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Published: April 13th 2010
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After dumping our bags in left luggage at the station we headed straight to the British Embassy - having not slept or showered! A few stares from commuters on the sky train. Xan spied a huge man mountain of a guy - white (well mahogany with his tan), long hair, fantastic handlebar mouser, tight shorts and no t-shirt. He looked a bit like a cross between Hulk Hogan and Rumpole of the Bailey. As we marveled at how he stood out even more than we do (well Xan particularly) he came over and asked us if we knew how to get the British Embassy. We walked and chatted together - three of us must have made quite a sight!
At Embassy once through security (more worried about Xan's phone and camera than my swiss army knife) we headed to the consulate. 10-15 minutes later we left, my replacement passport ordered and paid for and an official letter for me to use as ID in meantime in hand! Brilliant service. From the top security British Embassy we headed to the Vietnamese one to find out about replacement visas. Was it not for the map drawn by the staff at the UK
one we woud have walked right passed it. A small grey door on the side of a hut! Not much they could do to speed things up, but amazing to see two extremes on the same road as each other.
Before getting bags headed through Lumpini Park in city centre - full of posh business men jogging and cycling, and....huge swimming lizards! Load of them, our pics don't do the sheer size of them justice but this might help:
http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thailand-destinations/bangkok/bangkok-park-visitors-greeted-by-gator-sized-lizards/1386/
Our hotel turned out to be our home for nearly a week, I hung clothes up - was fab!! Had upped the budget a bit (well my dad did, but am planning to pay you back asap dad - thank you!!) as should get back on insurance and had to spend a lot of time on the internet and phone sorting stuff. Lovely wee hotel, great room with air con, the best staff, free internet and suitably random breakfast choice (Xan bought a ten inch plate from round the corner so he could get more). Best thing was the location. Food stalls and market recommended in Lonely Planet in street next to us and 10 mins walk to
the river express boats that are pretty much like buses that go up and down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya.
Quick trip to the Post Office then jumped on a boat to the Grand Palace. Bit weary of big, shiny buildings and temples so opted to wander round the market stalls/local sellers as oppose to heading in there. All sorts on sale - total bric-a-brac. People just selling whatever they could get their hands on, was brilliant - bit like Brick Lane! Xan managed to find an f-100 Casio watch (first plastic digital watch they made - worn by Ripley in Alien) which wasn't working but only cost him a pound.
We headed to KhaoSan Road after that and came across a guy with a tiny watch mending stall (well, bench) up a backstreet. The guy got out his eyeglass and spent ages not only fitting a battery but also fixing a couple of issues with the watch - it is now a fully functional pretty rare watch, which cost a total of 3.22 after Xan gave the watch fixer man extra cash for his troubles!
I got my hair cut in a wee salon off the
main street. All was going swimmingly until the feathering began, before I could say anything I had some wonderful, very 90s, soft layers framing my face and a whispy fringe to top it off! Xan's comment of - it'll be fine when you do it yourself - made me realise that it wasn't just me being critical! Luckily it shoved out the way in headbands most of the time, so not too much of an issue!
KhaoSan Road is very like Camden market, and in fact sells about 80% of the same stuff (Bob Marley t-shirt anyone?)! I quite liked it, something nice about being surrounded by people more scruffy than me and seeing the huge mix of languages and nationalities, hearing some decent tunes in bars (and some laughably awful ones) but there was quite a few western numpties - mostly pished British blokes stumbling about with their tops off!
Headed to watch a Muay Thai boxing match at one of Bangkok's two main stadiums. Tickets were 3 times what we expected but we thought what the hell and negotiated 2 cut price ringside tickets (most likely what everyone else paid or more!). About 10 fights -
the main event was packed out. I LOVED it! The rituals, the guys doing the betting odds, the families cheering even when their fighter was losing, the crowd going mental between rounds, chatting to the guy behind me doing the odds about who'd win each fight, the blokes behind the corners, twitching with every blow landed! The most dramatic fight involved one guy getting cut, which covered both fighters with blood, the bout was stopped and the winner jumped onto the ropes right in front of us, his face red from the other guy's blood! like something out a film (and saw the cut guy later - he was fine, scratch that bled a lot was all) Been one of my highlights so far, worth every penny!
Almighty electric storm that night - sat up watching it out the hotel window.
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Eric
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I enjoyed your post. Sounds like you are having a great time in Thailand. My blog is looking for travel photos, stories, accommodation reviews, and food reviews. If you have the time and have some to share, email us at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric