This was our first day of touring with ‘Tour with Thailand’. Our guide, Vanna met us in the lobby at 8.30 am. Our driver, Jai, took us in an air conditioned Toyota 4WD to the GrandPalace to tour the temples. Vanna shared her knowledge of Thai culture with us and made sure we tried to use Thai phrases for basic communication.

We were amazed by the number of Buddhas in the temple area and how each has their own ‘attitude’ and cultural meaning.

After the GrandPalace we moved to see Wat Pho, the Reclining Buddha, then  took a ferry across to the Chao PhrayaRiver to the Wat Arun (temple of Dawn). We didn’t climb it as it was very hot and humid. We saw school students who had entered cooking and fruit carving competitions sitting in beautiful chiffon style dresses – I felt so sorry for them in the heat.

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Next we boarded a long tail boot for a canal cruise. What an eye opener to see the level of housing right in the city. The floods in 2011 caused a lot of damage to houses and many houses look like they could collapse at any moment as the wooden piers are rotted and the floor boards are breaking away. We are very lucky to live in Australia in the houses we have.

We stopped to feed the catfish – there were hundreds. It is illegal to catch them as they clean the canals. As we moved further around we saw children sitting on their verandahs over the river feeding the fish.

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Our last stop was the Flower Market – beautiful flowers and so cheap.

So back to our hotel – and you guessed it – straight across the road for another foot massage.

Michelle booked us in to the Banyan Tree for dinner so we can watch the sunset over Bangkok. We left Siam Square about 5.30 pm and the traffic was horrendous due to Songkran festivities. At the Banyon Tree we took the lift to the 59^th floor then walked up 2 more to level 61 where the Vertigo bar and restaurant are located. Wow, what a view, and it wasn’t sunset yet.

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We had drinks and dinner (5 star) and it was fabulous. Cost about $125 pp. As we were on the rooftop it was still quite warm but the view was worth it.

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When our taxi took us back to our hotel the roads were closed for Songkram so we had to walk the last few blocks through the concert area. It was almost all cleaned up and ready for the next day – very efficient.