The Thai scenery was beautiful and again we came across agricultural flatlands, if you got bored with the scenery you could eye up the amazing birds. I am of course talking about the feathered kind and we saw Herons, Storks and Egrets amongst others I couldnt recognise. The farmers had a great way of scaring of the birds and rodents that may eat their crops, they wouldnt bother wasting time putting Worzel Gummidge scarecrows up but used gnarled bark from the banana trees. They would cut and twist them so they looked like a hooded king Cobra about to strike, they would then plant them in various places in the fields and they looked great. I may try this when planting up my Runner Beans next spring.

The train rolled into the backside of Bangkok and crept through the shanty towns at about 10mph....you got to see life there as you were pretty much looking into peoples shacks and as usual everyone was happy. We finally got to Bangkok Railway station and it's a good job we arrived when we did as there's been protest rallies with up to 20,000 people blocking the railway lines. They're protesting about an Amnesty Bill which is to be abolished.

We got a tuk tuk and headed to Siam Square as I knew of a place there...but as to be expected it had been knocked down and now there's a shopping mall. We grabbed a coffee and got on the net, I wondered if The Swan Hotel was still open, it was....and the rates werent bad... We booked 1 night online and headed off. I'd first stayed in The Swan Hotel in 1987 and it's changed...but for the better. It was quite rundown all those years ago but had a refit about 7 years ago and the best bit is that it's retained the same character...it's just cleaner, brighter and now fitted with aircon.......the pool is also beautiful. I must make a mention to old friend Anthony McGarr who told me about this place in 1985 !!!!!! The Swan Hotel is one of Bangkok's best kept secret, it's neighbouring hotel is The Mandarin Oreintal and also it's a 2 minute walk to the Oriental Ferry Pier on the Chao Praya River....and the first thing we did was jump on a busboat and headed up this fascinating river. It's magical and there's always interesting things to see. We visited the King of Siam, but we'd missed the last tour and also you need to be dressed appropriately...we werent, but you can still the amazing architecture and the huge gold dome. later we checked out Patpong....it's changed and I shed a tear as my beloved Boxing Bar has now gone and been replaced by a shop. The Pink Panther is still there and the Ping Pong Popping still goes on but has now moved out to the top floors. You dont want to go there as they overcharge the drinks and lock you in until you pay up. So we didnt bother with that and maybe that's not a bad thing to miss.