ben and the golden fleecing! (bollocks)

My first day in Bangkok was a real mixed bag, but a very very expensive one. The morning i spent wandering the streets trying to get a feel for the place, as well as running a few errands. In the afternoon i made my first friend (or so i thought), when i went to one of the temples i met a guy who worked there called Mr Wicham. He explained to me that it was the birthday of Wat Intharawihan, and arranged for me to get a tuk tuk there as it was only open today for its birthday, which was cool. When he also suggested i go to the TAT office to talk about my plans to move on, as many trains etc are unavailable due to the songkram festival, i thought 'good idea'. God I'm dumb.

apres le fighting

     So all was fine at the TAT, they put together a package for me that sounded all good, and did what i wanted to do, however it all fell apart when they came to the price, 270 pounds! I dithered over this for a bit, i must admit, and they initially talked me into it. However when i then changed my mind and said i didn't want it, they said it was too late and that if i didn't pay they would call the police. 'Thai prison, on my 1st day here' i thought to myself. Obviously (to anyone who knows me) i got very scared and paid. So i now have my itinerary booked for the next 2 weeks, and it is what I'd want to do, though they have booked me into hostels which are much more pricey than i would have chosen, which I'm very pissed off about! however i guess you learn from your mistakes eh, and at least i do have some stuff from it and its just that I'll be staying nicer places rather than shit holes, could be OK in the end as its soo bloody hot!

buddha

      After the fleecing i was determined that day2 ( the 12th) would be better . Starting with the grand palace was a good way to ensure this, as it turns out I'm not templed out, and it was magnificent. Again if you haven't seen it i cant really do it justice in words so check out the pics when they come up. The significance of the building is rather glossed over though i would say, and there is little to no information about the buildings as you go around, so for anyone visiting if your really interested in the cultural side to it I'd invest in one of the guides they provide. I also saw Wat Po and Wat ARun, Wat Po being famous for the largest reclining golden Buddha in Thailand.

giant reclining buddha

         The evening was spent doing pretty much the only thing one can do at this time of year, joining in the songkran festivities, traipsing the streets and joining in the water fights. In the evenings things get much more intense and the street adjacent to mine ended prematurely as the masses congregate, making the road just a throbbing body of people, singing, dancing drinking and smearing each others faces with a chalk like paste. I imagine this time of year is the only time you can really enjoy Kao San without drinking, but i think its gonna get a bit tedious after 5 days.

i am not amused

i thought he was my friend!

inside the palace

inside the palace 2

l'elephante bushes

le grande palace

Quality sign

some ugly statue

songkran is no longer funny!

sorry cod, you again

squeal piggie!

thats you corrin

thats you corrin 2

the giant reclining buddha again, wat po

the giant reclining buddha again, wat po (2)

wat arun again

wat arun from afar