Welcome to Bangkok

I'd never really put much thought into visiting Bangkok. Aside from drunken college nights rocking out to that the Murray Head song, I hadn't felt the calling. Along with Indonesia, Thailand is a regular holiday destination for Australians as it's relatively affordable and easy to get to. Craig had twice visited Thailand before. While he enjoyed it, he never expressed any desire to go back.

Then about a week and a half ago, Craig came home from work and asked if I'd wanted to go. His office urgently needed someone there for technical support and account management. It was about week's worth of work in the heart of the city. Throughout our marriage, we've always agreed to take travel opportunities as they appear. Forty-eight hours later I was on a plane to Thailand - unvaccinated and completely unprepared.

I knew very little about Bangkok as we booked my flight. I quickly put a call out on Facebook and friends offered suggestions for what Wats (temples and shrines) to visit. Given my lack of preparation, I planned to pick up a Lonely Planet at the airport to help guide me through the city and through a language that I didn't know. I thought a crash course on Thai and eight hours of reading on the plane would more than prepare me for the week ahead. Fate wasn't on my side this time; the bookstore was sold out. I'd be blindly winging my way around the city while Craig spent his days at the office. Luckily, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.

Bangkok in late April is oppressively hot. The thermometer clocked 35C when I arrived at 6am, but the humidity made it feel much worse. I spent the next six days in clothes that felt several pounds heavier as they were permanently saturated in puddles of sweat.

Because we were traveling for Craig's work, we stayed at a rather swank hotel inside Bangkok's central district. We were one block from the popular Erawan shrine and a block and a half from one of the largest malls in the world - more on both shopping and shines in later posts.

I'm not a luxe traveler and feel a bit out of place when the size of my hotel room more than eclipses the area of my apartment back home. And I'm not very comfortable letting others carry my bags when I'm perfectly capable of hauling them around myself. Still, I can't object to the celebrity treatment I received at the Grande Centre Point Ratchadamri. The hotel has all the amenities you'd ever need, if you weren't planning to leave it during your stay - gyms, pools, reading rooms, gaming centers, spas, saunas and steam rooms. Despite all that choice, I opted for the natural sweat option of sightseeing in greater Bangkok.

Bangkok is a crazy experience - an experience in extremes. Dodgy tuktuk drivers next to gorgeous temples. Excessive wealth interlaced with extreme poverty. It was hot, muggy and wet; yet beautiful at the same time.

Round up some coffee and your favorite monks. Why not do both at the same time? Over the next few posts, I'll be showing you our whirlwind visit to Bangkok.