Tuesday morning we woke up at about 10am. We knew we only had to check out at 12pm so decided to nap another hour. This was a bad idea. We woke up at 11.50am, still needed to shower and pack our lives back into our bags. My stuff seems to catapult itself all over the room every time I open my bag, so this was going to be a true test of ability. 20 minutes later we were checking out and looking for alternative accommodation as we'd only booked 1 night. (Test level: A*). After about half an hour of searching, we decided to book a 'superior' room at the same hostel and checked back in. This room had its own shower and toilet (outside on the balcony) as well as a safe and window (well, it was a door really, to get onto the balcony). We stayed there for about an hour before deciding what we were going to do for the day: floating markets and the big Buddha if there was time.

We tried to get our bearings as we'd learned a few new short cuts from our friends the night before, so managed to worm our way back to the bus station close to our hostel in record time. We started chatting to another Thai man about where we were trying to go as he'd seen us consult a street map. It turned out he was a lawyer for the Thai tax office: 'Thai people make big money, come here to pay tax, I stamp.' He educated us on the ways of tuk tuks and hailed one on our behalf. He showed us the white registration plate and explained that Thai people only pay 5 Baht per person for a ride. If anyone tries to charge us more, they're ripping us off and further more, avoid all yellow registration plates. We also learned that the floating market was actually in Kanchanaburi, where we were planning on going the next day.He told us about a Bangkok boat ride we could do to see the sights from the water and told us how much it would cost- 2.5 times more in a tourist information centre! He explained to the taxi driver where to take us in Thai and added in English: 'no shopping!' The tuk tuk driver took us to our boat trip and said he'd come back in an hour to fetch us. We'd managed to happen upon our own personal chauffeur!

We had an entire long boat, which closely resembled a Venetian gondola, all to ourselves! The journey was an hour and we marvelled at the opulence and squalor that were neighbours. Some of the houses were balancing off the water on rotten beams and how they hadn't collapsed yet was a complete mystery. Other houses, however, looked like they'd been transplanted from Beverly Hills, California. It really was a site to behold.

We met back up with our tuk tuk driver after an hour and he then took us to a tourist information centre, by instruction from the Thai lawyer. We enquired about a potential bus trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi. The cost: 800 Baht per person. The agent didn't seem too interested in life in general and we said we were going to have some lunch, think about it, and maybe come back later. Upon Googling the same journey, we discovered that the trip from the bus station was 99 Baht per person, 1st class and a bottle of water. We decided then and there that everyone was ripping us off, until proven otherwise.

We wondered around for an hour looking for the Big Buddha and met another Thai man in the street whose wife had apparently just had a baby - he was on his way to see them, but wanted to buy his new son a present first. He advised us to go to a different Tourist information centre and walked us there. They were offering 600 Baht per person. Edd started getting a bit worked up and confronted the agent about the extortionate price in comparison to going to the station and getting a bus on our own. Her response was that we were being fetched from our accommodation and that was why it was so much more expensive. We walked out and decided we'd figure it out on our own. Next stop: Big Buddha, no distractions.

The Big Buddha is a definite must see in Bangkok, the sheer magnitude of it is mind-boggling. We spent about an hour walking around the grounds and sat in a room where the monks were chanting; this was surprisingly calming even in the stifling heat.

We made our way back to our hostel and stopped off for some dinner. We both had Pad Thai chicken, still getting used to noodles for breakfast, lunch and supper. We went and chilled out in our superior room for 2 hours and then I decided I wanted spring rolls and Edd suggested we get a massage from one of the street massage vendors. We made our way back to the action and each settled down for a 30 min foot massage. My massage therapist did a sterling job on my aching feet; Edd got a lady boy. No jokes. They end off your foot massage with a short neck rub and she (?) found a knot in his shoulder; she attacked it with all her might and I thought he was going to pass out! We paid and he decided he needed another drink after that.

We located spring rolls further down the street and queued up for my not-so-midnight snack. An Australian couple were standing next to us and we struck up a conversation. The guy was an engineer, in the same field as Edd, and the girl was a drama teacher. What were the odds?! The best part about it was that they lived in Melbourne. Edd and I stared at each other almost in shock. Here was a couple in the industries we were in; living in the city we were moving to! Our conversation went on longer than we'd anticipated and I suggested we go and get a drink instead of stand in the street eating. We found a quaint looking Thai bar and had Chang beer and Mojitoes. The night ended - at 1am - with us saying good-bye to our new Aussie friends; we planned to meet up with them again in Melbourne in a few months. What luck!