We had a few days to spend in Bangkok before we flew home. It is such a vast city that I could go back time and again and still find new sights to see and things to do.

We spent a rainy day visiting MOCA art gallery – Bangkok is full of galleries and this is meant to be one of the best according to Time Out Bangkok. The display of hundreds of masks from all over south-east Asia was fascinating. Many of the paintings had a religious/ Buddhist slant to them or featured themes related to the history and culture of Thailand.

There were a massive number of bare breasts on show in the paintings throughout the gallery. I’ve got no objection to the odd breast or two but this was excessive. They even sneaked into the section of paintings by foreign painters. There were very few pieces by women in the gallery and I’m pretty sure that they were all breast free.

Despite becoming sick of the sight of breasts by the end of my visit, I enjoyed it and would recommend the gallery if you have a spare half day in Bangkok, especially if you enjoy looking at bare chested women. A bonus is that the cafe sells delicious, very cheap food.

Pictures in MOCA gallery

The day after our MOCA visit it wasn’t raining so we braved the steamy heat to visit two temples in the Khaosan Road area that we hadn’t got round to seeing on our previous trips to Bangkok, Wat Pavaranivesh Vihara Ratchawarawihan and Wat Suthat Thepwararam. Wat Suthat was particularly impressive – it is one of the Wats connected to the Thai Royal family. It houses several Buddha statues and an enormous prayer hall. Wat Vihara is smaller and reminded us a little of some of the temples we had visited in Vietnam.

After visiting the wats we took a tuk tuk ride back to Khaosan Road and had a wander around. It was very quiet as not many tourists were foolish enough to brave the stifling heat. Nevertheless I think I prefer it like that.

On our last evening, after we had walked along the river a little way and were looking for somewhere to drink, we found a jazz bar where some very talented young Thai musicians were playing. There was a great atmosphere as the patrons of the bar spilled out onto the street. Everybody was friendly and chatty. We wished we’d discovered it earlier on our trip.

Our plane was due to leave in the late afternoon so we had time to do a little more wandering round the Bangkok streets on the morning of our departure. We discovered a small neighbourhood, Soi Samsen, in an area near Khaosan Road where a few tourist restaurants and guest houses were beginning to open up. It felt a bit like the Bangkok we recalled from many years ago. The city is so vast and dynamic in many ways but in the people and the culture there is also a comforting continuity.

We were quickly back in a place that never seems to change – Bexhill. Perhaps that is unfair, a smattering of new bars and eateries has opened recently and new faces are moving in – not all over them over sixty either. We had trips to Norwich and Southampton to make to collect items belonging to our children who have both spent this year at university. This is the last time we will return to Southampton and I can’t say I am sorry for that, but I would like to explore Norwich in a bit more detail – it’s a charming city.

This time we were only home for three weeks, so everything felt a bit rushed, but everybody seemed to be doing well at home without our constant presence, so we waved them all goodbye again and headed back to Heathrow, where we were due to catch a plane to Chandigarh in India.