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Published: December 18th 2008
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Having met Kirk at the airport we headed out for a meal to celebrate the arrival of the third amigo! Whilst Ian and I enjoyed having some western style food for a change, Kirk eased his way into the Asian culture by ordering a big pile of bangers and mash!
The following day we set off along the recommended route to see the sights. We caught the local's canal bus to see the Royal Palace, which was by far the most impressive temple like building we've been to. As it was a very religious place and housed the famous Emerald Buddha, we had to hire some stunning traditional trousers. Ian's were beautifully colour coordinated with his T-shirt while Kirk's had a nice sweat patch on the arse from the previous owner, probably an overweight American. I managed to get away with a sarong but it was wrapped around my legs that tightly that I had to waddle around like a penguin rather than walk! The other temples and buildings in the grounds were very intricately decorated and we wandered round for ages taking lots of photo's (just for a change!). When we had finished looking around we went to return
our clothes and claim back our extortionate deposit, but as we neared the door we were ushered by guards to remain in the grounds. Like sheep, we followed the other tourists and sat down on a huge ground sheet, from which we could see the palace. Suddenly there were trumpets playing and soldiers standing to attention, then out came the prince! He was standing outside the palace and in front of his limousine for a good few minutes (having photos taken of him etc) but somehow Ian still managed to not see him! After all that excitement (hummmm) we ended up getting back to the hostel fairly late and headed out for Burger King and then out to sample the traditional Bangkok culture...which was interesting!
We decided not to set our alarms the following day and set off towards the river and china town, a little way down. The rain had been threatening on and off and finally started to come down heavily once we stepped off boat but we headed to china town and the long narrow market streets. There was all sorts on sale, including a 20p poncho (bin liner with hood) that I opted to part
with my baht for - it was worth every penny even if I did get laughed at by the woman who sold it to me! Then it was off in a tuk-tuk in the rain to the food courts in Siam Square. We hadn't realised we would hit all of the Bangkok evening traffic...a five minute journey took us about an hour and we about died from the fumes of the other vehicles! Kirk decided to broaden his horizons after his first night of Bangers and Mash, McDonald's breakfast then Burger King the night before and chose duck a la rice! (Ian and I also took in some fast food in the first few days in Bangkok but we have an excuse as we've been eating local cat/dog and fried rice and noodles for weeks and were in need of some normal food). We had a quiet night in the hostel, a dvd and prepared for some more sightseeing!
We again frequented the river bus and went off to the reclining Buddha (or Rotating Buddha as Kirk kept saying and Revolving Buddha as I said!) in Wat Pho, near the river. We hopped off the river bus and were
When it rained it rained!
the road outside our hostel! greeted by a hippie selling freshly squeezed dragon fruit juice, which was supposedly very good for the soul, full of antioxidants, good for arthritis, rheumatism, impotency and other ailments, but all we could taste was the smell of stale dried fish that was in the air from the markets next door. We binned it and went off to seek some spiritual guidance from the reclining buddha! The huge golden Buddha statue was 50 metres long and 15 metres high, better again than the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha. When we returned to the hostel later that evening we were all looking forward to another night out in lovely Bangkok until we collected our laundry from the people at reception...half of my washing was grey and half of Ian's had developed a nice tie-dye effect! The people who had washed it had put it all in together and a pair of black trousers had run and wrecked everything - I was gutted and sulked for some time! Ian dragged me out anyway even though i wasn't in the best of moods and we joined everyone else in the hostel for a few beverages!
We weren't feeling too good the
next morning and woke up with a random Canadian girl in our room...who we later discovered was Kayla (she joined us for the rest of our travels through Thailand). Feeling rather sorry for ourselves we decided to indulge in some shopping (although I think I enjoyed that rather more than Ian and Kirk) and then we went to get a Thai massage. The massage was just what the doctor ordered and and not quite as painful as the massage we had in Laos! We later went out to Cabbages and Condoms for dinner (a restaurant that good old Lonely planet had recommended to us) and had a lovely meal there! We ventured to Pat-Pong's night market later that evening, but soon headed home after we were hounded by the stall holders continuously! We packed our bags and got ready for our flight to Koh Samui...we were looking forward to some sunshine and hitting the beach!
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