Sa wat tii Kha Thailand, Sous-Day Cambodia

Well that's it. I've left Thailand to go onto Cambodia. After a couple further days of seeing roundabouts and playing futsal in Bangkok. I thought it was time to move on. 

'Seeing roundabouts?'I hear you ask. I had one last full day in Bangkok so rather than waste it by suntanning. I thought let's go see something. I looked on a Thailand phone app and saw this thing called a 'giant swing' wow! Let's go see that! Taxi! With the way it was described it seemed as though it was rather special. We get there and the driver says 'Giant swing-look look.' This giant swing, this thing, described on the app as a 'tourist attraction' was anything but. Two tin poles painted red with a crossbar at the top. They were upside down rugby posts. Who knew the Thais were the first to play rugby eh? Anyway so because we couldn't stop as it was literally on a roundabout as well. I quickly searched my app for something else called the 'Erawan shrine.' Off we went. Past some behemoth shopping malls. 

It only cost me 80 baht (£1.10) to get there on this long winded journey after the swing incident. However I only had a 1000 baht note. As you can imagine the driver didn't have change. So we went to this ridiculously posh hotel. For me to change the note. Someone said I'll do it for you. Brilliant! 1000 baht quickly whipped from my hand. 'Can I come with you?' I ask

'No,you stay.' Is the reply. 

Now here's where I should have said no I'll go somewhere else. But a big posh hotel with security guards stood right by me. They wouldn't let me get robbed... After 1 minute I was okay, 2 minutes, 4 minutes doubt creeps in. 

'What's he doing?' I ask the security guard

'Just wait please'

Dammit! Just lost £20! How stupid of me. I'll wait just a bit longer, if he's not back in a couple of minutes I'm not listening to the guard. I'm going after him. 

10 minutes later...right I'm going in. Just as I take two steps forward he comes back smiling. 

'Here you are, sir'

My heart went back down my throat, rather than sitting in my mouth. Panic over. Settled my debts with the taxi. 

Then went to see this shrine. It was very busy. I was only one of three westerners there. Girls in traditional attire dancing and singing, with blind people playing music as a further gimmick. This shrine is only about 40 years old. So it's a bit ridiculous to have these people here as if trying to replicate what it was 100's of years ago. I sat and drunk in the atmosphere. I can understand why people like this particular shrine because with the music, the singular flames, the gold, the incense and the flowers there was something to it. It was completely different from the exhaust fume filled streets of Bangkok. That were only 20 yards away but this shrine had something else to it. However it did start to rain which killed it a bit so my religious experience was finished.

Shrine

Dancing girls to the left. I would have had to pay to take their photo properly.

Other side of the shrine.

I decided to get out the rain by going into one of these huge shopping malls. Nothing particularly interesting. Just western shops. Went over the road to another one. Was very out of place. Everyone in suits and opening doors for me whilst I'm in some flip flops, a stretched vest and gaudy swimming shorts. In this shopping mall there was Patek Phillipe, Rolex, Calvin Klein, Gucci. Just ridiculous stuff. 

So I left that one as I was embarrassed to be there bringing the average IQ of the place down by ten points. I mean I do that to any place I go to but here it was obvious. Still raining outside. Eurgh. Look at that shopping mall! Even bigger than the last one. So big in fact I actually got lost. I had no damn idea where I was. I went in to it at about 12 thinking I'll get some lunch at the same time. I didn't manage to find any lunch until 2. It was just huge. It then took me an hour to work out how to get out to the same place I came in at. Motorbike back to the hotel because there was a stupid amount of traffic. Sorry mum! They're just quicker and usually as cheap as a taxi. Not as safe but it's fine! 

This huge shopping mall. It doesn't show the true extent of this place. As it bends round a corner in a L shape. 

Good effort. If you can't read from the light being in the way there is also a massive ice skating rink in here. 

Anyway not very many particularly interesting things happened in Bangkok. I could tell you about the futsal but I'm sure that make a ton of you switch off and go back to Facebook! 

But onwards and eastwards to Cambodia and the border crossing. 

The link today is:http://youtu.be/9Cyokaj3BJU 'Sweet Home Cambodia'

Phnom Penh English tutoring http://www.gregprestontutoring.com/