During our time in Bangkok, we saw many different sides to the city. From the futuristic sky train stations, to the tranquil Lumpini Park, with its collection of labelled trees. My allergies made eating out tricky, so after a few days of eating fried rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I felt in need of something more substantial. After flicking through the guide book, we decided on Le Bouchon, a French restaurant with particularly good reviews. What the guide book didn't mention, was that Le Bouchon was situated in the heart of Bangkok's red light district, so I was quite surprised to hear all the calls for various 'shows' as we walked down the brightly lit road. Eventually, I realised that the name 'Patapong' was familiar from the series, 'Big Trouble in Thailand', where tourists are regularly scammed by lady boys.
The restaurant itself, was nearly hidden, midway down Patapong I, with an extremely dark interior. Somehow we could just about make out the moving wall of insects, and I spent my meal doing what must have looked like, thumping the wall with my umbrella, in an attempt to keep a stray cockroach at bay. However, we were greeted in French, (which felt like we were somewhere civilised), and the food was superb. I enjoyed a great tasting fillet of lamb, before deciding that it was time to leave, before we saw the cockroach again.
The next day, we took a trip to Ayutthaya, and headed for the old town center by tuk tuk, to visit Wat Mahathat. We wandered around the spacious temple complex, looking at the six hundred year old architecture. We stopped off for lunch at an eclectic Thai cafe, for more fried rice, and a break from the heat, even though the thunderstorm and heavy rain on our arrival, made it cooler than my previous visit. We also visited Wat Prah Ram and Wat Yai, before getting the train back to Bangkok. It was good to get away from the traffic noise and pollution of the capital for a while.
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