The taxi ride to the airport was sheer luxury. It turned out to be the air-conditioned mini van owned by the hotel. What a difference to the overcrowded tuk tuk we had yesterday. We relaxed and reflected on what had been the perfect trip to the beaches and Islands of the Krabbi province. We even started to dream about a holiday home out here. Some of the villas we went past were spectacular. Maybe someday!
The flight to Bangkok with Air Asia was as good as the one coming here. On time and efficient service. Definitely worth the extra couple of quid for the Xpress boarding. We arrived at the International airport and headed for the bus stop. We were going to stay in the Sukumvit area this time. The AE3 express bus would take us down the Sukumvit road. We settled down and enjoyed the ride. That is until we hit the top of Sukumvit road. The traffic was a nightmare. We were sat in standing traffic for 15 minutes and no sign of it easing. We had a quick chat with the driver and decided to bale out and head for the sky train. All the other passengers decided to follow.
The Bangkok Skytrain is a great way of travelling about in Bangkok. The track goes all the way down Sukumvit road and our stop was 2 stations down. Within 10 minutes of getting off the bus we had purchased our ticket, got on the train and had arrived at the Nana station on Soi 5.
The area is smack bang in the middle of the red light district. That must be where the term "Nana" couples comes from. There were plenty of middle aged foreigners walking arm in arm with a young Thai girl, sometimes they had two in tow.
We headed down Soi 5 to look for a hotel. Monica had promised me a luxury hotel but found it hard to get out of the baht-pinching mode. She wouldn't even allow me to ask at the couple of nice hotels on the street. Feeling a bit weary and wanting to get out for the night we settled for a hotel off a side street near the Gulliver’s bar.
Meal at Gulliver's.
We had a quick bite to eat at Gulliver’s and then made the long walk to the Banyan Tree Hotel down the Wireless road. This road is very long and is lined with a number of embassies. We re-discovered that walking in Bangkok, especially at night is a little hazardous. Not that we felt in any danger being in a large city at night, more that you couldn’t see where you were walking in some places and there were potholes in the pavement everywhere. We passed a lively looking night market and decided we would have a look round there tomorrow night. Our mission tonight was to see the views of the city from the rooftop bar at the Banyan Tree Hotel.
View from Moon Bar at Vertigo.
The Moon Bar at Vertigo is on the 61st floor of the hotel. Finding it is a bit of a task as you need to walk through the small entrance at the street side, or walk down the driveway and take your chances with the taxis and the tuk tuks racing by. We opted for the former option and soon got lost inside. A friendly guard spotted us and immediately knew where we wanted to go. "Moon Bar that lift 59th Floor". The express lift shot us up in two seconds and we had to climb the last two flights of stairs to reach the bar and restaurant area. The views were spectacular. So were the bar prices, almost as high as the bloody building. Two small beers cost 540 Baht (Nearly £11)! And we didn’t even get a seat as the place was packed.
Standing room only.
After taking our time over the drinks and admiring the views it was time to head back to the Sukumvit area. We walked back to the night market and managed to negotiate a ride with a tuk tuk. He wanted to take us to a "Ping Pong" show. Monica was having none of it "Listen. Take us to Soi 5 or I beat you up!". We soon arrived at our destination with no more sales pitch from the driver. We settled down at a corner bar for a nightcap and watched the funny Nana couples walk by.
Bangkok at night.
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