Bangkok Day 2 - 15 November

Being a Saturday, usually we would both be sleeping in as much as possible, but the excitement of being in a different country with so many interesting nooks and crannies to discover meant we were up before seven. Even still the early bed the night before ensured a 12 hour sleep. Refreshed, revived and ready to explore.

We headed down Rambuttri Road to find breakfast @ the Mango Lagoon. Sounds like something from a movie, the breakfast certainly wasnt a Fat Boys plate! Enjoyable non the less, and very cheap. After breakfast we walked back up Rambuttri Road taking the short cut through Wat Chana Sangkhram temple. The monks at the temple were walking about the grounds sweeping, feeding animals and cleaning up the wax from the candles near the Buddha. I lite an incense and then we continued through the grounds. There were rooms full of young monks who appeared to be learning the way of the Buddha, I have a feeling it was a monk school. We sat for a while listening to the talking - we didnt understand, but it was still calming.

I forgot to mention that the city was a hive of activity today. The kings sister had died in Jan and today the king was holding the cremation ceremony. I know ewww? Many of the Thai people we met told us that we were in for a great surprise, it was the first time in a long time that there had been a gathering of such enormity. When we woke we saw out our hotel room a steady flow of people walking towards Sanam Luang Park for the festivities. Millions of people wearing their black colours, roads were blocked and the streets were full of people. After breakfast and the visit to the temple we went back to the hotel picked up the camera and walked with the masses towards the park.

The street (Chak Kraphong Road) had been blocked to traffic so we were able to walk on the road with everyone else. As we got closer we could hear a loud sound coming from the direction of the park. We continued to walk, people were selling coins, books and posters of the princess, food, drinks and everything you could possibly want on the path towards the park. The thundering booming sound continued to ring every couple of mins. The road ended and we entered the park, it started to get really cramped. There were people in black everywhere. And so many police. The police here wear uniforms that appear to be two sizes too small - you can see it all. As we pushed our way through the crowd towards the centre of the park the boom was starting to fill every party of body (similar to the percussion section for the Olympics band) it was amazing. Once we reached the center of the park we could see where the sound was coming from, there were five cannons with three uniformed men standing next to each one.

We moved closer to the sectioned of area where the cannons were, I could feel the pressure from each blast hit me. It was like a gush of wind blowing over me. It was so much that I had to leave the area as it was hurting my ears. Despite walking away, every time the cannons sounded I jumped. The cannons sounded all afternoon. We pushed our way through the crowds, trying to find somewhere to sit. On our travels through the park we saw shrines set up for people to pay their respects to the princess, and a big temple at the end of the grounds where they had the body. We had no luck finding a place to sit, all the locals had chip pack plastic to sit on and there was no where left. On our way back we bought a couple of momentous and an ice cream. We sat on the side of the road and ate our ice cream.

We found a McDonalds, just like home - no surprise. Made me feel just as sick as I do at home. We walked home. Its boring at the hotel so we wandered around looking for a massage. We found a little place tucked away down an alley. It was nice a clean. We got a 30 min thai massage and a 30 min foot massage. Jono wasnt too sure about the whole thing but I was persistant so he came along. The foot massage was fantastic, I was in heaven. Looking over a Jono I could see he was doing just as good. When she started the thai massage I thought I was going to die. She pushed, pulled and twisted. 30 mins of torture. I could have died. I will bruise from this. Walking out I asked Jono how he went..... he loved it. He enjoyed every min of it. Bastard!! He didnt want the darn thing, I was looking forward to it and he was the one walking out feeling relaxed and happy. Not sure how that happened. Oh well.

Later that night we had a beer at khaosan road and met a couple of really nice kiwis. It was great being able to talk english to people - you wouldnt think that one could actually have pleasure speaking full sentences.

Another day over.
Naomi:-)