The bus to take us to the Poipet border crossing with Thailand was a tiny minibus. The road wasn't a road, it was a dirt track with pot holes the size of craters everywhere. (I'm not exaggerating!) On these roads there is none of that driving on the left or right nonsense. you drive where there are the least pot holes. So people who were trying to read gave up after a few minutes and resigned themselves to staring out of the window (as did those who thought they could have a nap) So glad we hadn't been drinking last night! The journey went on forever, but I thought it was quite amusing. We were sat up at the front and it felt like we were playing 'chicken' with oncomign vehicles at times! Took about 5 hours to get to the border where it was 99 degrees. We then got another tiny bus bound for Bangkok. Stopped at a service station about two hours from bangkok and was quite suprised to see a local guy wearing a Huddersfield Town shirt serving on a stall! As soon as we were in Thailand it felt different. The roads were roads and the electricity pilons looked safe; it felt wealthier. Got to Bangkok about 9pm and were dropped off at the end of Khao San road which is where the budget rooms are and the madness is. It was quite a shock to the system to be suddenly thrown into all this mayhem. Stod at one end with our backpacks on, looking down, just a sea of people, stalls selling food, clothes and jewellery, bars, restaurants and LIGHTS! Neon signs everywhere, all screaming above one another. We looked at a few rooms. Determined to pay as little as possible as we're only staying for a few nights. They were all depressing. The one we're in remonds me of the place where the guy stays at the beginning of The Beach. No window. Shared bathrooms. One fan. Awful. But only 200 baht! (less than 3 quid) Went out for some drinks and stayed out til 4.30am, which is suprisingly easy to do here! An Irish bar we went to had 'no beer after 1am' signs everywhere. We found out from a French guy that this is because of the police. So everyone just drinks cocktails as they look like soft drinks! Although I've never had a soft drink with salt round the rim before......