Day 2: Logistical Hurdles, Wats and Prostitutes

I feel like Sarah Koenig, seeding hints of what's to come in past blog posts. Previously, on GartThai, "we encountered some logistical challenges." 

Said challenges: the plan was to on Tuesday do a (prepaid, non refundable) boat and bike tour to the former capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya, followed by an overnight train to Chiang Mai in the north. 

Stock photo because we aren't making it to Ayutthaya. We learned on Monday morning after Slumdog Walkionaire that the train was SOLD OUT, despite what Google had told me ahead of time. This led to a major quandary: we had no way to get to Chiang Mai, and we're already kind of over Bangkok. 

After being legit kidnapped by a tuktuk driver, we wound up in a semi-sketchy travel agency (everything is semi-sketchy in Bangkok), and met with a fellow who advised us that we could book a flight--through him. We did--and paid in cash, received a one page fax, and departed. Wise Erica then commented that the whole transaction could have been a scam. 

Hmmmmm. 

Anyway. We had Wats (temples) go visit so we put that to the back of our minds. 

Oh wait! First we saw a pair of giant water monitors swimming in the feces canal!

That was cool. They were like 5 feet long. 

Anyway, the first Wat we went to was called Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn. That's the one Erica is pointing to above. It was super cool and we climbed to the top of it. 

That's me and a fat golden Buddha, in case you couldn't tell. 

Next, we took a longtail boat across the river, and headed to the Grand Palace, where the King used to live. The Thais loooove their King, and there are pictures of him everywhere. 

You can be arrested for badmouthing him. Does that extend to online posts? Or blogs? Should I test it?

I guess not. 

The Grand Palace was cool but a total zoo 

Maybe the best part of it was that I had to rent pants to show respect!

Next, we walked down the backpacking Mecca of Khao San road and had a Thai massage. 

Afterwards, we had a beer and saw a really drunk drug addict and a really old Thai prostitute doing their eternal dance of groping and bleeding all over the floor from random gashes. The prostie almost picked a fight with Erica, but we begged off. 

We then returned home and promptly fell asleep, and slept through our dinner reservations. I had to be up for an 11pm work call, which I rocked, and then we had dinner at the Rolling bar up the street. 

Lastly, here is a crazy sign. I feel like CJ Capuzzi will appreciate it. 

Did Dave and Erica ever get out of Bangkok? Tune in next blog post. Boop boop boop boop [serial music].