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After leaving Ton Sia I headed straight for Bangkok, by bus this time, in order to meet some friends who were leaving the following day. The 15 hours cooped up in a Thai bus driving like crazy was made better by the fact I was very tired and they played two movies. At 5am the following day I checked into my hostel and got some sleep.
I met with my friends and enjoyed a swim in their hotels pool. I spent the day shopping in the worlds largest open air market which was fun and watched the sun set in the neighboring park. As the dark took over from the light the locals joined in a mass get fit dance thing and I had a lot of fun trying to keep up. AS I worried about missing my friends for dinner I met someone on the skytrain who just so happened to be heading for the same place for dinner. It's a strange world I enjoyed learning that she is in fact studying to be a soul doctor. This made for great conversation and my friends found us and joined in. After saying goodbye that evening, I walked home for two hours as I had run out of money for the day. It was an interesting walk and I appreciated being out of the touristy places again!
I had been given some great tips for some DIY sight seeing and got to bed early for an early start. I made my way to the grand palace where a kind local notified me that it was closed for a couple of hours. He managed to arrange for a tuc tuc driver to take me on a tour of the city for a bargain price and as I got in the tuc tuc I thought it would be fun to be a part of a gem scam of which I was pretty sure I was getting into. This scam is world famous and I thought it to be a must do when in Bangkok and I played along happily. The scam out to be slightly more simple and I had to talk enthusiastically to some shop owners in order for my driver to get some fuel coupons in return for dropping me off there. What I didn't appreciate was him abandoning me at a temple way out of town, but I was lucky enough to meet another driver who was more honest. With some suspicious eyes that made me worried whether he could see the way, the told me I would only have to visit on tailors in order to get a free ride back to the Palace. True enough to his word I made it to the palace with one hour of viewing time to spare and a good story. The palace was beautiful and so too was the largest reclining statue of a Buddha in the world, but the attention was taken away by my need for some food. With all the excitement of being scammed I hadn't had lunch and I was running low on energy which meant I wasn't able to enjoy the moment as I witnessed a group of monks praying in a beautiful temple. So I decided to make my way to china town and got some cheap food. The rest of the evening was spent wondering around random streets bumping into interesting places, like open air cinemas down little alleys, and along the underground to a super high tech shopping mall with lots of interesting things to buy! I had a great time stuffing myself silly as I walked around a gourmet restaurant area and joined three Finnish girls for ice cream. By 11pm I decided I had had enough and made my way home. I spent an hour watching some cool extreme sports videos online before making my way to bed in time to get up and post this blog.
Now! I have been here for another 6 hours today, and I haven eaten in just as much time so this might not have made any sense to anyone other than me and I apologise for that!
I hope you have enjoyed these blogs and a conclusion to my trip will follow shortly. Thanks to those who have been following, its been really lovely (genuinely) having you along for the ride I have always enjoyed reading your responses and posts!
Lots of Love to all :-) X
- comments
Dad & Mum Thank goodness you realised what the tuc tuc drivers were up to... sounds as though you had fun at their expense! Reminds us of our time in India. It must have been really nice wandering around Bangkok, feeling safe to do so. Perhaps I'll get Dad out there one day!! Looking forward to having you home, and the millions of photos you have for us to view! Take care and lots of love, D & M x x