Bangkok

Bangkok's Old City works two shifts. By day it belongs to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho; from early evening until around two in the morning, to Khao San Road, at full volume. We knew the city mostly as backpackers, which it hardly seems to notice: the temples and the food are there at either end of the budget. Shophouses stand a few streets from the skyscrapers, teak houses line the canals, and cultures from everywhere meet in the steam. The food, and the smell of it in the street, would be reason enough to come.

Start early. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew open at half past eight, before the heat and the queues; the dress code is strict, so dress for the temple, not the weather. Wat Pho, next door, has the roots of traditional Thai massage and a reclining Buddha 46 metres long, which is one way to deal with the heat. Then the river, the spine of the city and the way round its traffic. The orange-flag Express Boat runs from Sathorn Pier to Phra Arthit in about half an hour, past the Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun; a longtail turns off into the klongs on the Thonburi side. A ferry crosses to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, which is best near dusk, for its porcelain-covered spire.

Bangkok has great hotels, though as backpackers we mostly left them to other people. The grand ones line both banks of the Chao Phraya on The Riverside, reached more easily by boat than by road, which says enough about the roads. Sukhumvit is the modern downtown of malls and embassies; Silom and Sathorn is offices by day and Patpong's night market after dark.

The cool season, November to February, is 21 to 32C with clear skies and lower humidity, which is why the crowds and prices peak then. March to May climbs towards 40C before the rains break; avoid it. From June to October the afternoons bring heavy downpours and the odd flood, but fewer people and a greener city.

For a drink, go up. Sky Bar is on the 64th floor of The Dome at lebua, 247 metres over the Chao Phraya, open to the air around a circular island bar that glows in its own colours. We had a drink there. Its signature cocktail is the Hangovertini, created for the cast of The Hangover Part II.