Bangkok

Bangkok smells like a city. I booked a room at 'your place' and was amazed at its homeliness, cleanliness & location all for $10 including breakfast .... i was still reflecting on the great deal when Anna, the tall Buxom 40yo staying in the room next door, introduced herself, and in the course of the conversation offered to give me a massage - since she looked like a local I assumed that it was a business proposition & queried the price .... "500Baht, 1000 for the works" she offered while sticking her finger into her cheek through her mouth and then continuing to explain. That was the best 30 bucks I've ever spent ... only joking, it was a terrible waste of money ..... hmmm, actually, i had fortunately organised to check out Thai boxing with another tourist so ran out the door.

The Thai boxing was the first time I realised i got ripped off in Asia (& it's the realisation that hurts) - $50 for ringside seats seemed steep enough & that was before we realised it was a split bill, our tickets were only valid for the runts, locals paid about 10%, and the crowd was thin (the majority tourist suckers like ourselves) .... one guy was carried off in a wheelchair and another on a stretcher - so at least the fights were intense. As we left we encountered the crowd for the real fights, including the Thai championship, and walked away with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth and the din of the real crowd ringing in my ears ... headed home to my place where Anna was lying in wait.

Anna invited herself into my room and proceeded to play with my cards on the floor ... after a couple of games of Blackjack i realised she had been beating me using the oldest trick in the book - clothing minimisation ... I made the excuse that I better go maintain my Blog & that's where this whole thing originated.