We landed in Bangkok at around 3pm local time on Thursday 2nd April. The flight was actually not too bad, was expecting it to be a lot worse. The weather was really hot and stuffy. We got a taxi to our hostel (air-conditioned). The traffic in Bangkok is absolute madness. Our hostel is not in central Bangkok it is in a relatively quieter area, but there is still loads going on. We were pleased with our room, which was clean and pleasent, with fan. After a quick nap we had dinner in the hostel bar. There was a massive storm going on, heaviest rain I've ever seen. We both had thai red curry, it was tasty.

The next day we had a walk around our local area. There are loads of food stalls everywhere selling a variety of snacks. Later on we got a taxi down to Khao San Rd, which is the main street for tourists and backpackers. It was really busy and full of tourists, stalls, bars. Alan got asked if he wanted a tailored suit about ten times. We had some noodles, and after a wander around caught a taxi home.

We got up early the hext day to go to the weekend market. It was happening just down the road from our hostel, and is apparently the biggest market in South East Asia. It was massive, we spent ages wandering around. The pet section was interesting, the had big buckets of puppies and chicks for sale. We bought a few things, and had a go at haggling. In the evening went went down to Khao San Road again, as Alan wanted to watch the Liverpool game. We had a meal and bought a few things before the game. It was quite late when the game finished and all the taxis we got into were claiming their meter was broken so we decided to get a tuk tuk (motorbike taxi) home. Alan managed to haggle the man down to a reasonable price. All the tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok seem to have massive road rage and drive like maniacs. It was a fun ride back to the hostel.

We were woken up in the night by yowling cats having a fight out on the balcony. Also the hostel owner have about 6 really yappy dogs, how annoying. Ear plugs have come in handy yet again. There was a massive storm on when we got up so we had to wait till it was over before we could go out. We headed to an internet place which was full of kids playing games and researched Thailand and where to go next as we are not sure. In the evening we got the Skytrain to Siam which is a big downtown area. It was all lit up at night and a bit crazy. Bangkok is cool but it will be nice to get somewhere a bit more chilled out. We had a wander around, and on the way home went to our local bar to what the Man Utd game. There was live music in the bar and a good atmosphere. Thai people seem to be really into British football.

We got up early planning to go to the palace but again there was a huge storm. After it stopped it was too late to go there so we got the skytrain to a big public park. It was nice, and we rented a pedal boat on the lake. There we massive big lizards in the lake which we chased around to take photos. We also saw some terrapins. In the park we saw a huge free outdoor aerobics class taking place which was weird. There was also a big outdoor gym which is free. At one point everybody in the park stopped and stood still when the national anthem was played, it was a bit surreal. In the evening we spent a while in the internet place before bed

The next day we got up early and got a taxi over to the palace. It was a really sunny day, and we spent a few hours looking around. There were loads of big shiny and gold temples. We also saw the famous emerald buddha, which was discovered in the 14 century. We then got a ferry over the river to Wat Arun which is a big sun temple. We climbed up the temple, the stairs were incredibly steep and it was a bit scary going back down. Instead of getting a taxi back we got a boat down the river for a while and then caught a skytrain back. After the daily storm had finished we went our to eat in a really local thai place, which was supercheap. After that we watched the Champions League match in our hostel which went on till really late so we didnt get to bed till about 4am.

On our final day in Bankok we didn't go much, as we got up late due to the late night before. We managed to buy some malaria tablets from the local pharmacy so at least thats sorted. After two days we will be protected. We did a bit of internet and route planning, and booked our next hostel. In the evening we ate in a simialr thai place defore the Champions League match started. I didn't stay up to watch all of it this time. We had to get up quite early the next day and get the bus to Sukhothai...