The trip to Bhutan began with a high-speed train to Paris. This time I’m flying (again—as usual) with Air France, because I had the chance to fly in business class. The flight to Bangkok (BKK) passed surprisingly quickly. The new business class (on the excellent A350-900) is comfortable, and the experience was—without exaggeration—truly “wow, absolutely amazing.” Arrival at the airport was unusually smooth as well: there was almost no queue at passport control, and the luggage arrived quickly. From landing to exiting the airport, it took only about 45 minutes. The only thing I couldn’t find right away was the toilet, which is almost unbelievable for such a large airport. At the airport I exchanged some euros into Thai baht, which later turned out not to be the best decision because the exchange rate was quite poor. I also tried to withdraw cash with my card, but because of the fees I would have overpaid significantly, so I quickly abandoned that idea.

The Airport Rail Link to central Bangkok is located on the lowest floor of the airport. I was pleasantly surprised that you could pay for the ticket contactlessly, meaning with Apple Pay. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible when continuing the journey on the skytrain (BTS) through Bangkok—payment by card was technically possible, but it would have meant waiting in a fairly long queue, which I really didn’t feel like doing. Well, the subway “again” offers contactless payment…

Gorazd booked the Holiday Inn Bangkok near Chit Lom, which turned out to be an excellent location choice. As a pleasant surprise (?!?!) he told the hotel it was my “birthday,” so when we arrived we got a small cake and a little gift—plus we also got lucky with early check-in. After a quick lunch in a nearby shopping center (which was okay for a first encounter with Asian food), we headed toward the river and went to see Wat Arun.

The river taxi on the Chao Phraya is convenient and very cheap (21 baht)—it stops at several locations (a handy one is the BTS station Saphan Taksin, next to the Sathorn Pier), including right across from Wat Arun, which was our destination this time. I’ve been to Bangkok several times, and this is one of the temples I still hadn’t seen; in fact, it’s one of the most famous and recognizable temples in Bangkok. It’s often called the Temple of Dawn because it got its name from the morning light. It is dedicated to the Hindu god Aruna, the deity of dawn, and at the same time it is an important Buddhist sacred site. It dates back to the Ayutthaya Kingdom, and later became a royal temple. It stands on the west bank of the river (a short boat ride for 5 baht) and is known for its central tower, which is about 70 meters tall. It is richly decorated with colorful ceramics and porcelain, which sparkle especially beautifully at sunrise and sunset.

After the visit, we returned to the other side of the river and headed into a livelier, more touristy part of Bangkok, near the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. From there we continued on foot toward Chinatown, which actually isn’t that close—about three kilometers of walking. But the route was interesting, because we passed some charming streets and the flower market (Bangkok Flower Market). Chinatown was… interesting, but also somewhat contrasting. The smaller back streets felt almost abandoned, and the real action only started on the main street, where there were more people—mostly tourists. There we treated ourselves to mango sticky rice. The mango tasted without a doubt different from what we get in Europe. Then came a long walk back toward the hotel—almost 45 minutes, maybe even an hour—metro and walking.

In the evening we had dinner planned with Matej and Johan at a nearby restaurant (Coffee Beans), and afterward drinks at a viewpoint above the city (Indigo Hotel). A perfect ending to the first day in Bangkok. And then we collapsed into bed… like we were dead… for a good three hours…