"Bangkok, Thailand" Bangkok by blusapphyr

Bangkok seemed to beckon because of all the interesting things that I had read about it. All hot, intriguing, inviting, exciting, an old world in a modern city.

We chose the Bangkok City Suite Hotel on Petchaburi Road It was very clean, with spacious rooms, and most importantly, friendly and helpful staff. Hmmm.... I wonder why I did not take pictures of the hotel or the rooms..... Too excited I guess to just be in the city of so much history.

I had done a lot of booking of private tours online with Bangkok Smiling Tours. Friends were warning me that I might be taken for a ride, but, if I ever go to Bangkok again, or to the north of Thailand, and that company has tours there, I will surely be their customer again. They gave us excellent service, especially in their tour guide named Mam. She was well informed and very accommodating, which made our holiday a very very pleasant one.

We had booked tours for the River Kwai, the Tiger Temple, Crocodile Farm, Elephant Sanctuary with rides, the floating market, a snake farm, and rides on the long tail boats on the river and canals.

Needless to say, everything was arranged very professionally. We had to leave early every morning because the tours were to the north, north-west, south and south-west of Bangkok. Everyday we came back to the hotel absolutely happy.

• Pros:Great shopping
• Cons:Dusty, polluted, overcrowded
• In a nutshell:Exotic, but more than meets the eye.