Bangkok - get there if you can

In between my attempts to beat 29 seconds on that steal, save, splurge game (I am just a little addicted - can't seem to get away from it) I bumped into Jennie, a colleague of mine in the office, and supreme expert on certain destinations. We got chatting about places she'd been and I thought I'd let you in on what she said. Give you a bit of insider information on Bangkok. I once lost my passport there which meant I spent a bit more time there than originally planned, but that gave me a little extra time to explore the city and I can tell you I had plenty of fun on the way. Anyway that aside, here's what Jennie had to tell me:

"Love it or hate it - you will not be able to deny that Bangkok is a pretty amazing city!!! Personally I love it - in actual fact it is possibly one of my favourite cities in the world (and I have travelled a lot). Yes - you might wrinkle your nose at some of the smells whilst walking around - but it is at least a city that feels truly alive. I think it is the mixture of history, an ancient culture mingled with new high-rise buildings, ultra stylish bars, fab restaurants and luxurious hotels that adds to its appeal.

Things I love to do when I am in Bangkok... A must is to visit chatuchak weekend market (the largest market in the world with nearly 9,000 stalls - I am not joking when I say I spent about 7 hours there and had really not seen everything. It sells everything from the normal touristy Thai gifts, clothes, impressive artwork, beautiful and stylish furniture (which they will ship to the UK) and just for good measure there's a wealth of food stalls selling some excellent local cuisine along with a few interesting looking Thai delicacies (deep fried locusts etc etc...). There are also some amazing temples and palaces that are just so different to anything you see in the UK that alone makes them worth a visit.

I think I was also genuinely surprised to see how stylish some of the bars and clubs are when you get off the main tourist strips. A few that I can personally recommend are Q bar, a great place to dance the night away or maybe the bed supper club . Although I am not that way inclined I also had a fabulous evening in a gay bar called telephone - its amazing how much fun you can have when there is a telephone on each table so you can phone people you like the look of. Although I think some of the gentleman clientele were probably a little disappointed when they answered their phone and there was a me (a girl) on the other end!

If you want to treat yourself to a beautiful bed whilst you are there then choose the sumptuous Sukothai hotel - very modern and stylish with beautiful Asian influences and award winning restaurants. If you want something a bit more prestigious then try the Peninsula with its beautiful location on the Chao Phrya river. Of course it is nice to have a bit of luxury every once and a while but even on a budget there are some very trendy hotels in this town including the Bel Aire Princess for one. I have stayed there a few times and have nothing but good things to say about it and I would seriously recommend the half day Thai cookery course that they offer."

And at that point, Jennie went off to finish her cornflakes and get on with the job of finding more fabulous hotels in exotic locations, and I daydreamed about losing my passport once again. Oh and had another quick play on the steal, save, splurge game. Seriously it's pretty
good.