Certainly it was hot, and certainly it is expanding, but an explosion implies something blown outward into something else, like shrapnel into the air. But remember, it was space that was created, and there isn't anything into which it expands. The Universe is all there is. We go about our daily lives not realizing that the way we see things is through a personal filter, and we expect all things to behave in some way we can understand. As I have said before, though, the Universe is under no obligation to perform to our expectations.
Time flows more slowly for someone moving relative to someone else.
On very tiny scales, the Universe bubbles and froths with vast amounts of energy. Whole stars can explode, and their cinders can wrap space around them so tightly the stars disappear forever. There are countless examples of how the Universe is a weird, bizarre and just plain surprising place. The wonder in it is not that it is so unknowable, but that it is knowable at all. This is a nice way to browse some of the most beautiful and brightest objects in the sky.