From seedy streets to sandy streets

The past few days have been very eventful. We met up with Doug, a friend we first met in Amman, and the three of us successfully managed to get something done in Bangkok. We woke up early and took a boat taxi to the Grand Palace. It's very difficult to describe it and the adjacent temple, so much decoration and detail, it was very impressive and after it all we felt culturally saturated for the rest of the day. But nevertheless we didn't just retreat to Khao San Road for a Heineken and strip show, we walked down to the madness of the indian quarter in the centre of the city and ate. That evening we went out just south of the Grand Palace and while sipping on some Chang beer, we saw a baby elephant stroll down the street. When I say baby elephant it shouldn't be interpreted in any way like any 'baby' thing we're used to. The 'baby' elephant was two metres tall and about a good healthy tonne, just being led down the sidewalk. We also saw a variety of different unusual food being grilled on the street, such as cockroach, worms and grasshoppers, but we had already eaten our fill.
The next day, although taken with quite a headache was equally productive. We went to see the Wat Pho (Pho Temple) and there we saw a giant reclining golden buddha, v. impressive. We then headed to the east of the city into the financial district via the skytrain, Bangkoks hot overground metro system. We went up to the 33 floor of Bangkoks Sheraton to get an even better view and finally headed south to try and catch a thai kick boxing match. Unfortunately we were unhappy with the prices they offered us for first second and third class as they were all four to five times higher than what the locals were paying. Although the prices are really not that significant by western standards (30-50 $) it has become a matter of principle to haggle everyone for everything up to the last cent, we can't give up now, we just started getting really good at it.
We said our farewells to Doug and Bangkok yesterday and took a bus to Trat, a city on the south eastern coast. From there we waited at several ferry stops and dealt with a few idiots, eventually got to Koh Chang. The first impression we got was like the one from The Beach. A palm tree jungle on high hills in the centre and white sand beaches all around. When we arrived we were picked up in a crammed roofed pickup truck and driven to the other side. There we checked into our expensive bamboo bungalow, the finest accommodation we've booked so far and its still only 50 $ a night. Rented two scooters for two days for absolutely no money and ended the night eating on the beach. Today we woke up at seven and throughout the entire day we rolled up and down dense jungle hills and down to beautiful beaches. This island is full of enormous butterflies. dragonflies and spiders. We just made it back to our resort before the sun set and after having showered I noticed I had caught some colour today. Predominantly bright red on most parts of my skin that were exposed to the sun, but colour nonetheless. Now the plan is to eat and hit some Halloween party!

Until next time!

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Rutur