Wednesday/Thursday 26 April 2012

We had a good flight to JHB and then had to wait in queues going through customs.  After settling on the plane we were served supper at about 3pm (SA time) which was about 8pm Thai time.  At 11pm (SA time) we were served breakfast (4am Thai time).  We had a good flight and landed at about 6am (Thai time) which was about 1am SA time.  Both our bags had been tampered with, mine the lock completely removed (it was a brand new TSA approved combination one) and Dereck’s has been bent with the zip hook broken off.  Someone had certainly been looking into what we had as our things were all over the place!!!!  We had a hotel shuttle service waiting for us and were taken to our hotel – the Eastin, which is quite central.  The temperature was about 42⁰C and the sweat just poured off us.

We checked in and had a shower before heading off to explore.  We decided to walk to the big Computer/IT mall.  It was about 4 floors high with all types of electronics you could think of.  We then walked down the road to the local fashion mall which was 6 floors high and literally thousands of stalls selling all types of clothing you could possibly think of.  It was actually a relief being in the malls as they were certainly a lot cooler than outside!  We then headed further down the street to Central World which was another 6 floor mall, but this was a bit more upmarket.  From there we caught the sky train and made a couple of stops along the way and wandered around the area before going to the next stop.  At 2pm we walked back to our hotel, having been on the go for 4 hours.  It was extremely hot and the perspiration was literally dripping off us.  We relaxed a bit at the hotel before heading out again at 7pm to the Soi Cowboy area which is where all the go go bars are.  Had a drink at one of the go-go bars and went inside to escape the heat and it was full of naked pole dancers !! We had supper at “The Dutch House” on Soi Cowboy where they had a great menu catering for western food and Thai.  We then caught the train to Phang Phong which is the red light district where a lot of “ping pong” shows take place.  It is also a huge night market where we were offered plenty of shows to see (but didn't !!)  We finally go back to our hotel at 11:30pm and it was still about 35⁰C.  I don’t think this place gets cool at all.

 41 in the shade

 Taxi's are all bright colours

 Soi Cowboy

Tuk Tuk