Our next shopping destination was the upmarket Siam Paragon mall, which had an incredible food court selling all sorts of western sweet treats, from Krispy Kreme donuts to about ten different ice cream shops, as well as endless numbers of bakeries, crepe stalls...we opted for a slice of white chocolate cheesecake and were in seventh heaven! Afterwards, as if the creamy richness of the cheesecake wasn't enough, we went to the supermarket in the mall, in which we were plied with endless free samples of Thai sweets, biscuits, dried fruits, tea, crackers, nuts - I don't think the staff were quite prepared for the eating habits of two ravenous British backpackers!
We then visited another glitzy shopping mall called Central World, where there was a pretty indoor garden in the basement - perfect for more upmarket jungle exploration!
A brief look around the Jim Thompson's grand house brought our shopping day to a close - or so we thought. We hopped in a tuk-tuk intending to go back to our hotel, but the driver insisted on stopping at a silk factory for an impromptu shopping trip. Our refusal to purchase wedding dresses left the owner somewhat unimpressed, and once back in the tuk-tuk the driver claimed he had no fuel left to take us any further, since we didn't spend enough time browsing in the shop for him to redeem his free fuel coupon. When we refused to stop and look around yet another shop we were abandoned on the side of the road to hail another, more reliable, tuk-tuk to bring us back safely - phew!
Being taken for a ride, in both senses of the phrase...
That evening we sampled yet more authentic Thai food - what the placed lacked in fancy decor it certainly made up for in tasty noodles!
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