Bangkok

The Chinese have two big national holidays per year, one in October and one in Jan/Feb. We took this opportunity to take a beach break and head to Thailand. We started off with 1 day in Bangkok before heading one a quick 1 hour flight south to Koh Samui.
Bangkok was bigger than I imagined, much more grimy than Beijing (probably because we only have seen Olympic Beijing), it feels more of a working city. It is sprawling, and the centre is low-rise and green. We visited the Grand Palace, a huge gaudy collection of buildings where the king still lives (we couldn't see his living quarters, obviously). Lots of gold, exotic animals, a green jade buddha, coloured mirrors, and monks. Yes real live monks dressed in orange. You see them everywhere here, they are a significant and visible part of society. Very odd to see them lining up to get on the buses and water taxis (couldn't figure out if they still had to pay though!)
It was hot and humid but worth the quick stop over.