Bangkok

I spent a couple more days in Bangkok. I visited Wat Arun an old temple where the mosaic style decor is made from broken up China
plates. It is called the Temple of the Dawn and makes an interesting tall silhouette as you travel down the river on a busy bus boat. I
returned to Wat Po for a Thai massage that really hurt, but felt good afterwards. It was certainly deep! I also found a few art galleries
in Silom road and enjoyed seeing the variety of different pictures there.

Finding which was really Khao San Road after my morning trip to the floating market, I went wandering there on Thursday evening. I saw some nice pastel pictures (which I returned to buy the next evening) and chatted with the really cute (as in sweet/ET cute) artist who was selling them by the side of the road. It was fun talking to someone about their work even in his limited (though good) English. I was then appraoched by a guy who was also travelling alone and wanted to have a drink. I went along for half an hour but left the club fairly soon as he was a bit of a jerk and only really about one thing, which he definitely wasn't about to be getting from me!!

The next night I met some much nicer people. I was waiting on Silom Road for a number 15 bus to Banglumphu and a middle aged German lady came to wait too. We got chatting and had dinner together and then walked Khao San. We found out we were in the same guest house and after we got back I went to my room. I was sent a cockroach (as a sign I reckon in hindsight), that had to be big enough to get me to move. It was. It was over two inches in body and more in feelers and I just didn't fancy it running over my head during the night, so I went out to the landing to get a chair and met some lovely people (after first going back and trapping my cockroach with a cut bottle and a plastic bag). Devon is from Canada and Doris from Germany. We sat chatting for a while and were then joined by Lars (German too) and later briefly by Alex (Canadian). I sat up chatting with Doris and Lars until about 4am. We had a lazy day the next day literally wandering Khao San after checking out and then all got the night train down to Surat Thani. We had a fun trip down with much laughter and hilarity and three bottles of Thai whiskey.

We parted our ways and I waited with the Gills and Marian (who I had also travelled down on the train with) for mum and dad and Priscilla to arrive. They were not too much longer.

I had a good few days in Bangkok. I was relaxed and not trying to do too much, but it was interesting all the time. It is a big modern
city with sky scrapers, a plethora of big shops and a 7eleven on every street. Yet it maintains a distinctly Asian and Thai feel
about it. The people are friendlier than in many large cities and I was always helped by someone when asking for directions, even when they couldn't really understand me. The thing that stands out the most about Bangkok that distinguishes it from other places is the amount of food and number of places to eat on the street. Thais appear always to be eating and yet on the whole remain petite and slim. I read that this is cause though they appear to eat all the time, it is what their bodies say they need and it is not huge
amounts. Never the less, Bangkok is a city of constant food smells and interesting looking dishes in abundance.