Today we had a lie in and woke at about eight thirty ish. We both slept really well in the dorm and our companions were more than gracious as there was no snoring or rowdy behaviour. We headed downstairs where Steven munched some toast and I had an apple and some veg juice. After breakfast we headed out towards the metro where we headed north to Chatuchak park where they hold a huge weekend market. We arrived just before ten and it was already pumping with people everywhere. The market is the largest in Thailand but grows bigger on the weekend covering over thirty five acres and has over 5000 stalls... Its the largest weekend market in the world. It is quite famous for its illegal selling of rare species and such but we didn't see this (I guess this is kept in a vey hush hush part of he market).

We had a stroll round and enjoyed having a look at what was on offer, there was everything... Clothes, watches, fake Tiffany's and Mulberry' s (both awful) and everything else you could imagine. There was also tonnes of food on offer... Steven wanted a hat but the price was ridiculous and the guy wouldn't really budge so we gave up. In he end it was still more than UK prices, I suppose he knew he didn't need to lower his price after all over 200 thousand visitors pass through the market every day and someone will buy it for a high enough price.

Its a shame but I think that tourism has kind of taken away what made Thailand a dream destination. It is no longer a chilled out place where you can grab a beach hut for a couple of quid, drink cheap beer and hang out... Its become all about cash! You can't blame them, westerners are normally on holiday and happy to flash the cash but its kind of ruined it for the strapped for cash backpacker that doesn't want go spend nearly three quid for a beer (that's more than at home) and can't afford to spend a lot of clothing or accommodation. Don't get me wrong I am enjoying Thailand but I just don't feel its as magical as I hoped... it's losing its charm and that's a shame... Its all about money, money money! You can still find the odd gem like our hostel "De Talak" here was a cheap and homely hostel with helpful staff and a nice atmosphere, very different from out first one in Bangkok. Hopefully the rest Thailand hasn't been ruined too much by us tourists and our loose purses, although I doubt it very much.

Eventually Steven found a cheap watch for about two pounds fifty so bought it... We were fed up with not being able to tell the time and couldn't argue with the price, a lot cheaper than we had seen through out the day... One guy tried to sell me a fake channel watch for eighty pounds!

After looking around the market for a good few hours we noticed it was nearing half one. We were meeting Uncle Ken and Nukky at three pm and wanted to grab a bite first. We headed for the tran and got off at Siam before wandering around a little before hitting centre world which is yet another mall. We hit he food court, saw where Burger King was (the rendezvous point) and then went off to get some food. We found a Yoshinoya and Steven couldn't stop smiling. He ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and veg together with a nori soup and I ordered beef with rice and veg along with a small soup. The vegetables were lovely as was the soup but I wasn't really hungry so Steven munched my rice and beef then before we knew it... It was almost three.

We hit Burger King and took a pew and waited... And waited... And waited some more. After about ninety mins we realised we may have missed a message or something so Steven headed off to find somewhere with free wifi but came back having had no luck. We waited some more, bought a drink in Burger King to access their wifi and it wasn't working and then the iPad died. In the end we waited almost two hours before we decided to call it a day. We must have received a message or something that we can't get to. We walked around the corner and stopped... I was debating going back just in case they were just really late (he is my mums brother after all and she's pretty bad at arriving on time) but Steven pointed out that we can't sit all night waiting. We walked on and straight in to them... Well not quite in to them but we saw them, that was ver lucky considering I hadn't seen my uncle in over fifteen years. We hugged and headed to Burger King as they were starving. They offered us a meal, I declined but Steven took them up and ordered a whopper... They also handed over the illusive memory cards which was amazing.

We then sat down and chatted for a good hour or so about family, travel and so on... So much to catch up on. Before we knew it... It was almost seven thirty so we decided to find a pub for a quick beer. This wasn't as easy as first thought as they didn't really know the pub scene here. We ended up in an Irish pub not far from Soi cowboy (the famous red light district) and so took a pew. They were showing the six nations so we proceeded to watch Ireland kick Wales butt with a lot of very rowdy expats. We had a few beers and I got to know Nukky a bit more while ken chatted with Steven... It wasn't long before it was past ten so we said our goodbyes and planned to see them both on our return to Thailand in April. We then hugged and that and waved goodbye.

On our way back to the hostel we passed Soi cowboy so headed down the small street for a goose. The street isn't very long (only about four hundred meters) but has over forty bars. It was given its name after an American retired airman who open one of the first bars here... He always wore a cowboy hat hence the name. The street was actually a lot nicer than I thought and the girls were quite friendly and smiley ...even to me who obviously wasn't going to be a patron. I had heard it can be quite aggressive but I didn't see that at all and the beers although not cheap, weren't the most expensive we had seen. All down the street are middle aged men surrounded by thai girls who look incredible bored... I imagine the guys must be lonely or loaded as you have I buy each girls drinks and they normally cost double if not more what your own cost. You cant deny the place isn't sleazy with scantily clad girls everywhere but it was also quite entertaining. Your surrounded by tourists, young guys on holiday or stag dos and middle aged men... Which was a little sad.

We enjoyed walking up and down and it was quite funny to see Steven darting down the street eyes down so he didn't get any attention lol... Although it didn't work and one girl was soon all over him! He quickly retreated and I followed. By now we were a little tipsy and I was starving so we headed back to the hostel for some beans on toast.