A 16 hour train ride and I arrived in a very rainy Bangkok. I planned on getting a taxi to the hotel Helen and I had booked but the queue because of the rain was so horrendous I lugged my stuff on to a BTS train and walked there. Luckily they let me check in early and I had a much needed nap after not sleeping well on the train due to the aircon being on so high. When I got up I ventured out into the rain and explored the area, there were 3 Starbucks in the vicinity of our hotel, was crazy being back somewhere westernised!

I then waited for Helen to arrive from Japan, was so excited to see her! When she got here we did what everyone does when they first arrive in Thailand, went for a Mexican. After dinner we went for a walk around the market, which actually turned out to be patpong market, which is quite famous, not least for the amount of ping pong shows happening in the bars off of it.

The following day dressed in our fetching elephant pants Helen and went in search of the grand palace. We got a train and a boat and arrived there to find only Thai people were allowed in as the King and his family were in residence. After this fail we walked to another temple which has the reclining gold Buddha, which was so huge you had to see it to believe it. We went to explore after this and ended up at a very random shopping mall, so braved a bus and headed to MBK, a massive shopping mall made of stalls. It was very bizarre as it was like a market but on many many floors. It was actually a bit intense and we didn't find anything we like so left exhausted and headed home. In the evening we ventured to Khao San Road, which is the infamous backpacker area in Bangkok. There were many stalls selling the same things and any shop turning their shop front into a bar. We purchased a few things and then had an awesome Indian meal and a drink before getting a cab back home.

The following day will forever be known as 'fail day'. On recommendation we decided to go to Ayutthya for the day, a town a few hours outside Bangkok that was the original capital city. Firstly we had two women try and con us that there were no trains and we would have to get a taxi for 3000 Baht. We went straight to the ticket desk and got train tickets for 30 Baht. The train was very basic and when we arrived a couple of hours later we actually had to walk across train tracks in order to get to the station. Of course we were immediately greeted by a hoard of tuk tuk drivers following us around, but saw a bike hire shop across the road and headed there as we were told cycling was the best way to see the town.

The woman gave us a map to follow with the best cycle route to see all the temples and off we went. The map failed to tell us that we would have to cycle on A MOTORWAY. I can safely say that this was a terrifying experience. Who gives someone a cycle route on a motorway?!! I also fell off my bike into a bush and cut up my arm, and then finally we arrived at our first temple. We paid for a park ticket to get us into them all, and had an explore. Back on our bikes we got to the next temple where they were trying to get us to buy a new ticket even though we already had one. We got annoyed and walked away, and decided we'd had enough of being in the town and would just start our journey home.

There was a ferry on our map we could get instead of riding the motorway over the river so we aimed for there. We couldn't find it and had to ask directions, and when we did find it we had to carry our bikes down a huge steep set of stairs. The ferry was a small old boat, and when I tried to get on the boat man pushed me aside to let all the Thai people get on first until there was no room for us to get on. Helen decided she didn't want to get on the dodgy boat so we carried our heavy bikes up the huge steps whilst everyone watched. We then cycled back on the motorway which was even worse than the first time and dropped our bikes back. We decided on food before going back until the waiter laughed at us when Helen asked for tofu and we decided it was time to leave right there and then. They only had 3rd class tickets for the train, felt a bit like the steerage class on titanic but it got us home. Who thought two people could be so excited to be back in patpong!

We did a bit of shopping, including challenging Helen to find me the best pair of flip flops possible, and I ended up with some pink Gangnam style ones. Clearly the coolest.

A new day and we started our journey to Koh Samet. First we got a train to east Bangkok and the got a bus down to the pier in the south. Our journey took longer than it was supposed to, mainly due to us giving constant lifts to local people and dropping them at their houses. When we finally arrived at the pier we got loaded on to an old boat which you had to walk a plank with your backpack to get on. Not ideal! Once in Koh Samet we got herded into the back of a truck like animals and dropped near the beach. We had to walk for ages with our stuff until we finally found our new home. After dinner and a supply shop we got ready for a night out and put on our Khao San road couture and made Chang power shandies. NOT a good plan.

We ventured down the beach and the place was crazy, we honestly felt like we were in Ibiza. We went for some buckets in the 'when is Rome' principle and made friends with a Thai family and danced the night away to a bad cover band. The next day was a completely different story…

Helen and I were so, so ill. At first I thought it was just a bad hangover but there is no way both of us could have as ill as we were with just booze, we put it down to the ice in our drinks. We were really not in a good way when there was a knock on our door. The hotel maintenance man wanted to come in for 10 mins to fix something in the bathroom so we let him in. Little did we know he would start banging a hole through the bathroom wall until water was pouring everywhere. If that wasn't hard enough to deal with in our state, we then got told we had to move rooms.

So with us both in a t-shirt and pants and dying had to move all our stuff from one room to another much to the amusement of the hotel staff. At least our new room was an upgrade and we had a bed each which was better considering our state. We were both ill into the night and we're dreading the prospect of travelling the next day.

We woke up feeling marginally better and started the journey back to Bangkok. We walked along the beach for the first time in daylight.. So sad we spent the whole time sick! Another boat, bus and train and we were in Bangkok and went to the fancy hotel Holly and Helen had treated me to for my birthday. It was insane! We had a whole 2 bedroom suite; I don't think I've ever stayed somewhere so nice before!

Holly arrived not long after us, and we treated ourselves to some bubbles on the hotel roof bar and went out exploring. When we got back the girls had decorated the flat with balloons and confetti and got a cake delivered for my birthday. Was awesome!

Birthday morning and we got up and went for the buffet breakfast in our hotel that was meant to be the best in Bangkok. It was so good we wanted everything. We then ventured to the shopping mall areas and to Terminal 21, a mall themed as an airport and every floor is a different city. Very bizarre. After a full day shopping we headed home and glammed ourselves up and got on the birthday booze. Matt and Kate and Helen's friend Corrin all came round and we partied in the hotel suite before going out and sampling some Bangkok bars, before Holly and I crawled in gone 5am. We had less than an hours sleep and went for buffet breakfast which I don't even remember having, and sadly had to say farewell to Helen before the next adventure began…