This entry really just serves to give some insight into my plans moving forward. Sadly, I have to leave Bangkok on Thursday. I'm really gonna miss this place. :(
Tomorrow, I'm heading out to the River Kwai (yes, the same River Kwai from the movie and World War II fame) on an all day excursion that's supposed to include a train ride over the bridge, a raft ride, and an elephant ride (yeah, elephants!). Then, on Thursday evening, I fly out to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I'll be there Thursday through late Sunday afternoon. I booked a hotel already for $70 for the ENTIRE time I'm there. hehe.
Sunday afternoon, I'll fly back to Bangkok to catch my flight to London, and I'll be in London Monday morning around 6am local time. I haven't yet figured out how long I'm going to be in London versus Amsterdam, Brussels, and now potentially Berlin. My English friends from Soi Cowboy also said I have to meet them in Liverpool, but we'll see...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Patpong (Red Light District 3)
If you're easily offended by anything relating to strippers, prostitutes, ladyboys, excessive alcohol consumption, and / or ping pong balls, you should avoid these three red light district entries. I will put this disclaimer in front of all of these entries.
I was really hungover following Soi Cowboy. Maybe because it was the first place that I visited, but I still rated Nana Plaza slightly higher than Soi Cowboy. It's not to say that Soi Cowboy wasn't fun; quite the contrary. I'd say it was like A compared to A-. I read an article that said that the red light districts are like Disneyland for men, and I completely agree. Anyone who needs an ego boost should head this way immediately ;p
Ok -- here it is...I'm going to put in a special disclaimer for this entry. This will be the most graphic of all of the red light entries. If you find this sort of thing offensive, DO NOT continue; you will be disgusted.
Now that that is out of the way, let's get started.
Patpong is located a few miles from my hotel and required me to take a train to get there. The train discontinues service at midnight, so I was cognizant of the time, and made my way to the area a little early. To me, Patpong seemed like the smallest of the three red light areas, but, overall, it's the most well known. Every time someone told me about the sites, they said I had to come to Patpong. This is where the legendary ping pong shows (girl shoots a ping pong ball out of her cooter) originated. Ever since Nikki told me the tale of her experience seeing the show, I knew I HAD to check it out.
I got out of the train station and what the hell?? A vibrant night bazaar greeted me. The setup for this area was definitely different from Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy. The strip clubs lined the street, but down the middle, street vendors sold their wares. It was really strange / comical seeing the tourist westerners walking through the middle, looking to buy counterfeited merchandise, and then appearing offended if they stumbled to the perimeter and the half-nekkid women manning the strip club entrances.
I made two interesting discoveries at the bazaar -- I saw what looked to me like a real pistol (there was only one at one place) and I stumbled into a shop that had this amazing thing. I think everyone needs one of these...
"Super" doesn't even begin to describe this place. Holy Shit!! I walked in and was greeted with a large stage to my left and a table to my right. House music pumped throughout. I was invited to sit at a table where the chicks were the most aggressive yet -- they all wanted a drink and wanted tips for random things. One girl got my attention, pulled down her thong, flashed me her bits, and then asked for a tip. Whaa??
I carved through the girls and headed to the stage. Without sounding too much like a little girl -- OMG!!!
The place was initially populated by mostly men, but then, as if two buses unloaded their passengers, about 30 girls entered the place to watch the show. Everyone was laughing and having a good time (complete with cheers). I sat next to a 50 year German guy and his wife (she looked petrified; while he laughed).
So, on the stage, there were about 10 Thai girls. Most of 'em were completely nekkid. The one to begin the show was an older woman, probably in her mid 40s. I didn't initially see what she inserted because there was a TON of fur, but then I saw her squatting over a piece of paper. Whaa?? She was writing something on the paper. A few minutes elapsed and then she showed the paper -- it was an outline sketch of the guy next to me with "Welcome" written down the side. Amazing!! I had to clap for that one.
The next girl stepped up and she was doing the ping pong bit. Unfortunately her distance wasn't that far on the ping pong balls. She was only able to shoot them about 2 feet or so. Boo!!
Next up was a girl who decided that she was going to insert a chain. I didn't catch when she started putting it in, but then she started pulling it out, and she continued, and continued, and continued, and continued. I was about 6 feet from the stage, and she asked me to grab the chain. I did, and then she told me to back up -- I did until I was about 8 feet from the stage, and then the chain finally relented and came out. Amazing!! She got me to applaud that one.
A super hot dancer moved to the front of the stage and tied four balloons to the top of the stage (about 8 feet high). I thought she was just making things "festive," until I saw the next girl put what looked like a blow dart shooter inside her lady parts. The shooter was sticking about 4 inches out. She laid down on her back, arched her legs, and "BANG!!" the first balloon exploded. There was definitely some force behind that. Second shot -- dead hit. She fired number three, but she missed. Boo!! She made up for it with number four. I rubbed my eyes after this one because I didn't believe it. Number four fired and took out the two remaining balloons. Wha?? I stood up to clap for that one.
Next up was the banana girl. Her first effort went woefully astray, and more or less fell out of her cooter like the last scene in Teeth. She made up for it with her second attempt. She laid down, and took dead aim at the guy next to me. She fired the 'nana and it would've hit him had he not raised his ping pong paddle at the last second to deflect it (of course he had a ping pong paddle -- this is so freakin' awesome). Holy shit!!
Finally -- the grand finale. The first girl (the artist) returned with two ciggys in her hand. She took a couple of puffs from one, lit the second one and got on her knees. She placed both of them inside. I thought, ok maybe this is bullshit, but I watched the lit part of the ciggys, and they glowed a bright red as they were "smoked." Then, to my astonishment, her bits blew out smoke. She rotated around the stage to ensure that everyone could see -- this brought thunderous applause. H-o-l-y c-r-a-p!!
The girls then went back to dancing and I decided it was time to leave. Gotta say, I was thoroughly impressed. I made the last train and got home; again feeling satisfied with my evening. Good times, indeed!
I was really hungover following Soi Cowboy. Maybe because it was the first place that I visited, but I still rated Nana Plaza slightly higher than Soi Cowboy. It's not to say that Soi Cowboy wasn't fun; quite the contrary. I'd say it was like A compared to A-. I read an article that said that the red light districts are like Disneyland for men, and I completely agree. Anyone who needs an ego boost should head this way immediately ;p
Ok -- here it is...I'm going to put in a special disclaimer for this entry. This will be the most graphic of all of the red light entries. If you find this sort of thing offensive, DO NOT continue; you will be disgusted.
Now that that is out of the way, let's get started.
Patpong is located a few miles from my hotel and required me to take a train to get there. The train discontinues service at midnight, so I was cognizant of the time, and made my way to the area a little early. To me, Patpong seemed like the smallest of the three red light areas, but, overall, it's the most well known. Every time someone told me about the sites, they said I had to come to Patpong. This is where the legendary ping pong shows (girl shoots a ping pong ball out of her cooter) originated. Ever since Nikki told me the tale of her experience seeing the show, I knew I HAD to check it out.
I got out of the train station and what the hell?? A vibrant night bazaar greeted me. The setup for this area was definitely different from Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy. The strip clubs lined the street, but down the middle, street vendors sold their wares. It was really strange / comical seeing the tourist westerners walking through the middle, looking to buy counterfeited merchandise, and then appearing offended if they stumbled to the perimeter and the half-nekkid women manning the strip club entrances.
I made two interesting discoveries at the bazaar -- I saw what looked to me like a real pistol (there was only one at one place) and I stumbled into a shop that had this amazing thing. I think everyone needs one of these...
[Yes, that's an "Aliens" table -- WTF???]
Of course, these pieces were in addition to the "normal" throwing stars, switch blades, butterfly knives, vibrators, viagra, and unreleased movies. Good times...
As I was walking through the bazaar, I was trying to decide which place would have the best show. A guy pulled me from the crowd and asked me what I was searching for -- I told him I wanted to see the ping pong show, and he eventually led me to the most aptly named club I could imagine...
"Super" doesn't even begin to describe this place. Holy Shit!! I walked in and was greeted with a large stage to my left and a table to my right. House music pumped throughout. I was invited to sit at a table where the chicks were the most aggressive yet -- they all wanted a drink and wanted tips for random things. One girl got my attention, pulled down her thong, flashed me her bits, and then asked for a tip. Whaa??
I carved through the girls and headed to the stage. Without sounding too much like a little girl -- OMG!!!
The place was initially populated by mostly men, but then, as if two buses unloaded their passengers, about 30 girls entered the place to watch the show. Everyone was laughing and having a good time (complete with cheers). I sat next to a 50 year German guy and his wife (she looked petrified; while he laughed).
So, on the stage, there were about 10 Thai girls. Most of 'em were completely nekkid. The one to begin the show was an older woman, probably in her mid 40s. I didn't initially see what she inserted because there was a TON of fur, but then I saw her squatting over a piece of paper. Whaa?? She was writing something on the paper. A few minutes elapsed and then she showed the paper -- it was an outline sketch of the guy next to me with "Welcome" written down the side. Amazing!! I had to clap for that one.
The next girl stepped up and she was doing the ping pong bit. Unfortunately her distance wasn't that far on the ping pong balls. She was only able to shoot them about 2 feet or so. Boo!!
Next up was a girl who decided that she was going to insert a chain. I didn't catch when she started putting it in, but then she started pulling it out, and she continued, and continued, and continued, and continued. I was about 6 feet from the stage, and she asked me to grab the chain. I did, and then she told me to back up -- I did until I was about 8 feet from the stage, and then the chain finally relented and came out. Amazing!! She got me to applaud that one.
A super hot dancer moved to the front of the stage and tied four balloons to the top of the stage (about 8 feet high). I thought she was just making things "festive," until I saw the next girl put what looked like a blow dart shooter inside her lady parts. The shooter was sticking about 4 inches out. She laid down on her back, arched her legs, and "BANG!!" the first balloon exploded. There was definitely some force behind that. Second shot -- dead hit. She fired number three, but she missed. Boo!! She made up for it with number four. I rubbed my eyes after this one because I didn't believe it. Number four fired and took out the two remaining balloons. Wha?? I stood up to clap for that one.
Next up was the banana girl. Her first effort went woefully astray, and more or less fell out of her cooter like the last scene in Teeth. She made up for it with her second attempt. She laid down, and took dead aim at the guy next to me. She fired the 'nana and it would've hit him had he not raised his ping pong paddle at the last second to deflect it (of course he had a ping pong paddle -- this is so freakin' awesome). Holy shit!!
Finally -- the grand finale. The first girl (the artist) returned with two ciggys in her hand. She took a couple of puffs from one, lit the second one and got on her knees. She placed both of them inside. I thought, ok maybe this is bullshit, but I watched the lit part of the ciggys, and they glowed a bright red as they were "smoked." Then, to my astonishment, her bits blew out smoke. She rotated around the stage to ensure that everyone could see -- this brought thunderous applause. H-o-l-y c-r-a-p!!
The girls then went back to dancing and I decided it was time to leave. Gotta say, I was thoroughly impressed. I made the last train and got home; again feeling satisfied with my evening. Good times, indeed!
Soi Cowboy (Red Light District 2)
If you're easily offended by anything relating to strippers, prostitutes, ladyboys, excessive alcohol consumption, and / or ping pong balls, you should avoid these three red light district entries. I will put this disclaimer in front of all of these entries.
After having a great time at Nana Plaza, I figured I needed to see how Soi Cowboy compares. This time I visited on a weekend night, and as expected, there were a lot more tourists, the ratio was probably closer to 10:1 women to guys. This time, armed with my camera, I was determined to get more pics for everyone. Ladies and gents, welcome to Soi Cowboy...
Similar to Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy dominates 3-4 blocks. I walked down what looked like the main strip to find a place for food. I decided on a place located at one end of the street, and sat outside -- which proved disastrous as every freakin' hustler was trying to sell me his or her wares. I had a guy put a watch on my table and tell me how amazing it was. This was followed by a woman wearing a hat uncomfortably similar to Rocky 3's Apollo Creed who tried to sell me a wooden cricket that made crazy sounds.
At any rate, I ate my food and just enjoyed the feel of the area. Next to me were seated two English blokes. We started chatting it up and it turns out that they're from Liverpool (Everton fans) and had just arrived in Bangkok. They bought me a couple of drinks and then we decided to check out the strip.
Both of them said they wanted to go to a strip club, and who am I to argue with our diplomatic friends? This is perhaps the second coolest sign I've seen in Thailand, so, naturally, this is where we went.
For all of the Dallas Cowboys fans out there (I'm not included in that list), the girls were dressed as Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, well, if the cheerleaders didn't wear tops. We were instantly swarmed by girls and one of them asked me if I was interested as she wiped her mouth. I suppose there are certain things that language transcends. hehe
I went on a stealthy, Mission Impossible style sneaking and was able to get this pic for ya...This is looking down onto the stage.
Some of this gets a little foggy, and I'm not sure how long we were there, but we decided to leave and we headed off to another bar where there was a crazy Thai band / DJ playing a mix of American songs and crazy-ass Thai songs. I took this random picture (not sure why, but I figured that I'd post it anyway).
The bar was fairly crowded and there was a ton of dancing -- I did my fair share of booty shaking and I eventually lost sight of my English friends.
The next day I also uncovered this on my phone. It must've been a good time ;p
Also in the world of random, the next day, as I was leaving brekkie, the English guys walked in. I got a pic for your entertainment...
After having a great time at Nana Plaza, I figured I needed to see how Soi Cowboy compares. This time I visited on a weekend night, and as expected, there were a lot more tourists, the ratio was probably closer to 10:1 women to guys. This time, armed with my camera, I was determined to get more pics for everyone. Ladies and gents, welcome to Soi Cowboy...
Similar to Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy dominates 3-4 blocks. I walked down what looked like the main strip to find a place for food. I decided on a place located at one end of the street, and sat outside -- which proved disastrous as every freakin' hustler was trying to sell me his or her wares. I had a guy put a watch on my table and tell me how amazing it was. This was followed by a woman wearing a hat uncomfortably similar to Rocky 3's Apollo Creed who tried to sell me a wooden cricket that made crazy sounds.
At any rate, I ate my food and just enjoyed the feel of the area. Next to me were seated two English blokes. We started chatting it up and it turns out that they're from Liverpool (Everton fans) and had just arrived in Bangkok. They bought me a couple of drinks and then we decided to check out the strip.
Both of them said they wanted to go to a strip club, and who am I to argue with our diplomatic friends? This is perhaps the second coolest sign I've seen in Thailand, so, naturally, this is where we went.
For all of the Dallas Cowboys fans out there (I'm not included in that list), the girls were dressed as Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, well, if the cheerleaders didn't wear tops. We were instantly swarmed by girls and one of them asked me if I was interested as she wiped her mouth. I suppose there are certain things that language transcends. hehe
I went on a stealthy, Mission Impossible style sneaking and was able to get this pic for ya...This is looking down onto the stage.
Some of this gets a little foggy, and I'm not sure how long we were there, but we decided to leave and we headed off to another bar where there was a crazy Thai band / DJ playing a mix of American songs and crazy-ass Thai songs. I took this random picture (not sure why, but I figured that I'd post it anyway).
The bar was fairly crowded and there was a ton of dancing -- I did my fair share of booty shaking and I eventually lost sight of my English friends.
The next day I also uncovered this on my phone. It must've been a good time ;p
Also in the world of random, the next day, as I was leaving brekkie, the English guys walked in. I got a pic for your entertainment...
Nana Plaza (Red Light District 1)
Ok -- here it is...The blog entries that I'm sure many of you have been anxiously awaiting. I'm putting a disclaimer on the next three entries. If you're easily offended by anything relating to strippers, prostitutes, ladyboys, excessive alcohol consumption, and / or ping pong balls, you should avoid these three entries. I will put this disclaimer in front of all of these entries.
Unfortunately, I don't have that many pictures for you -- you'll have to bear with my narrative for the most part...In particular, Nana Plaza was the first red light area I visited, and at the time, I didn't feel real comfortable taking pics (I may go there tonight so that I have some pics before I leave). I have some daylight photos, but they don't really do the area justice.
Without further ado, here we go...
Nana Plaza lies a few blocks from my hotel -- easy walking distance. It consists of two main streets that intersect one another with several seedy alleys branching off the main arteries. Neon lights fill the sky -- predominately reds and blues. There are all kinds of venues -- English style pubs, modern bars, massage parlors, strip clubs, and random tables setup on the street that are "bars," and, of course, street food vendors. The main strip was about 4 blocks long.
Fellas -- there's about a 40:1 woman to man ratio in the area. I've never seen anything like it. Most of the venues are open aired (other than the strip clubs), so as I walked past, I cut through a flood of "Sexy man! Hansome! You want massage?" The girls used laser stares to try to get my attention. The more aggressive ones on the street would come up to me and either grab my arm or my junk. The whole vibe is insane, and reeks of an "anything goes" mentality. Aside from the girls, there are some guys that tried to pull me into their random place. Amazingly, the guys are less aggressive than the women. A simple "No thanks" generally sufficed with the guys.
I made my way to a modern looking bar called, "4." Once I walked in, the women at the door cheered. I went to the bar, got a beer, and grabbed a table by myself. There were three girls that instantly started staring at me. I smiled, drank my beer and generally ignored them. The bar itself was reasonably cool -- it had a pool table and a whole communist motif. Kinda interesting. After about 15 minutes, a Thai woman, probably pushing 40, and not all that attractive, sat down next to me, and said, "You look rike lonely man." I shook my head and said I was ok. She persisted and asked me where I was from, how long in Bangkok, etc. I smiled and told her I was from Texas (everyone here loves Texas -- the follow up comment is consistently, "Cowboy!!"). After some excruciatingly additional conversation, I told her that I wasn't lonely. She just smiled and hung out. Even when I completely ignored her by pulling out my phone, she wouldn't leave. I finally got really annoyed and, having finished my beer, decided to leave. I walked past throngs of girls "booing" me and stepped outside. Ok -- so that place wasn't for me.
I walked down the street and my eyes were drawn to an alley filled with flashing neon lights much like insects drawn to bright light at night. I entered this alley that was surrounded by two stories of clubs. Basically, the alley was shaped like a horseshoe and all along the edges were clubs -- there were probably 10-20 clubs. In the middle were several open bars -- the bars had no roofs nor walls. I just walked up to the first one and took a seat. I ordered beer at a decent price ($2 / beer) and chilled out; just taking in the scene. To my right, girls danced outside a strip club with their exposed ta-tas bouncing all around. To my left, electronic music was pumping from another club. Everywhere I looked, a girl entered my vision and most would smile seductively at me.
The bartender started chatting me up, and she was really friendly and funny. While we talked, an unattractive festively plump girl sat down next to me and started asking me the same questions, "Where from? Lonely?" I told her that she didn't need to sit next to me -- I was fine. She gave me a sad look and moved back to her original seat.
Eventually, I started chatting with both bartenders and the cocktail waitress. As more drinks were poured, I decided it was time to make it rain, and I started buying drinks for them (hell, they're only $2 a pop). The cocktail waitress didn't allow me to order my own drinks. She made sure I always had a full drink.
Later on, she asked me what I wanted to do tonight -- initially I said, "ping pong" (my original thought had been strip club, but there were so many exposed ta-tas everywhere, I felt I was already in one), and she looked kinda sad and asked if that's really what I wanted. I decided not yet and bought everyone another round of drinks.
At one point (well, at several points) I had to pee, and the cocktail waitress showed me a super secret toilet that was coincidentally in a full nude strip club, so I got to see a nice show every time I had to pee (which you all know is QUITE frequently when I'm drinking). The toilet was a joined toilet -- there was no male or female toilet and none of the stalls had doors. Random chicks would wander in while I was at the urinal. It was entertaining if nothing else.
I went back to the bar and the women pulled out some crazy dice game that we played until I was fairly plastered. I headed back to my hotel, thoroughly entertained by my first red light experience...
This pic cracks me up -- it's the only one that was taken that night and I look like a freakin' giant! The two bartenders and the cocktail waitress (in the hat).
Unfortunately, I don't have that many pictures for you -- you'll have to bear with my narrative for the most part...In particular, Nana Plaza was the first red light area I visited, and at the time, I didn't feel real comfortable taking pics (I may go there tonight so that I have some pics before I leave). I have some daylight photos, but they don't really do the area justice.
Without further ado, here we go...
Nana Plaza lies a few blocks from my hotel -- easy walking distance. It consists of two main streets that intersect one another with several seedy alleys branching off the main arteries. Neon lights fill the sky -- predominately reds and blues. There are all kinds of venues -- English style pubs, modern bars, massage parlors, strip clubs, and random tables setup on the street that are "bars," and, of course, street food vendors. The main strip was about 4 blocks long.
Fellas -- there's about a 40:1 woman to man ratio in the area. I've never seen anything like it. Most of the venues are open aired (other than the strip clubs), so as I walked past, I cut through a flood of "Sexy man! Hansome! You want massage?" The girls used laser stares to try to get my attention. The more aggressive ones on the street would come up to me and either grab my arm or my junk. The whole vibe is insane, and reeks of an "anything goes" mentality. Aside from the girls, there are some guys that tried to pull me into their random place. Amazingly, the guys are less aggressive than the women. A simple "No thanks" generally sufficed with the guys.
I made my way to a modern looking bar called, "4." Once I walked in, the women at the door cheered. I went to the bar, got a beer, and grabbed a table by myself. There were three girls that instantly started staring at me. I smiled, drank my beer and generally ignored them. The bar itself was reasonably cool -- it had a pool table and a whole communist motif. Kinda interesting. After about 15 minutes, a Thai woman, probably pushing 40, and not all that attractive, sat down next to me, and said, "You look rike lonely man." I shook my head and said I was ok. She persisted and asked me where I was from, how long in Bangkok, etc. I smiled and told her I was from Texas (everyone here loves Texas -- the follow up comment is consistently, "Cowboy!!"). After some excruciatingly additional conversation, I told her that I wasn't lonely. She just smiled and hung out. Even when I completely ignored her by pulling out my phone, she wouldn't leave. I finally got really annoyed and, having finished my beer, decided to leave. I walked past throngs of girls "booing" me and stepped outside. Ok -- so that place wasn't for me.
I walked down the street and my eyes were drawn to an alley filled with flashing neon lights much like insects drawn to bright light at night. I entered this alley that was surrounded by two stories of clubs. Basically, the alley was shaped like a horseshoe and all along the edges were clubs -- there were probably 10-20 clubs. In the middle were several open bars -- the bars had no roofs nor walls. I just walked up to the first one and took a seat. I ordered beer at a decent price ($2 / beer) and chilled out; just taking in the scene. To my right, girls danced outside a strip club with their exposed ta-tas bouncing all around. To my left, electronic music was pumping from another club. Everywhere I looked, a girl entered my vision and most would smile seductively at me.
The bartender started chatting me up, and she was really friendly and funny. While we talked, an unattractive festively plump girl sat down next to me and started asking me the same questions, "Where from? Lonely?" I told her that she didn't need to sit next to me -- I was fine. She gave me a sad look and moved back to her original seat.
Eventually, I started chatting with both bartenders and the cocktail waitress. As more drinks were poured, I decided it was time to make it rain, and I started buying drinks for them (hell, they're only $2 a pop). The cocktail waitress didn't allow me to order my own drinks. She made sure I always had a full drink.
Later on, she asked me what I wanted to do tonight -- initially I said, "ping pong" (my original thought had been strip club, but there were so many exposed ta-tas everywhere, I felt I was already in one), and she looked kinda sad and asked if that's really what I wanted. I decided not yet and bought everyone another round of drinks.
At one point (well, at several points) I had to pee, and the cocktail waitress showed me a super secret toilet that was coincidentally in a full nude strip club, so I got to see a nice show every time I had to pee (which you all know is QUITE frequently when I'm drinking). The toilet was a joined toilet -- there was no male or female toilet and none of the stalls had doors. Random chicks would wander in while I was at the urinal. It was entertaining if nothing else.
I went back to the bar and the women pulled out some crazy dice game that we played until I was fairly plastered. I headed back to my hotel, thoroughly entertained by my first red light experience...
This pic cracks me up -- it's the only one that was taken that night and I look like a freakin' giant! The two bartenders and the cocktail waitress (in the hat).
Thai Boxing
I left Khao San Road and found the nearest tuk-tuk for a ride to Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium, the oldest boxing stadium in Bangkok. We negotiated the price for the ride and I was on my way. About 3 minutes into the ride, the driver pulls over and asks where I want to go -- I tell him I want to see boxing at Ratchadamnoen. I had already done my homework, and fights were supposed to happening tonight. He tells me he's going to take me somewhere else -- I tell him, "No, I want Ratchadamnoen." He starts to drive again and then stops after another 3 minutes. This time he makes a phone call and tells me, "We go see boxing." I'm now getting pissed, and I debated jumping out of the tuk-tuk, b/c this seems really shady. He kept smiling (this is the land of "smiles" after all) and motioned like he was boxing.
A few minutes later we arrived at a stadium; it wasn't Ratchadamnoen, but it did look like a boxing venue. I paid him and walked up to the ticket booth to get a ringside ticket. Yep, turns out I was somewhere else -- Rajadamnern Stadium. I had read several things that said that the fights were to start at 5:30pm. It was around 5pm and I met with the ticket office person (he was incredibly friendly and spoke actual english) who told me that the fights didn't start until 6:30pm, with the main card going on at 9pm. I had an hour to kill, so I chilled out and waited for the fights (actually, I tried to find my location on my map, but I had no idea where I was on the map).
My seat was literally ringside -- I was in the middle of the first row facing the ring. It was so close that there was some sweat that made its way off the ring to me. The place started filling up as we got closer to fight time -- the area looked like it could hold about 2,000 people. It had a very old school feel to it, though the ring appeared to be in decent shape.
Three Aussies showed up later and sat next to me; we had a good time discussing the fights and shooting the shit (coincidentally, they were heading to Vietnam next, too). Then, the Americans rolled in. Ugh. There were two rows of them, apparently from a tourist excursion. Of course, they were all fat, and all of the dudes looked like this jackass. Some of their comments were unbelievably ignorant, and the more they drank the more ridiculous they became, like constantly yelling, "Yo, red -- you my man!!" Thankfully, after an hour, the most obnoxious one passed out. Classy. I see why worldwide everyone hates us. So.freaking.embarrassing. Ugh.
Anyway, the fights were entertaining. Prior to the fights, a cool ceremony ensued. A live band fired up tribal sounding music and the fighters both performed dances. Neither really stared one another down like seen in American boxing fights. There seemed to be a whole level of respect for one another. I took some notes; I think I'll incorporate some of these dances into my next goal scoring celebration.
All in all -- good times yet again. I left after the main event. I saw 6 fights prior to the main event, so I was ready to leave. I headed out and jumped on a scooter who took me to the train station. On my way back home, my stomach kept growling, so I figured I should grab a quick bite. I entered a harmless looking Thai place and ordered a harmless looking dish, Chicken Basil.
Holy shit!! That was the spiciest freakin' thing I've had here. I quickly downed a coke, and two bottles of water. It was brutal. It took the better part of an hour before my mouth had recovered. That wasn't the only damage it did. I went home and had to do this...
Yikes.
A few minutes later we arrived at a stadium; it wasn't Ratchadamnoen, but it did look like a boxing venue. I paid him and walked up to the ticket booth to get a ringside ticket. Yep, turns out I was somewhere else -- Rajadamnern Stadium. I had read several things that said that the fights were to start at 5:30pm. It was around 5pm and I met with the ticket office person (he was incredibly friendly and spoke actual english) who told me that the fights didn't start until 6:30pm, with the main card going on at 9pm. I had an hour to kill, so I chilled out and waited for the fights (actually, I tried to find my location on my map, but I had no idea where I was on the map).
My seat was literally ringside -- I was in the middle of the first row facing the ring. It was so close that there was some sweat that made its way off the ring to me. The place started filling up as we got closer to fight time -- the area looked like it could hold about 2,000 people. It had a very old school feel to it, though the ring appeared to be in decent shape.
Three Aussies showed up later and sat next to me; we had a good time discussing the fights and shooting the shit (coincidentally, they were heading to Vietnam next, too). Then, the Americans rolled in. Ugh. There were two rows of them, apparently from a tourist excursion. Of course, they were all fat, and all of the dudes looked like this jackass. Some of their comments were unbelievably ignorant, and the more they drank the more ridiculous they became, like constantly yelling, "Yo, red -- you my man!!" Thankfully, after an hour, the most obnoxious one passed out. Classy. I see why worldwide everyone hates us. So.freaking.embarrassing. Ugh.
Anyway, the fights were entertaining. Prior to the fights, a cool ceremony ensued. A live band fired up tribal sounding music and the fighters both performed dances. Neither really stared one another down like seen in American boxing fights. There seemed to be a whole level of respect for one another. I took some notes; I think I'll incorporate some of these dances into my next goal scoring celebration.
Thai boxing allows the use of kicks and punches. To me, it looked like the main strategy was to kick the crap outta your opponent. Punches were rarely thrown, but they sounded brutal when they landed.
The crazy thing was that the "heavyweight" bout matched two guys that were 120lbs. One of the fights had two guys that were 85lbs each. They really looked like little kids (who knows, maybe they were). There was one knockout -- the main event fight. Guy got completely leveled (after getting a cut eye) and couldn't get up.
Behind me, in the cheap seats, tons of gambling occurred, and things would get really rowdy towards the later rounds of each fight (each fight was 5 rounds).
All in all -- good times yet again. I left after the main event. I saw 6 fights prior to the main event, so I was ready to leave. I headed out and jumped on a scooter who took me to the train station. On my way back home, my stomach kept growling, so I figured I should grab a quick bite. I entered a harmless looking Thai place and ordered a harmless looking dish, Chicken Basil.
Holy shit!! That was the spiciest freakin' thing I've had here. I quickly downed a coke, and two bottles of water. It was brutal. It took the better part of an hour before my mouth had recovered. That wasn't the only damage it did. I went home and had to do this...
Khao San Road
I think I stated this previously, but prior to departing for my trip, I had hoped that this traveling adventure would lead me towards things and places I couldn't imagine. What I wanted to avoid was being around a bunch of suburban whitey kids on their version of Spring Break. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Khao San Road. As mentioned previously, this was where the first few scenes of the movie, "The Beach" were supposedly filmed, or at least were inspired by this area (though after pulling the linked trailer from You Tube, their version of Wat Po is completely different from what it looks like in real life). The movie makes this area look far more interesting than it is.
About 90% of the people here were European whites (not counting street vendors or employees). I instantly felt like I was in a crappy suburban shopping mall. All of the stereotypes were present -- meathead douchebags walking around in packs; crappy Top 40 music blaring from every other restaurant; pseudo hippies wandering up and down the street. I really didn't dig the vibe at all.
It's not to say that my area isn't touristy; I'd say it's more of the difference between the obnoxiousness of 6th street (Khao San Road) versus Red River or the east side (Sukhumvit -- my area) in Austin. If I was 19, I'd probably love Khao San Road.
I tried to make the best of the situation, which worked in my favor. As I meandered through the crowds, I finally encountered a fish massage! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside. Hmm -- is the fish massage legal? Doubtful. For $3, I got 10 minutes of sitting in what amounted to a hot tub with roughly 60 fish munching away on the dead skin on my toes, feet, ankles, lower legs, and calves. It tickled like crazy, but was also relaxing. Of course, because they're fish, they don't exactly do an even job -- one foot had more friends than the other, but it was a good time. I did notice that my feet were pretty stinkin' smooth afterwards.
At this point, hunger had overtaken me, so I swam through the people and avoided anything resembling a KFC, Subway, Burger King, etc (all of the usual suspect chains are here except, curiously enough, McD's). I found a decent looking Thai place and got a delicious meal and a random ginormous beer.
I'm a sucker for Engrish, so I was amused by the sign out front.
Done with my food, I decided to walk around a bit more until it got closer to boxing time. Oh yeah...Thai boxing was next on the agenda. I was ready to get outta Khao San Road and check out something else.
About 90% of the people here were European whites (not counting street vendors or employees). I instantly felt like I was in a crappy suburban shopping mall. All of the stereotypes were present -- meathead douchebags walking around in packs; crappy Top 40 music blaring from every other restaurant; pseudo hippies wandering up and down the street. I really didn't dig the vibe at all.
It's not to say that my area isn't touristy; I'd say it's more of the difference between the obnoxiousness of 6th street (Khao San Road) versus Red River or the east side (Sukhumvit -- my area) in Austin. If I was 19, I'd probably love Khao San Road.
At this point, hunger had overtaken me, so I swam through the people and avoided anything resembling a KFC, Subway, Burger King, etc (all of the usual suspect chains are here except, curiously enough, McD's). I found a decent looking Thai place and got a delicious meal and a random ginormous beer.
I'm a sucker for Engrish, so I was amused by the sign out front.
Done with my food, I decided to walk around a bit more until it got closer to boxing time. Oh yeah...Thai boxing was next on the agenda. I was ready to get outta Khao San Road and check out something else.
Grand Palace Attempt No. 3
For the third consecutive day, I made my way to the Grand Palace. Before heading out, I checked several websites and all said the same thing -- it's open everyday (ahem, bullshit!) from 8:30am - noon & 1pm - 3pm.
Ok, I timed it so that I'd be there right when it opened again at 1pm. Same song; I took the train to the water taxi. I'm a pro at this point and helped some "tourists" figure out which way to go ;p
I got to the appropriate dock and headed over to the Grand Palace. The area was completely packed and filled with street vendors. A wall stretches around the palace, so I wasn't exactly sure where to enter. As I walked a bit, I saw a "Tourist Police Officer" and asked him where I should enter. He shook his head and said it was closed today. What...the...f$ck??? Aaaaggghhh!!
Well, time for Plan B. I was reasonably close to Khao San Road, the "backpacker's ghetto" and backdrop for the movie, "The Beach." I figured I'd walk the few blocks there. That was absolutely the right move. As I made my way down the street, I noticed that the street was filled with more street vendors than I have seen anywhere else.
It was crazy, and everything just looked like a blur after awhile. The coolest thing I saw was a bestiality tote bag. When I saw it, it looked lovely enough, and at first glance looked like a bag with a hand-drawn simple girl and her horse. On closer inspection, she was playing with the horse's junk, and other images showed her giving the horse a blowjob and having sex with it. Gotta love Bangkok!! Sorry; I forgot to get a picture of it.
My walk continued past most of the vendors and I came to the National Museum. On the grounds was what initially looked like a soccer game until I got closer. The kids were playing this crazy game that I'll call "bucket-rugby ball." Basically, there were two teams that were trying to "score" by throwing a ball into a hoop. Ok, sounds like basketball, right? Well, the "hoop" was a basket held by a player standing on a box. The player could move the hoop to try to catch the ball, but the player couldn't fall off the box. An opposing player was allowed to goal tend (block shots from the hoop), and this one really tall girl stood in front of the hoop girl and blocked several. I called her, "Yan Olajuwon."
The coolest part of this were the cheerleaders. There was a band playing the entire time, so it had a really festive feel. On the turquoise side, there was one guy cheerleader who had a megaphone, was super gay, and was doing a crazy dance the whole time. Oh yeah -- I captured it on video. He's wearing a white puffy shirt and really short blue shorts.
I continued to progress and found myself on one of the larger streets in the old city area. More pictures of the king. Gotta love it.
[King as a weird space man]
[King as a baby]
I turned down the next street and found my destination. What a flipping mess! Next post, please.
Ok, I timed it so that I'd be there right when it opened again at 1pm. Same song; I took the train to the water taxi. I'm a pro at this point and helped some "tourists" figure out which way to go ;p
I got to the appropriate dock and headed over to the Grand Palace. The area was completely packed and filled with street vendors. A wall stretches around the palace, so I wasn't exactly sure where to enter. As I walked a bit, I saw a "Tourist Police Officer" and asked him where I should enter. He shook his head and said it was closed today. What...the...f$ck??? Aaaaggghhh!!
Well, time for Plan B. I was reasonably close to Khao San Road, the "backpacker's ghetto" and backdrop for the movie, "The Beach." I figured I'd walk the few blocks there. That was absolutely the right move. As I made my way down the street, I noticed that the street was filled with more street vendors than I have seen anywhere else.
It was crazy, and everything just looked like a blur after awhile. The coolest thing I saw was a bestiality tote bag. When I saw it, it looked lovely enough, and at first glance looked like a bag with a hand-drawn simple girl and her horse. On closer inspection, she was playing with the horse's junk, and other images showed her giving the horse a blowjob and having sex with it. Gotta love Bangkok!! Sorry; I forgot to get a picture of it.
My walk continued past most of the vendors and I came to the National Museum. On the grounds was what initially looked like a soccer game until I got closer. The kids were playing this crazy game that I'll call "bucket-rugby ball." Basically, there were two teams that were trying to "score" by throwing a ball into a hoop. Ok, sounds like basketball, right? Well, the "hoop" was a basket held by a player standing on a box. The player could move the hoop to try to catch the ball, but the player couldn't fall off the box. An opposing player was allowed to goal tend (block shots from the hoop), and this one really tall girl stood in front of the hoop girl and blocked several. I called her, "Yan Olajuwon."
The coolest part of this were the cheerleaders. There was a band playing the entire time, so it had a really festive feel. On the turquoise side, there was one guy cheerleader who had a megaphone, was super gay, and was doing a crazy dance the whole time. Oh yeah -- I captured it on video. He's wearing a white puffy shirt and really short blue shorts.
I continued to progress and found myself on one of the larger streets in the old city area. More pictures of the king. Gotta love it.
I turned down the next street and found my destination. What a flipping mess! Next post, please.
Wat Arun [Touristy Stuff Pt. 3]
For the second consecutive day, I headed to the Grand Palace. This time, I had my bearings down; I grabbed the trains that took me to the water taxi, and I made it to the Grand Palace around 3pm. Well, of course, it had just closed (what freakin' hours do they keep here??!!). Ugh.
As my taxi was pulling up to the dock where I would exit and head to the Grand Palace, I noticed on the opposite side of the river, a pretty imposing temple cut into the sky. I found a ferry that would cross the river for 3 baht ($0.09).
I wasn't disappointed, Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, was awesome. I had dressed for the Grand Palace (jeans and a long sleeved shirt) which served me well here as there was a dress code. I've also been lucky in that the weather really improved; the heat dissipated, and it was a cool 78 degrees, so I didn't have to worry about wandering around in jeans in the heat.
I liked the entrance sign; I think this means women with legs cannot enter ;p
Again, this place's scale is difficult to understand in the pictures. I climbed up as far as was allowed (had to use some incredibly steep and narrow stairs that were dicey to ascend while wearing boots), but that was really only about halfway up.
As another aside, at this point, I got really annoyed with all of the tourists. There were some monks that were scaling the structure, and I always stepped aside to let them pass. I tried to be as cognizant as possible that I was an interloper on their grounds. The amount of oblivious people was disheartening to me. Several bits of Euro trash would take pictures and laugh and basically hold up the lines while the monks were trying to get through. If this was an isolated event, I wouldn't have minded as much, but the annoying people were everywhere! Ugh!! I really wanted to throw these people off the side of the temple. Unfortunately, my sanity returned, and I didn't do it. Ok; I just had to get that off my chest. I feel better now...Off to the pictures! Enjoy!
[This is the tower that I scaled. It's hard to see, but towards the top, there was a samurai looking warrior standing on top of three elephants (he looks like he's standing in an open window). The elephants were probably 5 feet tall. This structure was huge.]
The next pictures are from the lower to mid-way point up of the structure.
[This was taken from halfway up the structure. Again, the detail is crazy. At every other level, they had carved these "guys" who were holding up the floor.]
I returned back down and snapped these...
Yet another temple beckoned me -- this one contained what I'm calling the "Cowboy Buddha." I was honored to remove my boots before entering this temple.
A couple more pics before food...
Mmm. Delicious...On this particular day, I headed back and got ready for Soi Cowboy, but more about that later.
As my taxi was pulling up to the dock where I would exit and head to the Grand Palace, I noticed on the opposite side of the river, a pretty imposing temple cut into the sky. I found a ferry that would cross the river for 3 baht ($0.09).
I wasn't disappointed, Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, was awesome. I had dressed for the Grand Palace (jeans and a long sleeved shirt) which served me well here as there was a dress code. I've also been lucky in that the weather really improved; the heat dissipated, and it was a cool 78 degrees, so I didn't have to worry about wandering around in jeans in the heat.
I liked the entrance sign; I think this means women with legs cannot enter ;p
Again, this place's scale is difficult to understand in the pictures. I climbed up as far as was allowed (had to use some incredibly steep and narrow stairs that were dicey to ascend while wearing boots), but that was really only about halfway up.
As another aside, at this point, I got really annoyed with all of the tourists. There were some monks that were scaling the structure, and I always stepped aside to let them pass. I tried to be as cognizant as possible that I was an interloper on their grounds. The amount of oblivious people was disheartening to me. Several bits of Euro trash would take pictures and laugh and basically hold up the lines while the monks were trying to get through. If this was an isolated event, I wouldn't have minded as much, but the annoying people were everywhere! Ugh!! I really wanted to throw these people off the side of the temple. Unfortunately, my sanity returned, and I didn't do it. Ok; I just had to get that off my chest. I feel better now...Off to the pictures! Enjoy!
The next pictures are from the lower to mid-way point up of the structure.
I returned back down and snapped these...
Yet another temple beckoned me -- this one contained what I'm calling the "Cowboy Buddha." I was honored to remove my boots before entering this temple.
A couple more pics before food...
Mmm. Delicious...On this particular day, I headed back and got ready for Soi Cowboy, but more about that later.
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