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Published: July 17th 2010
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Fish massage
Little fish eat dead skin off your feet. No joke. Hi everyone!
This is our last night in Bangkok so thought I'd write about what we've done so far... it's all a bt of a blur!
First things first, our flights were fine, didn't actually seem that long despite not sleeping (me, not David, he slept like a dead man!). Food was a bit rubbish, but then what do you expect on a plane? I ate it all anyway. I especially liked being offered ice cream or noodles as a snack.
When we got there the first thing to really hit me was that it is HOT. Obviously I expected it to be hot, but having never been in a tropical climate before it actually did shock me a bit, Bangkok is HOT. I have only really started to get used to it today and this is our third day!
Actually, I have only really gotten used to Bangkok today full stop. It is a full blown assault to the senses here, loud, smelly, fast, HOT, smelly.... like nowhere I have ever been before.
We've done a fair bit of touristy stuff - Grand Palace, Wat Pho, been scammed, we also went to the weekend market
Temple guard
Loads of these guys all around the grand palace today which was awesome, like the grand bazaar in Istanbul but I think bigger, and full of crap! Not just crap, there was good stuff too, but with us having 3 weeks left we managed to restrain ourselves. The clothing bit was hilarious, like a giant charity shop, but you know the charity shop smell? Imagine that... but in a sauna. Not pretty. It was cool though, one side was a bunch of guys kitted out head to toe in denim, facing a Thai bluegrass guy and his banjo, adjacent to a guy with a full on mohawk, round the corner from someone in traditional dress.
Now the scamming. Despite me reading several books back to back all warning of being scammed we fell for the oldest trick in the book! A nice man spots us reading the map and suggests tourist attractions in the local area, next thing we know we are being bustled into a tuk tuk for 'sightseeing tour, special price'.... it actually took us a full 20 mins to realise we'd been had. Then when we asked to be taken back to the hotel... no no, you must go tourist information, they give me coupon.
Little shiny guy
Temple decoration SO we did, but that was as far as we let it go, and we managed to get out without spending money. Poor tuk tuk driver... scammed by the scammees!!
We've also been well and truly ripped off by taxis so today braved the bus, and found it very easy to negotiate, and about 20p a ride. So at least we are leaving less stupid than we arrived, and hey - its part of the tourist experience!!
Other points... hotel/hostel is nice, room is super cool with aircon thank God, and the food is amazing - we usually hate to eat where we are staying but the menu is extensive and the food is just excellent. We have eaten really nice food elsewhere also, and drank about 80ltrs of water!!
The grand palace and surrounding temples were good experiences, stunning architecture, but in this heat they get old fast! Now I'm sat in an internet cafe surrounded by kids who look about 10 playing video games!
Better take off now (feeling that evening urge for a cold Singha) but will write more soon, tomorrow we make the trek to Cambodia so.... See you there!!!
Rachel xx
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Ben Francis
non-member comment
Sounds awesome
Well jealous! It sounds like you're having an amazing time, reading about Chatuchak made me all sentimental and happy :) Nice job on the reverse-scam! Keep the blogs coming. Oh and with the taxi drivers I found you only need one word to negotiate effectively - "Meter" - you just might have to repeat it 14 or 15 times before they agree!