ITS HAMMER TIME!

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After breakfast I made I quick dash to a local stall to buy some trousers. As I child I had always wanted a pair of trousers like MC Hammer and now at 30 I was the proud owner of a pair.

We wanted to visit some temples, but on our way to the first one we found out that it was a very important Buddhist day. Now we wondered if we would be allowed into any of the temples.
When we arrived at Wat Thepthidaram we were relieved to find that there were no restrictions for visitors. Its a very impressive temple covering many floors. each floor also has different levels. There are many corridors to walk around and at each end of every corridor is a statue of Buddha. At the top we went outside where you could see far into the distance across the city, with temples and skyscrapers sharing the same view.

A bit further down the road we visited the gold mount. It was incredibly busy and even though visitors should dress in a respectful manner I was disappointed to see many western women in short strapless dresses or tiny shorts and boob tubes.
After climbing all the steps we were able to walk around the Buddha statue in the centre. Many locals were walking around while praying, others knelt on the ground placing gold leaf on the Buddha statue in the centre.

Up some more stairs to the roof there was a huge golden dome. Many people were praying, bringing gifts and lighting candles.
We were pleased to have visited on such an important day. To see it so busy only added to the experience.
On the way back down there were many bells. Ringing them all is supposed to bring you luck. It took some time but I rang them all.

Later on when we went for a beer we were given mugs to drink from and asked to place our bottles under the table. We thought that we were being asked to do this out of respect on such an important day. It wasn't till later when the police came and shut some bars down that we realised it was illegal. The owner of the bar said we could still buy cocktails or whisky - I suppose she would tell the police the cocktails were fruit juice, but I’m not sure how she would explain the whisky.

The following day after many attempts we managed to find a taxi who would take us the market on the meter. When we arrived outside Chatuchack market it was buzzing with people. Its the largest market in Bangkok, used mainly by locals. Its only open at weekends and has over 15 thousand stalls covering 27 acres.

We found a map - this is a must. Without it you could wander in circles for hours passing the same stalls and never realising. Its best to walk it row by row as this makes it less likely that you will miss anything. After walking through the clothes section we went for lunch. Andy went for crispy roast pork again while I went with meat noodle soup. When it arrived I realised that just the word meat for my dish was perhaps a little vague. Staring up at me from my soup along with some other indistinguishable bits of meat were three rather chunky pieces of tripe! As this trip is all about experiencing new things both Andy and I had a tiny nibble. It really wasn't unpleasant but the thought of it was too much so we left the rest.

Andy couldn't find any trousers at the market. Thai people are not known for being tall so each pair of trousers we looked at came to somewhere between his ankles and knees. While we were walking back to our hotel we spotted a stall selling trousers to fit the taller man. Andy picked himself a rather hippie looking striped pair which reminded us a little of pyjama bottoms.

Further down the road Andy stopped at a bbq stall selling chicken hearts, livers and kidneys on sticks. The livers were smooth like chicken liver pâté, the kidneys were tasty but a tad chewy but the winner by a long way was the hearts. Meaty tasty and they go straight to the top of Andy’s favourite food list. My bbq corn on the cob although nothing different was very tasty too.

Sadly shortly later I had an upset stomach - well these things are inevitable while travelling around Asia. I am going to help matters in the future though by not ordering anything that is only listed as meat!

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