Thailand

A range of all categories of accommodation can be found in the old part of Bangkok, the center for backpackers.... However, there are increasingly fewer rooms available in the guesthouses in the winding alleys once indulged by the traveler generation. There is now more and more larger and smarter accommodation in and around Khao San. There is also a large number of bars, pubs and restaurants, where travelers from all over the world, and increasing the young Thais too, meet, dance, drink, chat, flirt or watch videos until the early hours. The road is lined with sales stalls, where you can buy anything from cheap T-shirts, to typical Thai triangular cushions and tasteful souvenirs, to second-hand books in nearly all languages and, if you are good at haggling, at bargain prices. In the evenings a number of students and other creative people sell clothes or their own creations on small street stalls. You can easily plan the rest of your holiday in the many small travel agencies, whether it's on the infamous good value Khao San busses, by plane or by train. And you're in the right place if you want to visit the sights - the Grand Palace is easy walking distance or a short ride away in a tuk-tuk. more

The "Temple of Rose-Coloured Dawn" on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya river - the city's emblem... decorating brochures and postcards - can be seen from a distance. There are boats behind Wat Pho from Thien Pier which will take you across the Wat. Its impressive main spire, 220 ft (67 m) high, tapers off at the top and is lavishly decorated with glass and porcelain inlays. It symbolizes holy Mount Meru representing the center of the universe, the four smaller spires surrounding it standing for the four points of the compass. Statues of the God Indra on the three-headed elephant Erawan and of the Wind God Pha Pai on his white stallion can be found in the niches. Renovation was completed in 1999 and the towers shine in fresh white. The monastery next door is equally worth seeing. The stone Chinese figures which can be seen here and in other temples were once mounted as the ballast of Thailand. Beautiful wall paintings adorn the bot. more

A high wall encloses the grounds of Bangkok's largest temple, today still the location of Thailand's... leading university. It borders the Sanam Luang, the "Royal Palace", on the southern side. Huge demons guard the entrances. The bot on a marble platform with pretty reliefs is one of the most spectacular in the city. The gallery surrounding the bot displays a variety of Buddha statues - about four hundred of them, all very valuable. An assembly hall (viharn) houses a Reclining Buddha 147 ft (45 m) long and 50 ft (15 m) tall, the mother-of-pearl inlays in the soles of his feet representing the 108 characteristics of Buddha. The Lingham is always decorated in colourful cloths as Shiva's symbol of fertility, before which all women pray to be able to start a family. The four large chedis were built by the first Chakri kings, each chamber exhibiting its porcelain décor in a different colour. Wat Pho has a particularly good reputation for teaching classic Thai massage. Even travelers can learn this art on 10-day courses or simply enjoy a professional massage treatment. more