Well, Bangkok's been even more eventful than we thought it would be, as the peaceful protests that have been going on for a few days suddenly turned not so peaceful on Saturday night, at the end of our road!

Anyway, we arrived in Bangkok again on Friday morning and had breakfast at the train station with a Canadian couple we had met (more Canadians!)We then headed towards Khoa San Road, the backpackers haven, and to an area near to the main street to look for a room.We found one pretty quick, then spent the day walking around the stalls and shops in the Khao San Road area, just soaking up the atmosphere.For those of you who haven't been, it's like being in the Med without the beach, but a little more relaxed as it is full of travellers, not just teenage Brits on holiday!

On Saturday we decided to change hotels, so found a place on Khao San Road.We sat in McDonalds for breakfast and planned our day, but everything then went pearshaped!I read in the newsapaper in McDonald's that if there was bloodshed in the protests the Prime Minister would have to resign (or something to that extent) and did think this was asking for trouble.... We headed for the museum, as we had decided to have a cheap day so we could afford to go out in the evening and watch the Hull City match on TV!We got to the museum and the price had gone up 5 times the price my 2007 guidebook suggested.(They are really making their money out of the tourists in Thailand.)So, we decided not to go in, and to go to the weekend market instead.We walked back to Khoa San Road to get a taxi at the end of the street near Burger King, and on the way down the street I noticed that everyone had stopped walking and were looking towards Burger King, all except Graham who was completely oblivious to this!I shouted him and we watched to see hundreds of red shirts running past BK followed by armed police!After a few seconds the crowd we were in started to panic and turn to run back, so we headed for our hotel, which was close by now we had moved.We sat up in our 5th floor room, listening to the noise outside, which eventually turned into sounds of gunshots and explosions whilst the helicopters flew above us. Graham went out a couple of times to see what was going on, as curiosity got the better of him, and we both watched the crowd of tourists from the hotel window as they got closer to the action, then all ran back, then did the same again, and again, and again.... It sounded pretty bad from where we were and Graham went down to find that our hotel had barricaded us in (but he got out) and about 150 riot police blocking the end of our street - we think they were trying to stop the tourist joining in, to protect us, as the last thing they needed was a load of drunken tourists wandering out into the protest!By about 10.30pm it seemed to have calmed down, so we went to use the internet and saw a bar open showing the end of the Hull match, so got a jug of beer and watched that!Most of the road was empty with most shops and stalls all boarded up, which is really strange for Khao San Road, especially on a Saturday night.

On Sunday we went to the Palace Complex, which was great.Lots of nice buildings and a couple of museums.We then walked back a different route and found some cheap food stalls (at last!) and eventually came to the street with BK on and saw the aftermath of the night before.There were several burnt out cars and glass everywhere.It was then that we heard from the load speaker (the redshirts) that 20 people had died, and we saw the shrine on the road.It all seemed so surreal, and was really strange seeing the aftermath.

We thought our excitement was over, but on Monday (this morning) we had to get across the border into Cambodia.Luckily we had done lots of research, so knew every scam that would be thrown at us to try to make us pay more money. We paid for a minivan to the border then a taxi to Siem Reap.Sounds simple, but oh no…… First the driver wastes time, filling up the tank and trying to find people to pick up.Then when we get to the border they drop you a few minutes away for 'lunch' whilst their company sorts out your visas for a fee. They wanted $35 when we knew we could do it for $20 ourselves.So us and another Brit refused, tore up their forms, then headed to the border ourselves. We bypassed all the other scam artists on the way and paid $20 each plus 100 Thai Bhat (about 2.00GBP) each as a known backhander to the border patrol.We were expecting to pay a $ 5 backhander each, so this was better, and we still got through before the rest of our minibus, who had paid the $35.Thank goodness for the internet and all those people who have posted things about the border crossing and all the scams to watch out for.

In Siem Reap now, and hotel is great, plus it's cheap so we can afford to eat again!I've just bought my 1st bottle of red wine since leaving England, as it is only $5 here (about 3.30GBP) compared to the 15.00GBP in Thailand.So, I'm going to have a glass or two now…..

Maggie x

PS I've tried to fool the site by putting our location at the border crossing so it won't get confused with the other Bangkok blog. Hope it has worked!