day 169, bangkok

Slept like the dead in a really well laid out dorm with killer air conditioning and made my way out. Outside the hostel has a couple of seats and I ran into a few people I was chatting to last night so joined them for breakfast and sat there under the excuse of acclimatising though I think I was just chilling out in hot weather. I got some amazing mixed fresh fruit muesli and a cuppa and sat down for a couple of hours where this English bloke called Matt sat down. He’s in his mid to late twenties, a web designer, been living out the uk for a couple of years, first went to work in NZ now is working in Oz and is basically doing a visa run while his application for residency hopefully processes. I instantly liked him and got on with him, there are a lot of people here that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to socialise with, not to sound like a snob though there are quite a few thick people who’s idea of travelling is completely contradictory to my idea, ie getting drunk and then telling people how drunk you were as a mark of cool-ness. Me and Matt headed off in search of the Grand Palace though we went the wrong way and ended up at a couple of temples a little distance off. I really enjoyed the temples as the architecture was polar opposite to the Chinese and the Japanese temples that I have been visiting over the last couple of months. They were big white buildings with a few different style roofs, one was a gothic wooden carving roof at then others were cool coloured tiled roofs similar to those in croatia with gold horns on either end. One of the temples had a stunning spiral staircases which went up high and offered a good look around Bangkok. Compared to Tokyo it isn’t as densely building populated and those buildings are a lot more flat then Tokyo, and it doesn’t feel anywhere as busy as I thought it would do. Before I arrived in Bangkok I was a bit apprehensive as I was running into more and more horror stories by said thick people who I wouldn’t necessarily choose to associate with, and it’s bloody fine, in fact it’s awesome. I’m staying a couple of roads down from Khao san road (a backpacker haven which was featured in the Beach) and Khao san road is tourist central, shops, bars, clubs and boots the chemist. Though around it is fine, and there are a lot of quieter side roads and back alleys offering quieter entertainment and a better atmosphere. Very quickly I am adapting to Thailand’s pace and the friendly pedestrians who try and sell you tuk tuk rides or tell you that a palace or temple is closed and you should go here and there, and I don’t have a problem with them as they are friendly and polite, and after you tell them no and ask them a question they give you honest advice and directions, you just have to get your head round the fact that if someone approaches you for no real reason he’s trying to sell you something or point you in a certain direction and that he is lying to you, though me and matt quickly found their kryptonite, basically we’ve been here for a week, we’ve seen everything that they are about to ask us about and we are leaving tonight and they quickly leave you alone. Also we’re trying to see what obscure countires we can get away with saying we are from as invariably that is one of standard questions you ask, I choked on Mozambique. From the temples and the golden mount (another temple) we walked toward the grand palace stopping for an ice cream and another bottle of water (it’s was  glorious day and was fucking baking). Found the grand palace and there was a crowd of people at the entrance not being let in. We were told by the people on the door that it was closed for the King coming back or something and would re-open tomorrow. Thus we have adopted the rule ‘never believe anything anyone says unless they have a uniform and/or a gun’, and the blokes on the door had both, they were in the army and they had guns with knifes on the end of them, so I think they were telling the truth as they weren’t telling us to go anywhere else, so we sat in the park for a bit and headed back to the hostel to try and figure out where to go after Bangkok. Matt didn’t have any real plans though knows there is a festival on the ‘bridge over the river kwai’ area (I’ve forgotten the name of the actual place) where it’s supposed to be an amazing atmosphere and they lace the bridge with fireworks and effectively blow up the bridge! That of course sounded amazing though isn’t for another week I think, so heading south west to the coast for a bit of island hopping, decided on Phuket to give us a taste then we will head to Ko Phan Nga, Scaramanga’s island from The Man with the Golden Gun!!!! After a little while we headed off for dinner with a Belgian dude called Eve, it was still early so we got a beer in a side street bar and had a chat, then headed to Ethos, a vegan restaurant in a back alley which was amazing, I had a fabulous Falafel and a cinnamon, raison and chocolate coconut shake for under 4 quid and it filled me up proper. We wandered down a couple of streets and on the way sampled fried bugs (scorpion, cricket, worms etc) then all fancied a massage (a proper one, not the cheap trashy kind) and Eve walked past a place that was a few blocks away and quiet which we went to. First we started with the foot spa where the fish nibble your feet which was great though a little bizarre, very weird feeling and a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant. After 15mins soaking I got a foot massage while the other 2 got back and neck massage for half hour and it was excellent, felt so relaxed and instantly better. Both of those set me back a total of 4 quid which I still can’t believe, then headed back into the night. Tiredness suddenly hit me, so I left the other two who were heading off for another beer and possibly a ping pong show which I don’t fancy at all, got a bottle of green tea, showered and turned in having had a great day, I’m looking forward to the next 4 months soooo much round south east asia I can’t describe it.