Tuesday, February 20, 2007

WARNING: Some Content May Not Be Suitable For Children Under The Age of 18--Parental Discretion Is Advised

Now that I have gotten every one's attention with the title I will let you know that the racy stuff isn't till the end. I will warn you again if you don't care to read.

Bangkok, what a city. We arrived at the Holiday Inn that I had booked on Priceline for $80 a night ($30 a night higher than our budget) because I thought that by this point in the trip we would need a real hotel with a real shower, and hot water that lasts longer than 5 minutes. Kendall had been mad at me since I booked it because she thought it was too expensive, but I think it was the best idea of the trip, if I can say so myself. I think the reception thought we were on our honeymoon because they immediately upgraded us to a Deluxe room (probably worth $300/night) with a sitting area and extra large bathroom. So we ended up getting an even better deal than I had originally expected. Enough about the hotel thought lets get to the good stuff.

Our first day we decided to knock out the "must see" stuff which was mostly some wats and the Grand Palace where the King hangs out every once and a while. Pretty much more of the same, but I will include some pictures for anyone who is interested.



Kendall and me in front of the largest reclining Buda in Thailand, The grounds of Wat Pho



That night we went to a traditional Thai dinner and then went to an Irish Pub that had one of the best Beatles cover bands I have ever heard--no kidding. The pub was on the edge of the Red Light District and although we were offered to be taken to some shows we declined as we were not carrying a lot of cash.

The next day, Saturday, we went to Siam Square for lunch and then headed to Chatuchak Weekend Market, the mother of all markets. We stayed for about 2 or 3 hours without buying anything before heading back to the hotel for some rest. That night we went to a Chinese New Year celebration held in a park in the center of town. It was fun to see the dancing lions, dragons, and phoenix.

At the end they had a grand finale with some fireworks. Here is a quick video of the action. Keep a close eye on the kid swinging around on top of the pole. He is literally tied to the top of this thing and there are 20 guys on the ground swinging the pole around. When it is time to come down they just slowly lean the pole and the guys catch it as it comes down. It looks like something straight out of a SAE build.





It should also be noted that these fireworks were going off only yards from where a crowd of about 150 - 200 people were standing. The ashes and embers dropped on peoples heads and in their eyes. It was pretty amusing to watch a bunch of Thais breathe through their handkerchiefs and rub their eyes for 2o minutes after it ended.

Kendall was upset that we went to the mother of all markets without making a purchase so we decided to make the half hour trek again on Sunday morning to explore some more and return to a few places that she had seen the day before. Once she starts, she can't stop though and we didn't leave until we had three bags full of stuff.

Moms, Dads, Grandparents and others who may be offended should stop reading now.

Kendall owed me for the second market run so Sunday night we ventured back towards the Red Light District to have dinner at a place listed in Lonely Planet as a "best place to brag about in backpacker circles." Turns out it is right smack dab in the middle of Patpong street, surrounded on all sides by "go-go bars." We were really experiencing Bangkok now. Inside the restaurant we met two Australian gun dealers who travel to Bangkok 5 times a year and after talking to them through dinner I finally worked up the nerve to ask them about the "ping pong shows" everyone was offering us outside. They told us "everyone has to do it at least once in their lives" and walked us to one of their favorite bars just down the street.

The "shows" that went on inside this "bar" were like nothing I have ever seen. I couldn't stop thinking how lame Ricks in New Orleans is in comparison. I won't go into great detail here but will go ahead and list the names of the shows we saw. If you want more info, feel free to shoot me an email.

1. Coke bottle show
2. Razor blade show
3. Neon string show
4. Candle wax show
5. Motorcycle show
6. Bottle opener show
7. Writing show

I went ahead and purchased a souvenir for myself after the writing show. The following picture is of the poster I bought. There were no hands, feet, or mouths involved in the writing.


That pretty much sums up Bangkok. More from Chang Mai soon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Certainly too wild for Grandpa - Grandma says"Whoopee!".

Unknown said...

I think that Dixie and some of her cohorts interned there in about '95...that candle wax show sounds familiar.