Hi Folks,

This morning I picked up my 8 dollar LOAD of laundry from the Laundromat across the street from my hotel and got packed to head to Bangkok. We took the subway all the way to the airport (which in itself is amazing to me). The sign said that it would take 24 minutes to the transfer point and 38 minutes in total. It took 24.05 minutes to the transfer and 38.30 in total. Unbelievably efficient.

Singapore was fantastic because everyone spoke English. Thailand isn't quite the same. At the airport, the taxi concierge explains to the driver where to take you because he speaks zero English.

The BEST part about Thailand so far is how cheap everything is. A 40 minute taxi ride to our hotel in the middle of the city was 12 dollars! We had dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town - had appetizers, main and beers and it was 20 per person!

After dinner we walked through the Patpong night market. After spending 2 weeks in India I was expecting textiles, jewellery and scarves. But it was the complete opposite. It was filled with knock off bags, wallets, sunglasses and hats. The best part is that after India, bargaining with them is like child's play. They have no defence for the walk away move!

Today I wore mum's money belt for the first time, but when I tried on a shirt in the market I couldn't take the shirt off without my shirt under coming up. Mike discreetly held it down while the shopkeeper laughed. Mike then wanted to buy a pair of shorts, but insisted on buying a size 32. The storekeeper refused to believe he was a 32 and kept pushing 34s at him. She then told him to try it on over his shorts… they got about half way up before getting stuck, and her and the other shopkeepers were in hysterics as he struggled to pull them over his shorts he had on.

Tomorrow we spend the day touring Bangkok and then off to Krabi on Thursday