Another Day At The Races,

but this time the long boat races,

it is at the same venue as the buffalo races but on the other side of the lake,

as you go along Soi Siam Country Club you will see lots of flags and traffic turning left in to the lake turning if you are putting it in your dairy for next year,

back in the UK I sometimes got behind a caravan that was to fast to overtake but to slow for normal travel, imagine how long it would take you to get past one of theses in the same circumstances!

behind the dam there are what seems to be miles of stalls selling food and drink,

the first beer tent,

there were so many bikes and cars there, the race was so popular,

at the end of the day this is where the prizes are handed out,

flower display in the shape of a long boat,

a closer picture of the award table,

a coke for Diana,

the avenue along the food stalls was packed,

popcorn is a must, but instead of it being salty this was the sweet popcorn,

some sausages on a stick were next,

plus some candies,

the lady is putting some spicy sauce in the bag with Diana's food on a stick,

meanwhile the guy next door is cooking something,

Diana and myself both have bad colds at the moment, but one wiff of this stuff really cleared out the sinuses!

now fully loaded with food and drink it was time to explore,

opps! nearly forgot the squid,

of course there was the usual bar-b-q chickens to be had,

Diana was fascinated by the 'pop' guns, pull back a lever, place a cap on the end and shot a prize,

so it was down to Diana to have a go,

after a few misses it was down to the 'Annie Get Your Gun' pose,

I had to have a go as well,

no she is not shooting the attendant! we did in fact win two prizes,

there were hand guns as well,

and now for something different,

7 darts for 20 baht, you have to burst 7 balloons to win a prize, we won nothing on this stall, but still great fun,

this is what must be the smallest bar in the world, one bar, two stools,

we carried on walking around, then on our way back the bar was empty, I felt the effort taken to haul this bar all the way from the car park should be rewarded with me buying a drink there,

then much to our surprise we found out it was owed by a friend of ours, Tony, from the Tony & Ice Group, his company designs and builds houses and deals in real estate, phone 0819968144 or 0806689234 if you need his services,

a cooling towel for me, we first meet many years ago when I used to go fishing a lot at the Fantasy fishing park in Soi Kaotalo, he was the owner of it, also he is a good friend of Dang's so we have been out for a drink many times together,

we had a cocktail,

"Cheers!" from all of us,

whilst having a drink I noticed this guy at the end of the bar, he was putting clear film over the screen on mobile phones, I had mine done about 3 months ago for 150 baht, but it had already started to peel off, well for small screens 20 baht, for my Nokia N97 to cover the whole thing 50 baht, bargain!

on the way to watch the races there was this stall, I could not translate but he seemed to have the same patter that you would hear in the East End of London trying to separate you from your cash!

then on to the last race of the day,

a lack of a programme meant I did not know who was racing, but the crowd did,

the closer they got the more excited and noisey the crowd became,

I had to zoom back my camera as they got closer, by now the drummers were hammering out Thai music at fever pitch,

it was going to be a close thing,

but the nearer boat took the honours,

and the waves of the spectators, theses two guys have the job of stering the boat, a really enjoyable day out, but be warned with two days running in the sun my nose looks like a clowns red nose, note to self, take a hat next time!

on the way back we called in to see Nick and Maureen,

just a couple of medicinal drinks, I lost a lot of fluid in the sun,

Maureen very kindly made us all a prawn cocktail which was really appreciated,

and to round it off a few Top Choco's, after our goodbyes it was off to meet Mick and Mass.