The best night in Bangkok

Woke up with a hangover and headed off to the temples. 95% of Thais are Buddhist and there are quite a few temples as well as shrines all over the place. We first went to the Grand Palace which is where the King lives and the most important temple religiously in the country is situated.

We were told when we got there that it was shut for the day to tourists because of Thai New Year. At this point a man appeared. He told us he was from Chaing Mai and was glad we were going there next week. He then took our map and drew all over it with about 5 places we should go. Then he hailed down a tuk-tuk and after some negotiating, he got the tuk-tuk driver to take us to all 5 places and wait for us while we looked for 40B (80p). Thank you Mr Chaing Mai!

We started with a couple of temples (a sitting and standing buddha) both were stunning with gold and decorations everywhere. The standing buddha was at least 100ft tall. I later learnt that the different positions of the buddha represent different days of the week.

After that we went to a place called Voglee. All the Thais said we were very lucky to hear of this place. This is were the Armani suits are made before they are shipped to Italy to have the name stitched on it. It was only open to tourists this year and today was the last day of the tourist opening. I ended up splashing out and buying a tailor fitted suit and 5 tailored shirts for 400quid. If we had bought this is England, it would be over 2000 easy. We were astonished.

Next on the agenda was Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. This was a huge temple and even more stunning. Every surface just seems to be decorated. It was here that we met some bloke who decided to take us to see the master of the monks! We couldn't believe it. He blessed me with holy water and gave me a bracelet to give me good luck forever. Not bad for 20B! Afterwards we found a dingy place to have a beer and watch the sun set over the Choo Phraya river.

Went back to the hostel and managed to block the toilet again! Went out for dinner and more beer. We ended up in a packed bar watching a great ska band. We were the only white people in there and the Thais loved it. We met some students from the university who spoke good english and danced around with them and their policeman brothers. When the band finished they took us to a bar where we spent the next few hours downing whisky! I don't remember much apart from Adam wasn't allowed to kiss the Thai girl he was with in public, and that they tried offering me a ladyboy. Thank god I asked them if it was a man before I found out myself!! I don't remember much else of that night apart from going back to the hostel and pissing in the shower because the toilet was still blocked. Good times!

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