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Published: July 23rd 2013
Hello from a very very wet Bangkok!
After my blog yesterday we took a taxi back to Kho San Road to get something to eat and have a drink or two... Buddha day meant that most of the bars and shops were closed or closing early and most of the ones which stayed open didn't serve alcohol. We figured if we went where the majority of the western world go when they are in bangkok its likely we will find a beverage!
The streets were busy but less so than in the day. It had cooled down a little too, which made everything feel more comfortable. We strolled around the streets for an hour or so getting aproached by old ladies with all sorts of junk and old men with trays of big, black, deep fried scorpians (we managed to resist the lure of the tat this time around - and the scorpians too for that matter!) We found a nice restaurant bar and had our tea with a mug of beer... not sure why its served in a mug, we thought maybe it keeps it cooler? Everywhere was pretty quiet, there weren't even very many westerners knocking about. We found a rooftop bar and then settled down in a funky half inside half outside on the inside bar and sipped yummy drinks until gone 3am. This wasn't on the orginal plan as we were hoping to get an eary start on the temples today.
This morning was a little fuzzy to say the least. To say there is so much humidity around the city right now there was some serious dehydration going on for us! We perservered and hopped in a taxi to the Grand Palace to see a little bit of culture / play chicken with the crazy traffic system which opperates around anywhere with tourists. The palace itself was all cordened off and huge crowds were gathering on either side of the road. Being nosy we got to the front and asked some Austrailians what all the fuss was about. Apparently the King and Queen were there for Buddha day and everyone was hoping to catch a glipmse. We didnt wait long before 20 or so poilce motorbikes and around 30 red mercedes appeared from the gates. This was the entrourage which proceded the yellow rolls royce with the Royals inside. The Thai's were loving it! They were so excited to have caught sight of their Royal Family! I was too busy watching everyone's reactions, and even though i was holding my camera up in the air ready to click... i just didnt. I wouldn't make much of a paparatzi!
We went into the palace and had a little wander around the grounds but we were being squashed by throngs of Chinese tourists. They are brutal! China doesn't need an army... it has its crazy tour groups all weilding umberellas and 3ft long camera lenses! When we saw just how busy it was and how expensive it was we decided to call it a day and go for lunch and a spot of non-alcoholic rehydreation. Taxi's seem to have a policy of turning their meters off when they are near a tourist spot (or when its raining very very hard!) we didn't want to go far and he wanted to rip us off so we set off walking in the general direction of somewhere. By pure chance we stumbled on Wat Pho. This was only about $2 to get into and was pretty quiet and so beautiful. We wandered for about an hour before our conservative "must have everything covered" dress and the first bit of mid day sun we had seen got the better of us and we retreated to a taxi and to a restaurant. Not long after this the heavens opened and we had a great view of a storm from a table with a breeze!
I have been looking for a "mulbery" handbag and a good watch copy so we went to MBK which is like a huge indoor market. Anything you can imagine is for sale in that place! I found a couple of things but i bottled it with the bargaining. Eireann is some kind of bargain hunting ninja and her poker face is second to none! I'm still a bit of a soft touch i think. I plan to improve on my bartering and my negotiation skills and get all sorts of goodies for very good best price when i'm back here in a few weeks! To get home we tried out the skytrain for the first time. It was crammed and Eireann and I had to stand, sardined about 6ft appart. There are some hilarious pronounciations of station names and everytime one was anounced we would burst into giggles. We much have looked like a right pair!!
We are flying out to Vietnam EARLY tomorrow and last night is taking its toll so its early to bed! We just have to do some packing and make sure everything is in order and we will be good to go!
My next blog will be from Hanoi and hopefully will be slightly less delerious than this one!
Night Night
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Patricia
non-member comment
Eireann gets it from her Gran- who would be proud of her!!!!