Bangkok Day Two

As Vas said, internet access has not been as ubiquitous as anticipated here in Thailand... Thankfully, the guest house we are currently at in Chiang Mai is amazing and has 7 computers and free internet. So here goes... I'm going to try and pick up where I think he left off.

After dinner and drinks with Ratavy and Nyny at the Suan Lua Night Bazaar, we headed back to our hostel. However, seeing as that it was only 11:00pm, and it was our first night in Bangkok, I figured I had a personal obligation to explore some of the city's nightlife. You're only young once, right? Acting as my partner in all things evenly remotely untame, I was able to convince Anthony to come with me. Opting against Patpong, Bangkok's most notorious red light district, we decided to check out the scene on Khao San Road. After a game of pool and some beers at one bar, where I saw not one, but two, gigantic rats, we headed further down the road to a place with a live cover band playing everything from Kady Perry to Blink-182. The place was absolutely pounding and swarming with a mix of locals and like-minded travelers. Good times.

The next morning, Ben and Vas woke up early to check out some museum and a zoo, while Ant and I stayed in a bed a little later to recover from the night before. Eventually we headed out in search of the apparent "monk bowl village" - a place where they hand-make the bowls which the monks eat and drink from... I don't think we ever found it, but in the process we stumbled upon some pretty cool stuff. We walked through an area of town with shop after shop selling massive Buddha figures and statues, which I presume are shipped all over the world. From there, we walked through a wood-crafting section, where I bought this sweet hand-carved elephant. After that, we followed a sign for "The Golden Mount" with an arrow down an alleyway until we eventually ran into Wat Saket - a temple built upon a huge artificial with 360 degree views of the entire city from the top.

After some street cart pad thai, Ben and Vas met up with us and we headed to Siam Square - a much more modern and industrialized area of Bangkok. We walked around for a while there, and went into the MBK Center, which is just about the largest mall I have ever seen in my entire life. Parts of it were like a gigantic indoor market, with hundreds of stalls selling everything from knock-off soccer jerseys to women's lingerie. After that, we walked a few blocks to a canal, where we experienced yet another unique form of Thai public transit - the motorized longboat. For 8 baht (about 25 cents), it was worth the experience, but I could have done with out the water being splashed in my face.

After freshening up back at the guest house, we took a cab to Lumphini Stadium to see a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) match. Absolutely insane. It's mostly kicking and punching, but one guy took a knee to the face and had to be taken off on a stretcher. More exciting than the fighting though was the atmosphere itself. Though they tried to rope us into buying the 2000 baht ($60) ringside tickets, we chose the 1000 baht third level ones instead. I'm so glad that we did because the upper level was clearly the rowdiest section, and the place was so small that I still felt extremely close to the stage. I'd say that the place was filled with 95% Thais, almost entirely men, the majority of whom were screaming and shouting bets as they counted each point the fighters got. Though there were wooden and cement bleachers, hardly anyone was sitting. These fighters looked like they were no older than 16, by the way, and the "main event"was between two guys who weighed 121 pounds each. That was an experience I will not soon forget.

Another unforgettable experience... Our first real Thai meal. Before the match, we walked down the road to the entrance to the Suan Lua night bazaar from the night before and found a sukumvit buffet (Thai BBQ). The way it works is they give you one large bucket filled with hot coals and covered with a metal grill/pot. If you can imagine it as a Mexican sombrero, the outter circle is filled with broth to cook noodles in, and cone-shaped center is used to grill raw meat. Though we mostly ate beef, chicken, and pork, Anthony and I manned up and tried some jellyfish and cow's intestine as well. There's a first and a last time for everything, and I'm pretty sure that is the first and last time I'll be doing that.

Finally, after some confusion, we met up with Ratavy and Nyny again at the apparently renowned "red wagon" - a converted red Volkswagen on the side of a street that has all sorts of alcoholic cocktails served by the bucket. In fact, drinking out of buckets is fairly common here - they poor some booze into a sand pail, give you a straw, and that's that. Ben even had his own! We were all very proud of him. After the wagon, the four of us followed Ratavy and Nyny to Bed. I know what you're thinking, but that's actually the name of the club we went to. The place was pretty trendy, and reminded me of a giant iPod, as literally everything was white. On either side of the two main rooms, there were upper lofts lined with beds and pillows to lie and sit on with your drinks, thereby explaining the name of the place... Overall, I think everyone had an absolute blast. I have never seen Benny or Vas dance so hard in my life. And Katie, it's a shame you weren't there, because apparently Anthony only does that goofy dance for you. You know what I'm talking about.

And now it's almost 12:30 in the morning here, and I am exhausted from two days of nearly non-stop traveling. I think Anthony is going to pick up from here. Miss you all!

Kyle

PS - there's supposed to be pictures here, but I can't keep my eyes open any longer and Vas, our Tech Support, has left for bed, so no go tonight. Sorry.