The Thai World...

Destination: the East - Thailand - Bangkok and Ko Samui It was our first trip to the East, a world completely different in customs and habits from our Western one. You can't go to Thailand and not spend at least a few days in Bangkok. Bangkok is also known in Thai by the name Krung Thep: the city of angels. Founded in 1782 as the fourth capital of Thailand, today it's a metropolis with over 6 million inhabitants. On arrival in Bangkok the first thing that amazes you is the enormous chaos and traffic that spills out everywhere...to get around, even over short stretches, often by taxi, it can take you half an hour.. the streets are completely invaded by every kind of ethnicity..Asians, Chinese, Indians, Arabs...

stalls and shops everywhere! and how could I not mention the smells of Bangkok! everywhere along the streets there are stalls and little shops churning out everything from meat to grasshoppers... fritters and food of every kind!! A fundamental stop on a visit to Bangkok is certainly the Grand Palace area, where the Wat Phra Kaew stands, that is, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It's a complex of magnificent temples (Wat in Thai means temple) connected to the residences of the Thai Royal Family, a destination for huge numbers of tourists and pilgrims. Another sacred place in Bangkok is Wat Pho, the oldest monastery in the capital, where the temple dedicated to the reclining (or sleeping) Buddha stands. This statue is remarkable for its exceptional dimensions — 46 metres long and 15 high.

Between the old city and the area of the big hotels stands Wat Traimit, the temple dedicated to the Golden Buddha. The statue is 3 metres tall and weighs over 5 tonnes. Bangkok amazes for the cohesion between the "old" and the "new"... it has so many interesting historical things to see but also many buildings typical of a metropolis.. we had dinner on one of the tallest skyscrapers in Thailand, the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, where on the top floor there's a fabulous glass-walled restaurant equipped with a rotating platform on the outside where you can admire Bangkok from above with all its night lights..

Unmissable for anyone going to Thailand is a visit to Damnoen Saduak, the fabulous floating market! Even though you'll find a market now overrun by us tourists, it's always a very strange sight to see this colourful market where the locals sell fruit and vegetables but also spices of every kind..the women with their little boats move along the canals and haggle over their goods! Ko Samui in the Andaman Sea was the last stop of our trip to Thailand! a classic tourist island with a nice sea anyway.. not fantastic like in other places but still beautiful! On Ko Samui, as in the rest of Thailand, you find every kind of accommodation and for every budget! lots of hotels and restaurants (many of them Italian!)..

A trip I recommend not so much for the sea but for the many interesting things Thailand offers the tourist to visit! and besides, it's a world so different from ours that an Eastern experience is definitely worth having, to see something completely different...