We arrived in Bangkok at 4:30 am and it is the first true city that never sleeps that I have ever been to. All the bars were still open and whats more, they were all still full (although a few of the customers were looking a little worse for wear). Once checked into a guesthouse we went down to the bar where Sarah had a beer and i was good (it was 5:30 in the morning after all) and had a coke. We then went and got a couple of hours sleep.

Once awake we went to have a look at the Khao San Road (a famous backpacker area of Bangkok as shown in the film "The Beach") which was just a road with a load of shopping stalls, bars and restaurants on it, but at least I can say I've been.

That evening we decided to go to Patpong which is where all the erotic shows are, and after having 3 tuk tuk drivers in a row tell us it wasn't open and they would take us elsewhere we got in a taxi, which cost a third of the price. We arrived and were instantly taken to a show which was interesting as all the dancers looked so bored and fed up but we did get to see a few tricks (taking off bottle caps, pulling razor blades out and firing darts from there bodily orifices and more). Sarah had warned me that they would try and rip us off but what happened when we tried to leave was unbelievable. On entering we had agreeed that the show was free if we bought a drink (which was supposed to be 100 baht) and the aggressive looking lady presented a bill for 3200 baht (64 pounds). We refused to pay any more than we had agreed so left them with 200 baht and walked to the door which they promtly locked. This is when things got a bit hairy as Sarah said she would tell other people in the club the scam and the aggressive women started pushing her. So I pointed (a grave insult in Thailand) at her and started shouting at them. This had the desired effect of upsetting them and she got her phone out and said "I ring mafia", so I got my phone out and put in the number for the police and said "let's see who gets here first!". They then unlocked the door and let us go (although the bouncer did punch me on the arm on the way out). If they had called my bluff we would have been in trouble because I didn't know the name of the place we were in so wouldn't have been able to tell them where we were anyway.

As we were both shaken up by what had happened we went back to the Khao San Road and drank the evening away there. We shared a shisha (apple flavoured tabacco from a large standing pipe) with a Finnish lad and his 2 Thai lady friends. It was quite an eventful evening and we eventually crawled into bed around 3 am.

The next day was uneventful as we both woke up with hangovers (or as I now like to put it 'Changovers' from all the Chang I drank the night before) so the day was spent lounging around and doing nothing.

As with our trip from Chiang Mai to Bangkok the bus we were getting was an evening bus so we had another full day in Bangkok. We decided to go to the royal palace which is like the one in Phnom Penh but bigger and more extravagent. Within one of the temples is the 'Emerald Buddha' (small statue made of jade) over which wars have been fought and wasn't even known to exist until someone dropped it on the floor and the plaster casing fell off revealing the Buddha below.

We then went to the cinema to watch a film (Haunting in Conneticut) and it was a strange experience to stand to the national anthem before the film begins. The royal family are really revered here.