Dave Arrived in Bangkok about 1545 Saturday 2nd May 2009.Flight with Quantas very good-luckily for me it was not bumpy!Very modern airport was full of Thai medical staff wearing face masks and pointing heat sensitive cameras at us to check for possible swine flu!Queued for ages at immigration then when it was our turn we sailed through.We only applied for a 60 day tourist visa but oddly they gave us until 29th October?! Bags were already on the conveyerbelt and we passed straight through customs After searching dozens of name boards we found another exit point where our driver was waiting The large air conditioned taxi was very welcome after 11 hours on a plane About an hour later we arrived at our hotel,The Viengtai,just off the famous Khaosan Rd The hotel appeared very modern until we got to our room It is nice and large but is very dated,probably untouched in 20 years The carpet is worn and stained and the room faces the noisy main rd The shower works fine but sounds like a jet plane when you turn it on The breakfast in the Viengtai is however superb It is buffet style and you can go back as many times as you like There is a small swimming pool which is oddly located on the 3rd floor and is nice to cool off in Having looked in at other rooms on our way to the pool we noticed that nearly all of the rooms were nicer and much more modern-could this be because we booked via sta travel?We are acclimatising quite well to the time difference On the first night I just managed to see Bendtner score his second against Portsmouth before I fell asleep about 2230 local time We are both loving the Thai food,especially from the street hawkers -cheap as well We have not got on so well with the tuk tuk and taxi drivers,hardly any know where they are going?? or want to turn their meter on Most try to get you to stop off somewhere so they can get their commision If it wasnt so hot we would have walked everywhere We went to Chatuchak weekend market on Sunday,you can buy absolutely everything here - well worth the visit They do like to barter though which is now all down to me as Mimi is too nice She thinks 10 baht off and she has got a good deal! On Tuesday we went on a day trip to see a floating market,the bridge on the river kwai and the tiger temple at Kanchanburi Best day trip ever been on! First we visited a sugar cane factory,they photographed all of us when we got off the coach and within ten minutes were trying to sell us plates with our photos on We only booked the trip to see the tiger temple so we expected to get hassled a bit Next was the very busy floating market We went on a longtail boat and then onto a paddle boat You name it they sell it! We tasted an amazing fruit - a mangostine- a bit like a lychee but it tastes much better Getting back on the coach and yes,more plates with our photos on! After a trip to a snake farm we had lunch and then it was on to see the famous bridge on the river kwai Instantly recognisable and very touristy-oh and yes.. more plates! We saw an elephant here who didnt look very happy at being chained up-hopefully he felt a bit better when I fed him some bananas They definately saved the best until last-the tiger temple-fantastic Ok its touristy but where in the world can you pet a fully grown tiger and have its head on your lap We were a bit apprehensive and I must admit my heart was beating very fast when I held his head The staff took loads of photos for us and the monks posed with tiger cubs with us We got back to the hotel about 7pm and went straight to bed as I wanted to watch Arsenal v Utd at 0145 kick off Wish I had stayed in bed-enough said We have got our Cambodian visas and are travelling down to Koh Tau on Friday morning We should arrive at Bans Diving Resort at about 3pm Originally we were going by overnight sleeper train but there is a "full moon" party on this weekend and everything is fully booked We are both looking forward to leaving Bangkok as it is hot,humid and noisy-BRING ON THE BEACH! On Monday we headed to Siam Square and into the Siam Paragon shopping centre-a bit like Westfield on steroids-very glitzy and very upmarket 2000 baht for a beach towel- I think not! We will try and post some photos soon so adios for now.......