Chinatown, Sarongs, and Muai Thai

Long day today!!! We left the hotel around 10, and decided go get some food. One thing we have learned about Bangkok is that although there is food everywhere, there are no restaurants, except for fast food. And unfortunately ordering food from the street is not easy, and you never know what you are getting/how clean it is, we have been eating fast food (with the exception of my 1500 baht fish).

We settled on DQ Grill and Chill, and after some nourishment we were ready to explore. We explored a seven story mall, which is as boring as it sounds. Then we found our way to Chinatown, which was a bit hyped. What it basically ended up being was narrow sidewalks, and 100 copies of the same store. And as much as I love dragons, I did not feel like carrying a statute of one around. So we left Chinatown empty handed, and headed to what we thought was the Kings Palace.

Of course when we got there and saw that gate was open, and they were waving us in we knew we were mistaken. The Palace we went to ended up being a Museum, but they wouldn't let us in because we had shorts. But they said if we purchased a Sarong, we could come in. They were only 40b so of course we went for it. They even tied them nice, and we looked very pretty. The Museum was really cool, no photographs were allowed but we took a nice audio tour.

After we left that, we walked the grounds, and some how stumbled upon the Zoo. Admission was only 100b so we went in, and it was the best decision. Zoos in underdeveloped countries are more fun, because they have less rules, and more elephants to feed. We could literally touch 50 percent of the animals, and it was nearly empty. At the end we bought a bushel of bananas and fed the elephants, which was awesome and disgusting at the same time. When you see that 5 foot trunk coming from your hand, dripping with mucus...well it's a bit unsettling.

After the zoo, we of course had to go see the Thai national sport, Muai Thai! We bought 1000b seats (the foreigner price). The seats were alright, and we met a bunch of other backpackers so we had a lot of fun. Muai Thai boxing is very boring though, and we didn't bet and the contenders weigh only 100 lbs. So knockouts are slim. But it was a great experience, and we got to heckle the red corner (the favorite to win).

Back at the hotel now, so tired, wondering what we should do tomorrow. We leave for Phuket on Saturday...I want to get my PADI certificate. We shall see.