Mani/pedi

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Spent today wandering around the area on the other side of the river, getting my bearings. Straight across there is a shopping centre, River City, specialising in antiques, buddhas etc. which is all very swanky. Then behind that it's real Bangkok. It just changes, as you walk from the plaza, to being a dirty back street with lots of food carts doing street food. This is the crossing point for people that work in Bangkok but live in the (probably cheaper) west side of the river - think I've got that the right way round! There are also several tuk-tuk, motorbike taxis and meter taxis waiting here as the sheraton hotel is here, so you can't walk more than 4 paces without shouts of "taxi, taxi madam....tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk madam" all vying for business.
I walk and walk and get to know my way around a little then decide that I'm going to get a taxi to a shopping mall that I'd read about. Not a good start when the taxi driver doesn’t know where it is - I had to show him on a map! When I asked him how much it was he said 200 Baht. I asked him if that was on a meter and he said no, so as Tony had advised I said that it must be on a meter. When we finally arrived there, via a service station where he got out and ran off to talk to someone and a hotel where he stopped for directions, the fare was 57 Baht!!!!!!! The shopping mall isn't up to much but I do find a salon that does a manicure/pedicure combo for 600 Baht, about £9. Time for some pampering!

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