Thailand - Bangkok day 5 - change of plan

After a painfully early start we found the train from Bangkok Station to Chumphon (6 hours - 800 mi) was fully booked. After debating whether to wait 10+ hours for the night train or not we decided to check in to a local hotel nearby and get the train the following morning.

A last minute room was found in a very posh hotel nearby called the Prince's Palace Hotel. The map made the hotel look about 5-10 min away so we set off with rucksacks in the heat. In fact the walk took a good 45 mins. We found the hotel in a market area near a river. It was a very grand 32 storey building. We later learned the Royal Princess was visiting the same day as us.

We found our room on the 28th floor with a fantastic view of Bangkok. After a visit to the hotel's posh restaurant we had a nap. After a good recharge we decided it would be a good idea to do a DIY haircut as we had a good mirror and a power socket nearby. Although I had mine cut 2 weeks ago for my sister's wedding I thought I might aswell seize this opportunity to have a trim. I made a bit of a hash of it so decided to start from scratch (see photo). Dave is also sporting a new look while Adam played it safe. Needless to say when we returned to the same restaurant for dinner the people who had greeted us earlier must have been thinking 'what on earth have they been doing?!'.

We had post dinner beers around the pool on the 11th floor overlooking Bangkok. Bliss.

below: after a long walk in the blistering sun we finally got a glimpse of the hotel!

below: the swimming pool seen from one of the restaurants. Looks a bit like titanic??

below: the view of Bangkok from our room