Pat Phrong - The red light district

Woke up at 11.30 to the sound of the hotel staff banging the door saying we had to leave by 12! Jammed everything in our bags and left for our place before we left for Chaing Mai. Another crap room but hey. I then found out in the rush, I'd managed to change the combination on my padlock. I messed about with the numbers and finally got it open. The good luck bracelet must be working! Checked the hotel's toilet to see if it was Hamilton proof and was again in luck.

Went out to see the Golden Mount and Wat Sakrat temples. The view from the top of the Golden Mount was fantastic. You could see the whole city. You then realise how much it looks like London with all the skyscrapers. We tried going to the Grand Palace again but still people kept saying we couldn't go for some reason or another. So we walked back to the hotel and passed the Democracy Monument. I thought it was funny that you can see McDonald's in the background, the golden arches of democracy.....

After our dinner of what turned out to be spagetti bolognase, we decided we must go to Pat Phrong, the red light district. It wouldn't be right if we didn't. There was a huge market selling tonnes of knock-off crap shadowed by rows of bars offering all manners of entertainment. Every Thai bloke you place offers you to see their ping-pong show. There was one street with neon lights everywhere saying 'ladyboys', 'man love', etc. Our curiosity was not big enough to risk some serious mental scarring by going down there. You can also see hundreds of white old men with young Thai girls.

We eventually thought we'd try a show to see what the fuss was about. After settling on a place where the girls weren't fat or ugly, we went in. The first thing I saw was a huge fat guy with two girls doing stuff I dare not mention. Disturbed, we sat down and had two beers. Desperately trying to ignore the 2 girls next to me trying to get me to buy them drinks, we then proceeded to watch as everything but babies came out of the women on stage. We waited until the 'main attraction' of the ping-pongs and after trying to avoid them flinging at us, we decided to leave. The most strange experience I've had and not one I think I want to repeat.

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