I saw a shirt that said that in Japan. I didn't get it then and I still don't but I will tell you a beard in Thai heat and humidity is not fun. It was getting way to hot and sticky and the beard captured all the sweat so I had to shave it off. But enough of my grooming, back to the show...
After getting up late due to the beers from the night before and the general wearing toll the trip is starting to take we decided to take it a little easier. We set at around noon to hit up some of the tourist sites around Bangkok, mainly the palace and the reclining Buddha. On the way we met a "nice" Thai guy from Chaing Mai who informed us that today was a Buddhist holiday and the palace was closed today except for Thai people, but for 20 baht we could get a tuk tuk to drive us around to the different temples as they opened to the general public. This amazing price was all subsidized by the government since it was a Buddhist holiday and all. We bid the man farewell and headed off towards the palace only to be stopped a minute later by a tuk tuk driver who had the exact same story and offered to drive us for 10 baht each. He seemed a little to insistent and when the next guy along the way had the same story we started to get suspicious. We heard numerous variations on the way to the palace such as the king's sister had died (which may be true) and only Thais could get in to the see the body. We never fell for them thankfully and later found out it is a common scam and that the tuk tuk drives you around to various shops trying to get you to buy stuff.
We eventually made it down to the palace. Like most things in Thailand entry is free for Thai people but foreigners pay 300 baht (~$10). We paid and walked around, checking out the lavish decorations. Thais are much more flashy with the temples and palaces than China or Japan. They also seem to have a lot of monkey looking people in their history. The temple was interesting and we saw the jade Buddha on the inside where we had to take off our shoes and sit with our feet behind us so as not to offend the Buddha. After the palace we headed down to Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha, declining offers from every cab and tuk tuk on the way who told us it was really far. It was only about half a mile. The reclining Buddha is a 46m concrete and gold plated statue of Buddha laying down. Very large but not terribly impressive. But at 50 baht to get in it was fine.
After we were sufficiently templed out we headed back to the hotel to relax. We had planned to do a Muay Thai fight that night but were unable to get tickets in time. Instead we decided to head down to Pat Pong and Silom Soi 4, the notorious flesh market and gay districts of town. Immediately after entering Pat Pong you get assailed from all sides by guys with laminated cards listing out all the sex shows you can see. And they are quite relentless. One guy followed us for a good 5 minutes before I had to tell him to fuck off. The horror stories of the Pat Pong seemed to be exaggerated or the street has died down a little. It is mostly a night market now, selling knock off clothes, bags and the regular pirated stuff. There are still go-go bars with girls dancing in bikinis, still upstairs strip clubs were the most unhygienic acts are performed, and lots of "massage" parlors with very pretty masseuses. But the market aspect of it makes it feel not quite as sleazy.
After the market we walked down to Silom Soi 4. Marty had told me it is the gay district but there are lots of straight bars also. We were with Jon and Laura so we stopped into a nice restaurant so she could eat. Most of the restaurants were very nice but something about the area did bother me. I have no problem with homosexual people, but I do find it disturbing to see large older European white men walk in with a young looking Thai guys and then almost molest them in public. The Thai guys didn't seem all that into it and I am next to positive he was bought and paid for. It also was not just in the gay community. We saw plenty of young Thai girls leading white men down the roads to I don't want to know where. We even saw one devilish looking white guy with 2 Thai girls who took turns feigning interest in him as he played with his wedding band. But this being Thailand and the Pat Pong area I guess that is what goes on. After a beer and Laura got some food we headed out to run the gauntlet of guys selling sex shows. We then stumbled on Pat Pong 2, a second alley way where the flesh market seems to be in full effect. We immediately had woman grabbing us trying to entice us into their clubs for god knows what. We told them all no thanks and headed for the end of the alley. After that run we needed another beer and stopped into the Happy Beer Garden.
The Happy Beer Garden really is just a bunch of benches and tables on the sidewalk in front of a store. They have no bathrooms (you pay 5 baht to use the public facility around the corner) and their kitchen is around the side of the building. Regardless the staff are super nice (especially Tia and Naa) and compared to the atmosphere of most of the other places in the area this place felt normal. We ended up staying until 1 in the morning drinking beers and chatting with the staff. They were quite enamoured with Justin, Laura and I but made several cracks about ditching Jon. They also didn't enjoy our facial hair or Justin's long hair. They made many offers to cut it for him but eventually ended up braiding it instead. So we loaded up in a cab they got for us (on the meter which is next to impossible to get) and headed home.
The next day was another late morning for us but with not much on the agenda we did not mind. We bought tickets early for the Muay Thai fight and then headed to MBK. MBK is a huge shopping mall consisting of some 2500 stalls and stores selling most everything but mainly clothes, luggage and electronics. We walked around for a while, but having come from Japan, China and Hong Kong large malls like this are pretty common place. While most of the stuff was cheap we didn't want to lug anymore stuff around and after the FedEx fiasco were weary of shipping stuff. The only thing I tried to find cheap was an iPod touch having lost my iPod in Shanghai, but the myth of cheap electronics in Asia did not hold true for Apple goods. The best parts of the MBK trip was Justin finally getting some Burger King the way he likes it - plain - and the tuk tuk ride home where the guy was flying and Justin leaned over and said "it was nice knowing you".
We chilled out until it was time for the Muay Thai fight. After cabbing over to Lumpini Stadium we headed in during the middle of the 3rd of 7 fights. The fight was not that interesting until the last round when one guy split his forehead open and had blood running down his face. Even so he fought on until the end of the round, then left quickly left the ring. The next fight started about 1 minute after that. But before they fight each boxer does the Sacred Muay Thai dance. I got some video of and will post it but it looks like they are flapping their wings at times and other times doing some funky dance moves. Once the fight started the guy in red had a cocky air about him, laughing at times as the other guy kicked. Eventually he got socked in the eye and started to bleed and I think that set him off. In the 3rd round he delivered a kick to the right side of the other guy that literally picked him up and dropped him on the ground. The guy laid on the floor in pain and the fight was called. I assume a broken rib or something but never found out because once again the ring was cleared and the next fight started in 2 minutes.
Now the next fight started with 2 guys coming out wearing only rope tied around their hands. They had no padding of any kind and no referee was in the ring. The 5th fight was supposed to the main event so we were all pumped to see some Rambo style kick boxing. But alas it was stage fighting actually as the announcer explained the different types of moves. It was still pretty cool to see and I got a good video of one guy delivering a round house elbow. The main event was nothing to special, two 110 lb guys beating each other up. The 6th fight saw a white English guy get his ass handed to him by a plain looking Thai guy. Everyone of us picked the white guy cause he was much bigger, more muscle but the skinny non muscular Thai guy whopped him good, ending the fight with a knee to the throat/jaw that laid the white guy out on his back.
The final fight was between two kids that could not be older than 15. Even so they came out swinging and it was one of the most action packed fights. Luckily no one drew blood but the crowd was really into it and were screaming ever time one of them landed a knee. After the excitement of the fight we headed back down to Pat Pong since were so close. After some more fine dining at Pizza Hut we headed back to the same Happy Beer Garden. Once again the staff was all very friendly and fun with us, sitting with us and talking throughout the night. They never tried to coerce us into buying more alcohol which was a welcome relief. Once again Justin got his hair braided much to the amusement of people walking by. When we told them we were headed to Koh Samui they made jokes about us storing them in our luggage to take with us. We did not intend to stay long but ended up out until 1 again, getting business cards so we could send them pictures we had taken with them.
After cabbing home we passed out hoping to get some sleep before check out and the flight to Koh Samui. This morning we packed up and headed to the airport. Not much to report here, just a quick flight then a cab to the hotel. While the bungalow hut is not the resort we were hoping for it should do. We are close enough to all the action if we want to partake in it but so far have not been tempted. The place has a downtown Cabo feel to me which may just be every vacation beach town. Either way we have nothing planned for the next 3 days but may try the elephant trek through the forest if we feel inspired. Hopefully this will rest us up for the rest of Asia and before Africa.
