Bangkok

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After a short hop from Malaysia we have now landed in the buzzing metropolis of Bangkok. This is a city of two halves - old and new. We have been staying in the modern part of the city which is full of glitzy shopping malls and serviced by the impressive Skytrain network (a bit like the DLR, but better). The old part of the city is where the main tourist attractions are - the Grand Palace and a Wat round every corner.

We had an eventful journey into town when our ferry broke down and started drifting across the river into the path of an approaching tug! We somehow avoided a collision, and were all transferred to a replacement boat which continued up the river.

The Grand Palace, old temples and trendy shopping malls

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Once safely back on dry land, our first stop was the Grand Palace. The complex contains a number of temples and other buildings of various styles. The scale of the decorations on the buildings is amazing, and there are fascinating murals of historic scenes on the walls surrounding the palace.

We also visited Wat Pho, which houses the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, a spectacular sight at 15 metres high and 46 metres long, completely covered in gold.