Day 97: Bangkok

Claire: It's Chinese New Year, so a trip to Chinatown was a must! Bangkok's Yaowaraj is the largest Chinatown outside China so we knew the streets would be alive with celebrations, traditional dancers and red lanterns. The actual dragon parade was on New Years Day (yesterday) but we still caught some action and enjoyed some of the entertainment! So much colour! 

Heading towards the Chao Phraya River we weaved through the alleys of Chinatown's market stalls and shops, that sell absolutely EVERYTHING from teddy bears, to tools, to tea sets, good luck charms and bizarre foods.

Having mastered the river taxis on our last visit we were feeling a bit smug at how we were exploring the sights so smoothly this time. One neighbourhood we'd previously avoided was the infamous Khao San Road, whose sleazy bars, dirty hotels and cheap tattoo parlours had surprisingly not appealed to us. But we hadn't seen the area that'd surrounded it either but we were pleasantly surprised with its old town quaintness, albeit a little touristy. We had a perfect people watching spot at Madame Musur with beer and Thai curry.

The closer we got to Khao San Road, the more it met our expectations. A crazy crazy street that totally attacks the senses! Argh!

Somehow Gav lost our hotel keycard between lunch and Khao San Road so panic hit as we realised it had all the hotel details on it too... and our passports / macbooks / valuables weren't locked away. So our day was cut a little short as we rushed back to save the passports from some potential opportunist thief. Thankfully they were still there. Phew!

For our last night of adventure we went back to the Silom district for al fresco dinner and cocktails at Le Café des Stagiaires. The perfect ending to a perfect trip.

Gav's day 97 takeaway

• She's done it. My little satnav of a girlfriend has tamed the beast that is Bangkok. We had a great last full day and I even embraced the heat and humidity (a little more than normal). Which I'm blaming for my little key losing faux pas! Which made Claire rather anxious.
• Soz babe!