A slow start the next morning. The group finally got together and set out for khoasan road to buy a ticket to kho phangan for the coming weekend. After strolling around and browsing the shops and merch stalls we set off south toward reclining buddah. We arrived after a 40 minute walk to a massive palace looking estate surrounded by 25 ft walls. Admission was 50 Batt ($1.60) and we casually strolled through different buildings, small and large temples, admired beautifully groomed trees and large pyramid type tile structures. In the center of complex is one of the world's largest buddha statues, housing the infamous "Reclining Buddha." This golden statue stands over 100 feet long and 20 feet high, of Buddha laying down. I don't really understand the significance of the immense statue as there were no English translations but it is a beautiful work of art. We strolled around a little longer and headed back to the hostel. Watched a movie "into the wild" saw the group of girls from ucf off and went to my suit fitting. This whole suit process has been kind of shady not to mention very pushy. The jacket felt good though. Good size and length, pants a little tight, so he marked with chalk where to loosen them up and said i could come back the next day at 6pm. I felt more confident I was going to get a good product after the fitting but was still skeptical as to when they were going to try to screw me over. After a quick stroll down khoa San road to gaze at the circus antics I went back to the hostel to call it in early.
The next morning, after a great nights sleep I work up and spent a couple hours catching up on the blog, and organizing photos. It takes a while longer because I am doing everything from my phone. The hostel doesn't have a public computer to use, there is an Internet cafe next door but it's always full of kids playing world of warcraft. I met up with a guy named Matt - A firefighter my age from SF bay area. So we set off bound for the river to take a boat ride. Passing several sidewalk food markets we grabbed a quick bite and went towards a pier where all the boats were taking off and landing. Not 10 minutes later, the chicken kebob sticks I ate made a not so pleasant rumble in my stomach. I walked into the public restroom to find a challenging sight. No seat, no back or reservoir tank, and of course no tp. Basically an elevated circular porcelain hole with an spicket and a bucket. Man did I wish I was back in Japan. I walked back out to find a lady selling tp for 8 batt and the rest you can probably figure out... The thai food is finally catching up with me. I've just about given up trying to eat gluten free as that really doesn't exist here. I mostly eat from the street carts, picking the cleanest most sanitary one I can find. The food taste great and it's so cheap, usually between 35-70 batt - $1-2.30. I fill up for several hours but with all the walking I've been doing I burn that off pretty quick. They don't seem to eat a whole lot of meat. The only meat I see is on a skewer sold from a cart, and I can't begin to guess how long it's been sitting out uncovered in 85 degree heat. Needless to say it's hard to get solid proteins.
Back on track, Matt and I got upsold on a long boat canal cruise for 600b each -$20. We picked up a couple beers for the ride and boarded this long skinny cigarette looking gun boat. The driver sat perched with a massive engine fully open and exposed to his side with long 10' propeller shaft coming out of the stern. The boat could hold up to 20 people but we were the only ones on it. We took off flying through the choppy river that flows south through the city and eventually dumps onto the gulf of Thailand. We toured a small canal with hundreds of homes right on the water. Passing through what appeared to be the richest of rich and the poorest of poor it was an interesting sight. As the canal opened up there were several floating souvenir boats that paddled up to us offering trinkets, water and beer (Thailand a country of true entrepreneurs). Once back out in open water the driver gunned it the rest of the way to our destination in the business district (non tourist). We got great pictures of the city sky line from the boat. We took the new sky train - above ground metro, back closer to our hostel. It was great to see a different side of Bangkok than the tourist hustle bustle and grungy dirty old streets in our area.
We regrouped and assembled a large group of people from the hostel to grab a bite to eat in the classier district we were just in. After dinner we shot up a sky scraper 45 floors to have drinks at a very impressive sky bar. Matt and i had flip flops and shorts - not to dress code but they let us slide since we were literally the only people in the place. One drink cost 375b, I could have eaten 10 times for the same price... Oh well it was a cool experience. We then took cabs back up to khaosan road for some buckets and dancing. We ended up clubbing and dancing until 4am. Everyone but 3 of us called it a night. Re a girl in our group, suggested we stay strong till sunrise and head to the park to watch people do Tai Chi. I didn't really know what it was but I went with it. Found a mellow bar and smoked a delicious apple tasting hookah, ate some fruit, and drank tea until sunrise. The park was packed when we got there. People exercising, running, stretching, group yoga and lots of Tai Chi groups. It was a sight to see. We casually joined a group of about 10 older women in the slow karate type step dance. We went a couple rounds, standing in the back of the group mirroring the ladies in front of us. Each set got faster and more involved as we warmed up. The ladies turned around and clapped for us as they were really happy to see us. And what a sight I'm sure we were, strung out and still wearing the clothes we went out in. They invited us for some tea at a near by bench. We talked for a bit and they said that they all were in their 70s which was amazing because they definitly didn't look it. They said they do Tai Chi every morning. The invited us back out to do more, this time with a traditional asian folding fan. The beat of the music was a lot faster and the steps more complex. Every so often they flicked their wrist to pop out the fans, waved and incorporates it into the dane smooth and rhythmically. The whole experience was really incredible. After 2 more sets they congratulated us on what a great job we did. We took a group picture and set off to explore the park more. It was amazing how many people were out walking, exercising, or just getting outside to be active. It was very inspiring. After being awake for over 25 hours I was exhausted. I felt bad because I knew going to bed at 9am that much of the day would be wasted. However I justify it by the fact that I got two days of activity packed into one... :)
(I will admit- I didnt take these photos, but I have real ones on my camera)
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