and frequent.

You’ll be surrounded by food wherever you go, and you can’t walk more than a couple of metres without finding a food stall providing cheap and tasty food of every description or cold drinks that you will definitely need.  The food from the food stalls was great and cheap, as always look for stalls where the locals are eating and have a good turnover, and don’t get cocky with the chillies they are wickedly hot.  I guarantee you’ll become addicted to the mango and coconut sticky rice sold everywhere.

I was staying near the ICON SIAM Mall and if you want to enjoy a variety of Thai food with some air con it has one of the best and prettiest food courts I have ever seen, with sections offering food from each region of Thailand, as well as food from other Asian countries. You can also pick up pretty cool food related gifts here too.

As a keen cook I treated myself to a morning learning to cook Thai dishes and included a visit to a local food market and tuktuk ride back to the cookery school.  Ping, at the Sabeing cookery school was our guide/instructor and gave lots of really is interesting information about Thai cuisine and ingredients and if you get a chance to visit Bangkok I would definitely recommend it.

As a kid I was enthralled by the movie, ‘The King and I’  (I only learned recently that the Thai people are not fans of the film, and in hindsight I can understand why it is problematic) but still wanted to see the royal palace, which did not disappoint.  Richly decorated and full of history, it was everything I hoped it would be.  I also walked another 10 minutes along the river to Wat Pho, the temple is the site of the giant reclining Buddha.  (Quick traveller tip, on the way to Wat Pho you may be approached by tour guides telling you the site is closed today, but they can show you other sites, this is usually a scam)

 Like most sacred sites and in the palace you’ll be expected to cover up if you’re showing too much skin, and behave respectfully.    Within the grounds of the temple there is a massage school, and if you’re tired from site seeing, this is a perfect chance to rest and have an exceptional massage for around £10.

I would recommend everyone to treat yourself to an authentic Thai massage if you’re visiting, and prices seemed to range from £6-£10.  If you’ve never had an authentic Thai massage before you’ll probably be asked to change into loose pyjamas and you’ll lie on a low platform often in the same room as other patrons.   Then a very sweet smiley lady about the size of a nine year old boy will twist you like a pretzel and work you over like you owed her money, using her hands, elbows, knees and feet.  Don’t be surprised if they kneel on you, digging both their knees into your butt cheeks. However, stick with it because you’ll feel like a million dollars after it.

Bangkok is famous for its night life, and if you’ve ever watched The Hangover 2, it’s totally within the realms of possibility that some people could go totally wild.   I didn’t get a chance to visit Kaoh San Road (which by all accounts is the place to go if you’re interested in hard-core partying). I did visit the Pat Pong night market which was good for knock off clothes and tourist tat.  It also has a pretty vibrant bar scene.  Some hostess bars had worrying young looking girls enticing customers in (I’m trying not to be judgmental, as I was talking to a young Thai woman at my hotel who looked about 11 but was actually 22).  Street touts will also try to encourage you into drag shows  and “ping pong” shows (and we’re not table tennis!)

Bangkok is pretty hectic, but you should definitely be able to find something you’ll love whether it’s food, shopping, nightlife or history and culture.