We caught the overnight train to Bangkok as it seemed like the best way to cover such a long distance. It was actually alright, mainly because I won the toss and opted for the larger, darker bottom bunk. In return I had to guard the bags all night. Arriving in Bangkok is an experience at the best of times, let alone having just been on a train for 12 hours. We had heard bad things about the tuk-tuks, and the buses were too much to manage, so we thought we'd walk to the nearest ferry stop and proceed to our accommodation up river. The walk looked alright on the map, however it was much further than we thought and when we got onto the boat we had a lot of space due to the developing odour surrounding us both.

The hostel was just round the corner from the infamous Khosan Road, popular with backpackers and tourists. Despite the proximity, it was really quiet and pleasant, with lots of cheapery eateries and drinkity winkities close by. We didn't get up to much on the first day, just planned our activities for our time in Bangkok. The next morning we were up bright and early to go to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Again, the river transport was the best way to get around, avoiding Bangkok roads. We weren't prepared for the number of people there though, literally thousands of people all getting off of coaches and being herded around like cattle. Each of the groups had a guide who obviously wanted to be heard over the other ones and so they were all shouting really loudly, trying to keep everyone with their stickers on together. At times it was amusing, at others people just seemed very ignorant! We got to have a look at all the different chedis, prangs and temple buildings, including that which housed the Emerald Buddha, a small but beautiful statue (small in the same way that the Mona Lisa is small; you always thought that it would be bigger than it is!). The whole thing is very ornate, with glass tiling, gold leaf, and statues everywhere. It's very grand and definitely a must-see in Bangkok, despite the crowds. Unfortunately there was an important someone lying in state so the palace and the grounds were closed off to the public.

A short walk (by Bangkok standards) down the road is Wat Pho, whose grounds contain almost 1000 Buddha images. Wat Pho is more commonly known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, due to a 46 metre golden statue housed within the complex, complete with mother of pearl feet! They had thought of everything it seems. Very impressive. Lunch was served to us by our first encounter of a lady boy. Very impressive also! Haha!

In the evening we thought we might sample a little of the nightlife around our hotel, have a few Chang's and cocktails. We met an Italian guy who was travelling with his girlfriend AND baby, fair play to him, very brave indeed! Khosan Road was next and after a stroll up and down the road was stopped at a place offering 2-4-1 cocktails. "I'll have something cheap" I thought, and decided to have a Dr. Pepper cocktail. What arrived were two glasses filled with beer and the waitress holding two shot glasses filled with a mixture of spirits, black in colour. She dunked the shot glasses into the beer and then her and two of her waitress friends started shouting "UP UP UP" at me. "Down it?! Really?!" "Yes! Yes!" How could I refuse? Would I offend them?! Damage Thai-Anglo relations forever!? Never! Down it went. Then I remembered I had another... The next day, Sheona said to me "One minute you were having a conversation, the next minute I don't know where you'd gone!" Ah well. Morning off I think.

Somewhat worse for wear we went to Chinatown the next afternoon to have a look round their cramped markets and street stalls. We found a Tesco! Tesco Lotus, as its called over here. Just down the road from the Tesco was a small shrine with a golden horse in it. People come and lay vegetables infront of him and light incense sticks to give them good luck in their GAMBLING exploits! Hehe! There weren't too many veggies (I think the restaurant next door was nabbing them) but it was soooo smoky in there! Some people must be in some really bad patches of bad luck! Either that or they're doing so well they can afford to buy 50 incense sticks!

In the evening we thought we'd visit Pat Pong, the infamous red-light district made famous during the Vietnam war. Its really toned down a lot these days and is more for tourists to see. There's a pretty good but overpriced market that runs down the street as well. Lots of dodgy looking men offering you opportunities to see "ping-pong" show and then making a popping sound with their mouths. The mind boggles, I can't possibly imagine what they're meaning by such things...

-B