The Tuk Tuk Fuk Wit

This morning Nigel slept in a bit and I went out to get some breakfast and wander around a bit. I peeked into Starbuck's out of curiosity, and ended up having an entire breakfast elsewhere for the same price as a tall iced coffee. As I was browsing at the street stalls, I passed a guy who looked familiar. Looking back, I was sure that it was one of Nigel's lacrosse mates, Mark Norton. But I wasn't entirely sure since I was in Bangkok, not Adelaide! After thinking about it for a few minutes, I remembered Nigel saying that he would be in Thailand shortly before we were, so then I knew it was him and didn't feel stupid approaching him (he had recognized me as well, but wasn't entirely sure at first either). I went and got Nige and we had a beer with Mark before he headed off to the airport to catch his flight home. It was great seeing him and getting some ideas on where to go around the country.

We then took a tuk tuk around some sights of Bangkok. These tuk tuks are actually called saamlaws by the Thais, which means 'three wheels.' They're 3-wheeled vehicles powered by a noisy two-stroke engine. They go way faster than any of the tuk tuks or motos we've taken so far. First stop was Wat Intharawihan, a temple with a huge golden Buddha 32 metres high. They were getting ready for Magha Puja holiday. It celebrates Buddha preaching to 1250 enlightened monks who came to hear him without prior summons.

Next we went to the 'Lucky Buddha' temple where locals come to pray for good luck. As we were wandering around, a man came up to us for a chat. He lives in Bangkok and had come to pray, as he had the afternoon off work. Unfortunately, the Lucky Buddha was closed, as they were preparing for a funeral. There were many flower wreaths on stands, each with a person's name (in Thai) on a sash across the centre. We asked the gentleman, and he said they were all victims of the tsunami. He gave us some good advice on beaches/islands to go to in the south since he takes his family on vacation down there every year or so.

Next we were taken to a tailor so our tuk tuk driver could get a coupon for a free meal. We sat in there for about 10 minutes, then told the guy we were not interested in buying any clothes, and left. Then we were taken to the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) office to supposedly get some information on places we'd like to go to in Thailand. But it was obvious what kind of people they are used to catering to because they had no information on places we'd like to visit 'off the beaten track' and actually discouraged us from going. All in all it was a waste of time. Our tuk tuk driver then tried to convince us to visit another shop, this time a gem place, so that he could get 2 more food coupons. We were adamant that we did not want to go, it is a waste of our time, and please just take us to the next temple. After sitting there for a good 5 minutes while he tried to implore us to go, I finally relented as I could see us just wasting more time. We arrived at the gem place, looked around for a bit, then proceeded to a room where they sell 'cheaper' souveniers. We said "No thank you, we're not interested" and the woman rudely replied "There is the door." We were more than happy to leave. We went straight to our tuk tuk, and our driver tried to make us visit another tailor across the street. We'd had enough of his antics and flatly refused. He wasn't happy about this. We headed to the next stop, the Grand Palace, but on the way there, I read in the book that things close up around 3:30. It was 2:30 this time, so we had our driver take us back to Khao San Road instead. After all the time we wasted with his visits to places we clearly did not want to go to, he had the nerve to charge us double what we had agreed upon. Nigel was stuffed by this time and had no energy to argue, so he just paid the guy to make him go away. We don't think the TAT would appreciate such behaviour by their staff, so we'll ring the number they have to report dodgy drivers.

We got some lunch then had a rest in our room for a while and then took the ferry to Bangkok's Thanon Silom area, the heart of the financial district. There are many upmarket hotels, restaurants and shops in this area. We had some dinner and wandered around the Phat Pong night markets selling Rolex watches, Louis Vitton bags, and heaps of other name-brand knock-offs. We saw a dance show--all we have to say about that is 'When in Bangkok...' We took a tuk tuk back to Khao San Road, wandered around a bit more (they close the street off to vehicle traffic at night so it's fun to walk amongst all the people, shops and bars) and headed to bed.