I made the executive decision to slack off the "main" islands of Thailand - namely Ko Samui, Ko Phan Ngan and Ko Tao - due to my desire to avoid English twats for as long as possible! I'm home soon enough, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to see them then! I'm a biut gutted to miss Ko Tao, but it is a bit of a mission to go to just one island. Plus, I've been to some amazing islands already! I decided it was time to get more active, as beach life can be a bit dull after a few days.... I bet I won't be saying that once I'm back in an office! So back to Bangkok, to then get to some places not too far from there.
I am flashpacking evidently, as I ended up flying from Krabi to Bangkok. I'm sure I'd get abuse from other travellers for that, but the choice was 1600baht to fly in an hour, or 900baht for a 13 hour bus.... decisions, decisions... Proved a good decision in the end. I flew with Nokair (who? an airline whose planes are painted as birds, nice!), and managed to get an upgrade after a bit of flirting with air hostesses and being told I was handsome.. nice one hairdresser in Krabi!
Another reason it was good to fly up was that it gave me a chance to meet up with Alex and Lisa, the girls we met in NZ and stayed with in Sydney. Was really good to see them. It was their last night and we just had dinner and a few drinks. I only had 2 beers but my head didn't feel right in the morning - note to self - don't drink on antibiotics!
That was never really that likely... me and this aussie guy ended up having a couple of beers on Kao San on the Friday (28th), when I spotted Lydia (a girl I met in Viet Nam). We played a bit of pool and that but it was an easy night as I was still wary of the antibiotics.
On Saturday I had a productive day, shock horror. I ended up going to the National Museum, which was pretty interesting as far as Asian museums go. After over an hour there I started to walk back to Kao San when I spotted a few stands in Sanam Luang (the Royal Ceremonial Park near the palace). I wandered over to check it out and found out there was a televised 'hoop takraw' tournament going on. The goal is to put the ball into a basket-shaped net with three hoop openings in a triangular formation suspended some five to six metres above ground. Each team is given 30 minutes to put the ball in the basket as many times and as gracefully as they can. Points are awarded for difficulty, so players break out their full repertoires of such expert manoeuvres as cross-legged jump kicks and other artistic kicks behind the back or with the sole of the foot as well as strikes with the shoulders and forehead. It's tricky stuff, but they are really good at it. Even with my vast array of skill (clearly a joke), I'd have struggled! Anyway, I watched it for a few hours, being one of the few foreigners there. I reckon I may have made it on TV!!!
Aside from that, I've also been to the tailors and had 2 suits (plus 2 extra trousers) and 3 shirts and 3 ties tailor-made for my good self. I've had a fitting, and I'll be honest - I look damn good!!! Seriously though, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished goods. The same day I went and looked round MBK, hyped as being the best shopping mall in Bangkok. It was pretty good, but not as cheap as I expected. I'll save my shopping a bit nearer my departure.
I went and visited Wat Po today (4th), which is the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok. It needs to be the largest though, as it contains the Reclining Buddha, the largest Buddha imagine in the world at forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, and decorated with gold plating on its body and mother of pearl on its eyes and the soles of its feet
Other than that, I'm not really sure why I am still in Bangkok. I've most been relaxing, watching the footie, drinking, having hangovers (Sangsom is just lethal) and relaxing some more. All of the places I want to visit (Kanchanaburi, Phetburi, Hua Hin, Pratchuap Khiri Khan) are flooded or expecting to be flooded in the next few days so I haven't got a lot of choice other than to stay in Bangers.
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