Goodbye Bangkok

We were back in Bangkok, three weeks and several thousands of kilometres later, having driven round Thailand, clockwise. The traffic had not improved and it was possibly just a tad warmer than when we left. First job was to drop off the car. We were pleased when, after a fairly cursory check, the hire company gave us our deposit back. Next stop was the tailor. They had made me a jacket and Diane a couple of dresses. This is a bit of a speciality of Thailand. Custom tailoring at a very reasonable price. We had been for several fittings but only now got the finished items. They were very good. My jacket was well made, good material and fitted beautifully. All for less then the price of an off-the-peg in the UK. Diane was happy about her two dresses as well.

Next day we met Claudia and Patrick in the elevator. This was not a complete coincidence, we had arranged to meet in the lobby. It was however a nice surprise. They had just arrived from Germany at the start of their holiday. We all went off to explore the city. Claudia and Patrick have been to Bangkok many times, so when I say explore, I really mean we followed them around for a couple of days. This was great – we got to see loads of new places. We also got soaked.

The Thai New Year is called Songkram and is celebrated with a week of festivities in the middle of April. Chief amongst the festive activities are water fights. There is lots of other stuff, Buddhist traditions, offerings, prayers but for the tourist it feels like the whole city has armed itself with water pistols. We had already experienced a few squirts of water while wandering the streets. The weather is warm (did I ever mention that?) and your clothes dry quickly. We had sundowner cocktails on a rooftop bar across the river from Wat Arun. This is a spectacular golden temple, recently renovated, that catches the evening sun and then is lit by floodlights as darkness settles. Terrific background for an imaginatively named cocktail or two. Then we went off to find dinner and all piled into a tuk-tuk. These can be a good way to get round. Not so comfortable but fast, cheap and often quite exciting. On this occasion, however, it was a big mistake.

The Khao San Road and Silom Road are the hubs for modern celebration of Songkran. The roads are closed for traffic, and posts are equipped with water guns and buckets full of water. The party runs day and night as gangs armed with water roam the streets. We thought we might have a look at this but completely underestimated the extent of the crowds and the enthusiasm for water. We got stuck, in a traffic jam, in the tuk-tuk, at the start of the Khao San Road. This is how we got soaked. I do not just mean a light misting of sprayed water, I mean a full on drowning with multiple buckets of water, multiple times over about ten minutes before we abandoned the tuk-tuk and ran for safety. I noticed, in passing, that the street vendors of waterproof phone covers appeared to be doing a roaring business. The evening ended well. We found food, we eventually dried off and finally we said goodbye to Claudia and Patrick, in the same elevator. It had been really enjoyable to meet up with them, albeit for a very brief time. They were leaving in the morning for Phuket and the next day we would be flying home.

The following evening, our last in Bangkok, we visited the rooftop bar at the Lebua State Tower. Known as the Hangover Sky Bar it was a filming location for the movie Hangover 2 – which we have never seen. It is also one of the highest rooftop bars in the city. 63 floors up. We bought cocktails – by a large margin the most expensive drinks we had bought anywhere in Thailand. I mean, these were prices that would have been eye-watering in London. So we made it last and enjoyed the views over the city by way of saying goodbye to Thailand.