Busy busy busy
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2007
1
88
163
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday, August 16, 2008
On Wednesday we went to the Chinese Embassy and were relieved to find that they have decided we are eligible to enter the country! That takes a lot of pressure off us for the route back to Mongolia but we are now really tight for time as we need to be in China for 27th August and we still have Cambodia and Vietnam to do. We went to the TAT tourist office as well this morning and have left our passports with them to sort out the visas for us. We have to wait until Saturday to get them back and then we go to Cambodia on the bus.
We got the boat bus up the river to the Golden Palace. The guy outside told us that the Palace was closed til 3pm but he arranged a tuk tuk for us to take us to see the sitting and standing Buddha Temples and the "Thai Centre". We went to the sitting Buddha which was quite cool but when we got to the Thai Centre it was a jewellery shop - clearly a commission visit! We came out of there pretty quick and the tuk tuk driver tried to get us to go to see some suits so he could get permission. We told him in no uncertain terms that we were not interested and after a few minutes arguing he agreed to drive us straight to the standing Buddha. However, when we came out of the Temple 10 minutes later the tuk tuk and driver were nowhere to be found! He was obviously very cross and had decided to abandon us! He didn't think it through though as we hadn't paid him yet! So we just got another tuk tuk back for the same price we would have paid him! When we got back to the Palace we weren't allowed to walk down the road until the Queen and her procession of cars had passed by! Then we weren't allowed in until I had been provided with a really tasteful shirt to cover my shoulders. I really was the height of fashion! It was quite funny to see everyone wearing the same clothes as they were walking around, the men with really trendy elephant trousers and the women with their beautiful shirts and elephant sarongs! Inside the Palace was really beautiful. There were lots of Buddha's and beautiful artwork everywhere and then there was the Emerald Buddha in the centre temple, surrounded by gold statues. We saw a huge model of Angkor Wat which was cool as we will be there in a few days. Next we went to the small museums around the inner wall of the Temples. We saw some guns, jewellery and old Thai coins. We also saw a parade of guards and had our photo taken with one of them. That was by the gardens outside which were really pretty and well kept.
After the Golden Temple we got the boat to the Kho San Road and went around the markets there. We also walked through the park and watched the free outdoor aerobics lesson. That looked like fun!
On Thursday we went on a Thai cooking course. It was really good. We learnt how to make 4 dishes, doing a bit of theory first, then watching the chef demonstrate how to make the dish and then going to our station and making the dish for ourselves. When we had cooked all 4 dishes we got to sit around a very poshly laid table and eating our handiwork! We have established that we are not at all bad at Thai cooking! At the end of the course we were given a certificate, a record of the recipes for each of the four dishes and a bag full of different spices. It was a very interesting morning!
That afternoon we went to the Thieves Market and China town and browsed through the stalls but most of them were cheap jewellery and so we weren't really interested. On Thursday night we went to the Patpong area for a few drinks. We had a drink in a really nice bar with loads of very friendly Thai people and then we went walking through the market. We got convinced by this guy on the street to go to "his" bar and have cheap drinks with lady dancers. It was not as it seemed though as when we got there the "lady dancers" were half naked Thai girls doing Jade Goody wine bottle tricks - no need to expand! We felt very uncomfortable and so drank our drinks and got up to leave, only to be confronted by a big butch mafia style woman demanding 3000 baht for 2 drinks! That is equivalent to 46 quid! I don't think so! We told her there was no way and we would pay 300 max but she wouldn't accept that. She blocked our way and told us that I would have to get naked and dance and then we could have our drinks free! Funny but she was deadly serious and very cross! I told her that I was very tempted but no! We didn't have less than a 500 baht note so we didn't have much choice but to pay 500 for the drinks so we gave that to her, squeezed by her and left. Dance for free! As if! We decided to go back to the original bar where we wouldn't get fleeced so we headed back that way! What a night!
On Friday we went for a walk through Lumpini Park. That was really beautiful. There were lots of grassed areas and several small ponds with tons of fish and turtles that people were feeding. There were also a couple of areas with gym equipment for people to work out, and lots of areas where people were playing badminton or football. I don't think enough is made of this area as it was beautiful and we didn't really know anything about it.
Friday night we went to a Thai boxing match at Lumpini Stadium. We sat in the Ringside area and watched 8 Thai matches and then one match with an Aussie and a Brit fighting each other. All the fights were good but there was one that was really exciting. No-one won though because for some reason the referee called it off. There was only a Thai explanation given so we couldn't understand. It was good fun and the atmosphere was cool, with all the regulars placing bets and umming and ahhing every hit! It was quite an experience and definitely worth it!
