Patumthanee and Tsingtao

First point today is that I think I've lost the SD card for the digital camera so there's no good photos to speak of. (Don't worry though Joe, I took it out after buying you a 1GB card which I've not lost, yet anyway.) Sorry about that folks.

Went to Patnumthanee which is a province north of Bangkok where Kriang works. Upon arriving I tried tom yum for the first time. It's hot papaya salad although more akin to soup by UK standards and is hot in both senses of the word. Definitely the hottest food I've had so far and possibly ever. It was really tasty though despite the burn. And, as some of you know, I don't like seafood but the freshness and strength of the other flavours in the food here means I've actually really enjoyed what seafood I've eaten so far which includes the fish in the Tom Yum. After that Kriang went to work and I went on a stroll all in about the place. First impromptu stop was to get a Thai foot massage which was amazing. It lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes and included legs, arms, neck, shoulders and upper back. They use this cream which is a bit like weak tiger balm and at some points use a small wooden stick to do the massage. It was nearly painful at some points but by the end I could barely keep my eyes open I was so relaxed. Not quite as good as reflexology (go Sarah!) but best of all it cost 220 baht, about £3. Bargain. If you end up in Kookot some day I recommend Golden Triangle Massage. Then I carried on walking around on my newly chilled out plates of meat. Stopped at a road side stall to buy a tray of strawberries which cost about 30p. Seemed like a bargain and absolutely made the girl who ran the stall's day to have a farang buy something. I didn't see another tourist there all afternoon although no doubt there were a few somewhere. She was beaming from ear to ear. Since I was already feeling extremely relaxed and upbeat after the massage and considering the low cost of the strawberries I didn't care when I discovered there weren't as many strawberries as I'd thought because there was a block of polystyrene hidden underneath them. Being a bit cynical I wondered if that was what made the girl so happy but somehow I don't think it was. For a start tricking someone out of a few strawberries wouldn't cause a reaction that strong in any normal person. They tasted top dollar. Then I went to a nearby shopping centre called IT City. Here's a picture I took, after swapping the SD cards.

You can't see a fraction of it from this picture, the place is absolutely massive. Literally about 3 times the size of Meadowhell, maybe more, but almost entirely PC related stuff bar a few eateries, coffee shops and mobile phone shops. I did actually get lost for about half an hour, completely lost my bearings. Not unusual for me at the best of times but when all I had was a vast array of computer shop after computer shop to go buy it was inevitable. One of the things that I found odd was that I hadn't seen any monks in Thailand so far, but I saw about 20 walking around IT City. They're not supposed to be there (I don't think they're supposed to have any possessions full stop) but there were orange robed skinheads all over the shop. Literally.

After that I had a coffee, then met Kriang and we went straight into Bangkok. Straight meaning we sat in traffic for about an hour. Met Pook at Bella Napoli, just off Sukhumvit Road (below) for some pizza which was well tasty.

Then went to buy a sleeping bag ready for the weekend's camping. We're heading north to a national park, the name of which escapes me but I'll write about it when we get back. In the mean time I'm going to finish off my bottle of Tsingtao, China's finest beer!