Right, as Ben has whizzed through getting us more up to date, I'll try and get a few more places done. From Kanchanaburi we got a minibus back to Bangkok to meet Kat (my little sister), her boyfriend Gareth and their friend Nush as they arrived to start their travelling. The journey was quite frustrating, slow to get started due to the usual dropping off of parcels, picking up locals etc...We then found that the minibus was prone to stalling when stopped at traffic lights, so whilst on the motorway the driver took to suddenly moving onto the hard shoulder to creep up to the lights and push in the queue so he didn't have to stop, all good fun. We got to the Khao San Road and were able to get a room at the D&D Inn, where my sister etc would be staying. I was very excited about seeing Kat, though it was so bizarre having her arrive at our hotel in the middle of Bangkok! Once they were settled we headed out for some food and a few drinks. It was nice to be able to give them tips and have an outlet for some sisterly bossiness eg "I want you to drink all of that water, you'll be sorry if you get dehydrated."

Now, anyone who has read Gareth's blog of Bangkok would have got the impression that all Ben and I did while they saw the sights is sunbathed by the swimming pool on the roof of our hotel. However, this may be slightly unfair. I'm sure we did lots of stuff, I just can't remember anything except shopping. After the others had their first day sight seeing we all went out for dinner and drinks again, and Kat etc had a quick initiation into the fun (I use the term loosely) that can be had with local children who want to sell you stuff but will settle for playing games for money eg rock paper scissors, thumb war etc. We also drank some yummy buckets of cocktail...see the photo of Kat and Gareth being corrupted by Ben! Next day we all had some shopping we wanted to do, and it was a good chance for me to get a chance to do some leisurely shopping with the girls. Before we knew it Ben and I were heading for our evening bus to Ko Phi Phi, and we all had a sad goodbye.