Whacky Races

Well Bangkok is certainly banging there's no doubt about that!

We are not staying in the Backpacker side of town which is Khao San Road, we are in the "better" side of town, where dare I say it's a bit quieter??

Yesterday we took a taxi to The Grand Palace, it is easy to see where it gets it's name from, it is an absolute splendid sight, and well worth a visit. It was a blistering hot day yesterday around 32c with not a breath of air. Matt had been going on at me about appropriate dress for the said Temples and told me that I should dress respectfully (as if I don't normally!!) So with that in mind I opted for a long cotton skirt, a vest top and a jumper to cover my bare shoulders with when we went into the Temples. Matt went along in shorts and a t-shirt. As soon as we tried to walk through the gates we were shouted at through a loud speaker and told that we weren't dressed appropriately and that we would have to go and "borrow" some clothes from their office. This didn't prove to be a real problem as there were 100's of Westerners there all with the same problem, us Westerners seem to have no regard for other countries culture. We were wondering what the particular problem was with our dress (or lack of) as we really thought we had it covered (no pun intended) anyway it only turned out that Matt was showing too much leg!! He was handed a beautiful pair of pea green elasticated waist trousers for the tour. Well I just fell about the place laughing at him, he looked ridiculous, especially as he was wearing a trendy blue t-shirt and flip flops, he wouldn't let me take a photo. I was in hysterics, it was one of those "you had to be there" moments! Anyway we took lots of snaps, we went to see the Emerald Buddha and a few other bits and pieces but because it was just soooo hot we cut our visit short. Matt couldn't rid himself of his newly acquired pants quick enough he he!!

After that we walked to the Khao San Road, it was full of Westerners and pervy old men. It was more like home than Bangkok. We went for a beer and half a Pad Thai which was horrible and then had a walk around some of the shops/markets. We didn't do any shopping though as we aim to do it before we fly home so that we don't have to cart it around with us. There are lots of bargains to be had though!!!!!

The traffic here is like Whacky Races, there are about 3 lanes on the road but with 8 lanes of traffic, it's mayhem in places. There is also a constant smog about the place and difficult to breathe in places where there is a lot of cars and buses. A lot of the locals wear the masks over their noses/mouths. If the locals think it's bad you can imagine what it's like for tourists. It is much cleaner than I expected though, a lot cleaner than Kualar Lumper, although the stench of rotting food and sewers does not escape you!!

The buses here are like something from a Bollywood movie, they are painted in bright gaudy colours and have the same interior as a tacky Indian restaurant, with tasseled curtains, red and orange lighting and dodgy piped in back ground music. The only thing is you can't order a curry on one!!

Today we went to one of the many shopping centres as it really is too hot to be wandering around the streets aimlessly. We ended up in the cinema to see I am Legend. It was really funny at the beginning as the Thai National Anthem comes on and you all have to stand up and pay homage to the king. Can you imagine that at home with all the cheeky little brats, they'd all be swearing and shouting out obscenities! It was a great film though.

I'm not too familiar with the Thai religions although I know it's mostly Buddha and Hindu. One of the things that the Thais do though is have a little temple of worship outside their property, whether it be a shop, house, cafe etc. The only way to describe these little temples is to compare them to a bird table. On them they have a little Buddha and lots of flowers and crosses and other paraphernalia, they also leave food and gifts out for whoever it is the table is set up for. They believe that if they feed their God that it will keep any evil spirits away. It is quite funny actually, if you could see some of the crap they leave out. In Ko Samui they had a bottle of cherryade with a straw in and a pack of 10 cigars. I thought it was hilarious. I thought with it being Christmas that they may leave a glass of Sherry, a mince pie and a carrot for Rudolph!!

We fly to Chang Mai tomorrow so will post more then and let you know how the cooking lessons are going.

Happy New Year!!