Right, I MADE IT TO THAILAND! i left jo'burg at lunchtime monday and tuesday lunchtime i got to the hostel here... it was a long and boring and sleepless journey. I dont like children and during my many hours of patience i have decided there should be 'child zones' in the plane, preferably in the cargo hold. Anyway, it wasnt that bad, i got to watch Dark Knight, Wall-E, and a random film called American Teen. But i was pretty bored of plane food this morning and fish noodles well they were okay but i didnt know what that black round fish was so i ignored that and went for the cake with the weird brown gooey stuff in it.

So after id settled in abit, got my dorm bed nice and messy, looked at some stuff in the travel book i braved the outside world. Id read on the noticeboard that you could get the river boat into town, was 18Baht so pretty cheap, and that the skytrain was the other way and both pretty close. So i got the boat in, but no one mentioned that you had to change boats... the notice didnt say that... so yeah Got abit lost then and grabbed a tuk tuk (feeling pretty touristy) down to Ko San Road (shopping/market place) where i got harrassed to buy stuff, go and look at things etc, but i find a NO THANKS works okay if you combine it with some fast paced walking away. So got out of there to another bit and someone told me which way the temples are (there are lots of these helpful people, i'm probably ment to give them money... but well, theyre just sat there and see me with my free map looking abit puzzeled and tell me where stuff is, helpful.... doesnt require a donation i dont think). Right so i headed off towards some temples, but i was aware there were lots of protests going on today about the ex-PM so i was tryin to avoid the main area where id seen on the news all the riot police. So i saw afew temples but didnt go in or anything, it was boiling. And i walked back up but because i didnt know where i could get the river taxi back from i used my map to get me across town to the nearest Skytrain which wasnt the easiest of things to find when there are so many flyovers, bridges etc. But that was really good, and i walked through lots of markets and things on the way, it took hours, but it was worth it so that i have a better sense of direction now. The sky train was abit like the tube, but less dark and bumpy, i think ill stick with that transport option in future. On friday im planning on going to Nathom Pe.... something, where theres a big market, because its on the way to Kancharaburi where i have a hostel booked for friday (cant wait for that, bit of quiet and relaxation), and also i'll be missing the big main weekend market in Bangkok but i might be able to catch that on my way back through later on. Yeppppp so today was shattering, but ive got lots of things out of the way early, tuk tuk ride, getting a good taxi price (from the airport), found the information place where you buy bus and train tickets, got good at telling people to leave me alone because i dont want a tattoo/dvd/flip flip, and went on a water taxi, and used the skytrain with ease. Now all i have to work out is what to eat... turns out there is no kitchen, and u cant bring any food or drink into the hostel at all, soooo do i have to eat here, or should i go out to this ultra cool restaurant,,, tho its nearly 8pm and its dark andddd i dont really want to go on my own so i might go talk to the people who are making a racket upstairs, or wander outside to look for a vendor. oh i also saw some topairy elephants today on 'elephant street; which were in the middle bit of the road all in little groups, which was nice. and i did see the protest thing, well heard it, and walked directly through all the closed roads, big piles of tyres blocking them and some odd looking people in balaclavas who were checking people before letting them through some little gate... i didnt go that way.