Thailand

Saturday 7th May 2016 – After a much needed lay in we ventured once again to our favourite eatery…the famous Terminal 21. It really is hard to beat at around 80p each for a delicious authentic Thai meal and only a minute or so walk away from our hotel…a real winner! We hadn’t been on the Skytrain yet…it hadn’t even been built when Aaron had visited Bangkok 15 years prior, so we decided to ride one end to the other in order to get an idea of the scale of Bangkok and see its vast and varied cityscape. It was great to do and the air conditioning made it a really comfortable ride. At Mo Chit Station…the end of the line…we hopped off and took a stroll through Chatichak Park. It was hot and humid so we grabbed an ice cold drink and sat under the shade of the trees by the lake watching the world go by as we sipped our drinks. That night we hit China Town. The sights and sounds hit you straight away. We saw how Durians…one of the popular fruits in Thailand…are cut open and look a little like enormous horse chestnuts inside…they really are prickly customers on the outside! Strolling through the maze of street stalls we came across a ‘fish foot massage’. I was too ticklish to stand the nibbling of the tiny fish but Aaron managed to hold his own with hundreds of little fish tucking into the dead skin on his feet! All the locals laughed as he squealed and screamed with the experience…it was hilarious to watch! Sounds, lights and smells evade your senses all around…I really felt for the live crabs with their claws bound up, blinking in the bright lights and waiting for certain death on the stove…I wanted to buy them all up and release them in the canals and rivers but Aaron wouldn’t let me…I’m turning more and more vegetarian by the day…every time I see a live creature suffering in some way my first instinct is to rescue it! Senses full to bursting point we jumped in a taxi and sped back to our lovely air conditioned room for a good nights sleep.

Sunday 8th May 2016 – Alarm ringing in my ears at 7.00am…I was too tired to get up…rolling over I prayed for another few hours of sleep, eventually falling out of bed at 9.30. We had breakfast then set off to experience the biggest weekend market in the world…Chatuchak Market! First we met Pam and John at their new hotel…Clover Hotel Asoke…it was lovely, a brand new hotel with all the usual mod cons. Jumping in a taxi off we sped. On arrival we couldn’t believe the myriad of goods on offer…however, on closer inspection it was more quantity rather than quality on offer. I managed to find a simple silver ring as a replacement wedding ring while we travel, having left our originals in the safe care of family back in England. Aaron added to his bracelet adornments with a new, leather specimen…it was a good price and suited him well. The market really is enormous and after a while everything seems to look the same. By this time we had lost Pam and John in the crowds so after a quick bite to eat we headed back on the Skytrain to the comfort of our room.

Monday 9th May 2016 – Pam and John had decided to head for the beach for 5 days or so for a change of scenery. They were heading for Pattaya…the Blackpool of Thailand! We wished them a safe journey down and waved them off from their hotel in their private taxi…how the other half live! I had a feeling we were going to see them sooner rather than later after how Pam had described their new destination! Our day was to be spent mending our camera after being saturated by Aaron’s sweaty body when he climbed Sigiriya Rock back in Sri Lanka in his hornet proof outfit! We headed on the Skytrain for one stop to Phong Station where there was a Sony shop. The shop was 4th floor up in an amazingly posh, high end precinct called Em Quarter…it even had a branch of Harrods in there for good measure. Everything was very expensive in the shop but the Sony man kindly used one of his brand new cameras to download our Sri Lankan piccies onto our iPad…I was delighted…the Thai people really are lovely…so helpful and genuine. Returning to our hostel I blogged and Aaron googled for a cheap place to buy camera accessories in order to get our handicapped camera to work and download pictures again. He found one and set off on his camera rescue mission! Later I fed my 3 street cats and snoozed the evening away.

Tuesday 10th May 2016 – Waking up early…very unusual for me…I left Aaron asleep in bed, had breakfast and went to feed my stray alley cats. They come when I call now…one ginger boy (who has been round the block a few times and is a little worse for wear) and two sister cats…his better looking girlfriends! They know breakfast or dinner is on offer when I call and get treated to chicken, ham or liver courtesy of our local street food man. Later I trimmed Aaron’s beard…by default I have become his personal groomer and he seems to like the results amazingly! I continued reading my Stephen King book then in the evening we hit Soi Cowboy…a red light area with gogo bars and ladyboy bars. We played pool, listened to live music playing and took in the sights and sounds around us. It really is difficult to tell a ladyboy from a real girl…they are very attractive and deceptively feminine…however…the give away is nearly always the voice when they start chatting to you…a real dead giveaway! After a fun night out we flopped into bed around 2am in the morning.