Seven ways to duck out of the chaos in Bangkok

Bangkok: it's a storm of colour and light and sights and sounds; a clash of elegant temples and looming skyscrapers; a collision of Buddhist grace and flashy capitalism. It's a city stitched together by narrow streets and a web of canals and bridges that are subjected to the relentless flow of eight million residents. With tuk-tuks, Skytrain, taxis, bicycles, buses, scooters, the streets are never still. But pockets of calm do exist. And you don't have to go far to find them.

The Buddhist temple of Golden Mount — or Wat Saket — receives far fewer visitors than Wat Arun and Wat Pho, and if you go early in the day, it's easy to be far from the crowds here. A slow walk up the 318 curved steps to the top will take you past prayer bells and a path of water that falls softly over statues of Buddha.

the stillness of a sacred place and 360-degree views across Bangkok inspire quiet contemplation.

take a longtail boat to Phan Fa pier, on Khlong Saen Seab.