25th-26th

Yesterday we went to China Town to see some temples. Because it's the rainy season here every now and then it pours down with rain and suddenly stops, the sun comes out, and it's as if nothing ever happened. Because it's so hot everything dries really quickly and me and Matt are often grateful for a bit of cool rain. Everywhere we go we get asked by the locals where we are from and they welcome us to Thailand. They also tell us where they think we should go and do rather than pointing us in the direction we actually want to go in. One man who we saw numerous times down the same street kept calling Matt superman because his rain coat looked like a cape! I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever called him ;)
We got a tuk tuk to the first temple we visited which was small but very peaceful. We learnt how to meditate there as the man who was in charge liked us because he had recently visited London. We also burnt some incense and prayed to the massive Buddha statue, although of course I prayed to God instead and thanked him for all the amazing things he has created. We then got asked by our tuk tuk driver if we could take a short trip into the Thai factory as it meant that he could get free fuel. We were more than happy to help him out as he drove us around all over the place for only 20 baht each, which is like 40p! The people in the factory were annoyed that Nathan wouldn't buy a suit from them and mumbled something about us as we walked out of the factory!
We then went to see the Golden Mount (a temple) which was absolutely massive. Our driver drove us through a part where monks and locals were praying and chanting together in a massive outside hall. It struck us all how touristy this place was even though it was a religious building. The final temple that we went to was our favourite. The Buddha was absolutely massive, as you can see in the picture, and it was so cool and peaceful inside. We all practised our meditating in there but I got distracted by a monk stopping his prayers to check his iPhone that was stored in a phone sock the exact same shade of fluorescent orange as his robe!
Our final tuk tuk driver was made and tried to fit through spaces I really didn't think we'd get through. They don't take any notice of the lanes in the road and even drive on the pavement to avoid traffic jams. We then returned back to our hostel to get ready for a meal and a few drinks.
Ironically and disappointingly we ended eating in mcThai which, as you guessed it, is a Thai McDonald's. Matt actually had a Thai meal there but the rest of us didn't. I did discover strawberry fanta though which has become my new obsession. Don't judge us too much on the choice of restaurant though as all the local cafes were shut by the time we left our hostel due to the busy day we had had. We then embraced the Thai culture to make up for the lack of during our meal and sat outside in a beer market and listened to a live Thai band. The male sax player hit on Nathan publicly through the microphone and we all found it very funny. There are so many market stalls selling weird food on the streets and this place was full of them.

Today we had a lazy morning and then went into the centre of Bangkok. We visited a Japanese shopping mall in Ekkamai which was full of really cute things like giant pink dolls houses and umbrella trees. We then went to Chid Lom which seemed like a really wealthy part of Bangkok and looked around some of the streets. At one point a loud song started playing from speakers all around us and everyone we could see stood up and stopped moving. At first I thought it was the start of a flash dance but it turned out to be an anthem sung to the King. Nobody warned us about this!!! Then we went to Asok where we had an amazing meal. I chose phad thai which I have at waggamamas at home and of course it was more incredible.
The next thing we did has probably been the best part of our trip so far, purely because it was such a new experience. We walked towards a street full of flashing lights and loudmusic only to be greated by groups of ladies dressed in almost nothing shouting "sir, sir" at Nathan and Matt. I immediately realised where we were but it wasn't until we got to the end of the street to sit down at a normal-ish bar that Heidi informed me that many of them would not have been women. You honestly can't tell at all.
We've decided to stay in this hostel until Sunday because it's so clean, the pool is so handy, and it's right by the bus station that we'll be going to in order to travel to Pattaya. We're going to visit the floating market on Saturday but we have no plans for tomorrow yet. We still haven't quite got the hang of asking for no ice in our drinks and completely avoiding salad and fruit as Matt and Nathan bought a fruit smoothie at the temple yesterday and had to throw them away when we remembered! As for the toilet situation, they have all been proper toilets apart from the one Heidi used in the beer market last night. I really hope all of Thailand is like this but I know it's wishful thinking!