Day 2: Bangkok "I think I need my sleep sheet."

As you read earlier, I got a early start at 7:30 this morning when K decided she had let us sleep enough. We were true tourists today hitting up all the famous wats and the Royal Palace. After 2 wats, a costume change (because we dressed SO indecently in our short pants - you know how we do), and some scorching weather - we were wat-ed out.

Yesterday it was overcast all day - humid, but not too hot. Today - the sun was out and baking us. Still really humid, just now super hot also! We had a second lunch later (it's ok - because we're sweating it all out!) by the river and relaxed. Some of us had Chang beer while others were happy with ice cream.

We found a crazy fish market with all sorts of smelly, dead, fried, dried, and scaly creatures. I have no idea what I was looking at, but I knew I wouldn't be eating it. Once we had recovered (beer works wonders), we went over to the famous Khao San Road aka dirty, hippy town. It's like Austin, but nobody is even pretending to go to school or ever bathe. Some people seem normal, but you can tell this place gets wild at night -- tons and tons of backpackers, bars, and markets selling anything and everything. I've seen some pretty good knock offs, and I'm not past buying one. However, I'm waiting to buy most stuff until the giant Chatuchuk market on Saturday.

Update: If you're looking for photos from these events, sadly you won't see any. I am a slight idiot and deleted a day's worth of pics from my camera. We will not make that mistake again!

After coming back to shower and having dinner at this great place we stumbled upon (love love loving the food!), we headed for our daily massage. I know what you're thinking: massage at 9 pm - that's dirty! It's not! All the places stay open until midnight. Kavita generally doesn't like massages. So imagine my surprise when I asked the group if we should do a foot massage or go for the full body Thai massage, and she picked the full enchilada. There are a MILLION massage places mostly with girls out front trying to get you to come inside, and you can't help but notice that most of these are willing to give more than the advertised services. So we thought we'd stick with LP's suggestion of places that are STRICTLY massage. When we first get there, they take us to these small beds that are elevated off the floor on a large platform and have us change into a loose shirt and pants. (Kavita oog-out #1 which led her to tell me, " I think I need my sleep sheet." That is a sleeping-bag style piece of cloth to keep her safe from bedbugs and/or other dirty things in questionable beds.) Then they scrub our feet and have us lie back. They proceed to go to town on our legs. (Kavita oog-out #2) They bend them all sorts of ways (even more crazy than Rudy) and use their body to push and pull us into weird positions. At one point I realized that she was pushing on my legs somehow with her feet! (Kavita oog-out #3) We were all super tired, so I was falling asleep and would have except for the constant random manipulation of my limbs. Another time she pulled my upper torso off the bed by pulling my arms behind me. I had my eyes closed for the most part (except taking peeks to see how K was doing), and apparently I didn't notice the part where they were standing on our backs! K said that she was so tensed up during the session that her lady actually had to physically unclench her hands. They were a few times like when her elbows were in the top of my back so hard I couldn't breathe from the pain that I thought, "This is a bit rough." Also when she twisted my body really hard to either side to crack my back, I wouldn't exactly call that comfortable. But only about 5% was tough for me, and the rest of the hour was HEAVEN, so we'll give Buatip Thai Massage: 5 stars!! To be fair, Kavita claims she was trying to kill her, and Boston had some serious pain in there. However, I stick with my rate!

We left there to go have a couple drinks. On the way, we passed 2 elephants - a baby with its mother - in the driveway of this really nice hotel. Oh Bangkok, you so crazy. The handlers walk them up and down the streets soliciting money from people who want to take their pictures. We also made a wrong turn and went down what I will nicely call a 'Sweetheart' section of bars that all had a bunch of young Thai girls hanging out in the front - cat-calling to all gentlemen walking by. Funny, they didn't seem to say much to K or me. If a couple of men stopped in front, they would come over and pull them by the arm gently to try to convince them to come inside. This isn't the dirtiest section of this city by far, but it was oogy enough for me. Kavita and I also have started a new game: lady or ladyboy? with the scantily dressed women that pass us. We can usually instantly tell the ladyboys. They don't look like dudes in dresses, but something about them just stands out as Imposter! to us. Oh Bangkok, you so dirty.