August 9-12, Bangkok, Thailand, pingpong, curries, Buddhist temples, Muay Thai, massive cheap market and back home to Melbourne, Australia

I arrived in Thailand on Thursday afternoon. I dumped my bags at the hotel and went out and grabbed myself some food. I had been craving some Asian food for a long time and Thai food was just what I had in mind. After a long walk, I happened across a small street full of hawkers. I sat down and quickly ordered myself a Tom Yum Gong and a Pad Thai, it was delicious. After that I wondered down to the Patpong night market (in Bangkok's notorious red light district), the market was great, cheap prices with a bit of bargaining. I decided my visit to Thailand would not be complete without baring witness to the infamous ping pong show, and it didn't take long for me to find one. I won't go into details but it was funny/nasty. No photos, sorry.
The next day I headed out to see the temples and Buddhas of Thailand. At the temple of the golden Buddha they had a row of Buddhist fortune telling slot machines, sort of like a pokie but instead of getting a chance to win more money back you get a fortune, bizzaro. Walking around the temples and checking out the various Buddhas was good, but very hot.








After that I went to Lumpini stadium and got a ringside ticket to watch a Muay Thai kick boxing event. I paid 1700 baht for my ticket (around $65 AUD) and got a seat right up the front. The early fights lacked the speed and power that Muay Thai is famous for, however the main event and the preceding match definitely made up for that. In the match preceding the main event one of the fighters was knocked out and taken away on a stretcher.
The main event was an even match up that saw Autthachai from Fairtex camp win on points. Autthachai (red corner) unleashed a couple of nasty left elbows on Petchmankong's right temple (at around the 50 second mark in the video I uploaded) creating a bloody target for Auttachai's later strikes. I went back to the warm up area and pushed my way through the crowds to get a photo with him after the victory.







The next day I headed to Bangkok's Chatuchak weekend market. It was kinda like the Victoria market but about 10 times bigger. I bought some clothes there and ate some great curries. That afternoon I caught a plane back to Melbourne.



I got back into Melbourne this morning and I couldn't help but smile every time I heard an Aussie accent from the workers at the airport. Dad and May Ann met me at the airport and took me back to my sisters place where I saw my mum, brother-in-law and niece (Beatrice) who has grown up a lot since I last saw her (she is around 8 months old now), she is already developing a great personality and is a lot of fun to play with.


I have to say my bed is very, very, very comfortable. Home is good. I am going back to work tomorrow. The end for now.