*Note: I still have not been able to find the technology to upload photos. Sit tight, I'm working on it*

Day 2 in Thailand was an interesting one. We started the day by undertaking a tour of the Royal Palace and Temples. You really need to see photos to understand, but needless to say that I walked around the place looking at the magnificent Thai and Buddhist architecture thinking "it's good to be the king...."

The tour was excellent and the guide was knowledgeable and helpful , but as with all things in Thailand, the operators of the tour where out to extract money from you. The "final stop" on the tour was not infact a temple or palace, but a large gem and jewelry factory. Surprise, Surprise, being conned into more cut price purchases. In fairness to them, it was very nice and genuine stuff, but like I alluded to in my last entry, everyone here is out to get money out of you in some way or another. In a country where the average policeman earns 5000 baht per month ($1500) and they have such a ready supply of tourists, I guess it's not surprising.

We had a pretty lazy afternoon, resting up before the big flight. We spent our last couple of hours down at the Patpong night market, getting a couple of last minute bits. The operators at this market were worse that the other market, coming up with outrages opening prices. Patpong was a bit of fun though, as it is amongst the strip clubs and brothels, and the locals certainly go out of their way to make sure you are aware of all of the different ways to catch AIDS off of their girls. We caught a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel and this was probably the highlight of the evening, it was one of those "fun because it was dangerous" routines.