I arrived here last night after a 9 hour flight to Dubai from Cape Town and then a 6 hour flight from Dubai to Bangkok. They weren't as bad as I though they'd be and I got to watch some pretty good films. Once I landed I went through immigration and managed to pick a desk with a trainee working on it. About 45 minutes later I was good to go and get my bag (which had arrived this time!!) and get a taxi to the hotel I was staying in.

On the drive to the hotel, Bangkok just looked like any other high rise city at night, then we got closer and driving round the little streets full of people and random stalls, I didn't really like it. My hotel's nice and I'm glad I splashed out and an ensuite room with air con. As I hadn't slept at all during my flights adjusting to the time difference was easy and I just went straight to bed.

This morning, I didn't wake up until gone 11 and was very tempted to just stay in my room all day with it's sky TV and air conditioning. I knew that would just be a waste though so I went out for a wander down Khao San Road, which wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Then I got talking to a tuk tuk driver and he offered to take me round some various sights and then back to my hotel for 20 baht. We went to a couple of temples that were really pretty (not sure what they were called as everything was written in Thai) and went to the Lucky Buddha and a couple of Tailor shops where they make made to measure suits. I've since read in a guidebook that it's a scam used by the tuk tuk drivers so that tourists will pay loads of money for suits etc then they get a commission. At the end of the day though, I paid the guy 40 baht (less than a pound) and I got to see a bit of Bangkok that I wouldn't have otherwise!

Since I got back from my outing, I've had an amazing meal in the restaurant for less than 2 pounds and sat by the pool trying to work out which islands I'm going to go to once my second project is finished. Tomorrow morning, I'm getting picked up and taken to the elephant sanctuary where I'll be spending the next 2 weeks. Lets just hope I have as good a time as I did on Harnas!