🇳🇱 Amsterdam → 🇹🇭 Bangkok · 2 weeks

Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat (orange flag line, ฿15) rather than a taxi for getting between riverside sights — it's faster during traffic, wildly cheap, and gives you the city from the perspective Bangkokians actually use. Get on at Sathorn/Central pier.

Eat breakfast at a riverside noodle stall in Chinatown (Yaowarat Road) before 9am — the boat noodle and congee vendors set up from dawn and are almost entirely local. Tom yum noodle soup for ฿50 while Bangkok wakes up is a defining experience.

Visit Wat Pho (the Reclining Buddha) first thing in the morning before the Grand Palace opens — it's technically a separate temple, far less crowded, and the 46-metre gold reclining Buddha figure is more striking than anything at the Grand Palace itself. Entry ฿200.

Go to a rooftop bar on your first evening to orient yourself — Vertigo at the Banyan Tree hotel (61st floor, free entry if you buy a drink) gives the most dramatic 360° view of the city. Go at sunset, stay for one drink, then head to a street food neighbourhood.