Bangkok

Tuk-tuks and orange-vested motorcycle taxis zip in and out of the morning traffic. Shiny skyscrapers and wooden shacks battle for space. High-heeled ladies sipping noodle soup at three in the morning on wobbly plastic chairs. Slow and gentle, fast and furious, colourful, dark and bright. Bangkok is a city of contrasts. The city of angels where every word but “dull” seems like a reasonable description.

Bangkok provokes and no-one comes out unaffected. Everyone has an opinion, but very few take the time to get to the bottom of things. To know Bangkok is to to walk down the brightly lit and jam-packed Yaowarat road and to discover the hidden back-alleys only known to the people who live there. To navigate the klongs by longtail boat, where water is life. Or to find yourself in the green lung of Bangkok, where the sound of traffic is drowned out by frogs, crickets and a lush green canopy of trees.

End your day by sipping an incredible cocktail, hovering 50 floors over the city in one of the many rooftop sky bars. In Bangkok, sunsets are best enjoyed on top of things, after which you descend into the one of the underground night markets, where the music is loud, prices are low and friendliness is a given.

Bangkok has always been a patchwork of contrasts. Staying here means you won’t have to choose between the concrete jungle or the green one. Noise and silence, the high-life or the backpacker experience - all are within a stone's throw of each other. So whatever it is you're looking for, Bangkok will almost bring it to your doorstep, wherever you’re staying.