On the 14th of April we arrived in Bangkok at around 7 in the morning, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it is leading up to the Thai New Year, and for five days before in Bangkok (3 days in Krabi and 10 days in Chiang Mai) they have street water fights starting at around 10 or 11 and lasting until about 1 or 2 o'clock at night. Luckily however, it hadn't started, so as we walked down the Khoasan road tired, uncomfortable and slightly restless with our backpacks, we remained at least dry.

We found our hostel on the Khoasan Road in which our lovely Dutch friend Eva was staying and reserved us a another rooms, and crashed out for a bit. (If you are unaware the Khoasan Road is the 'Mecca' for backpackers all over the world, and is undeniably one of the coolest places I've been). The were not so up for the water fights at this point as i was, so Eva and I took to the streets, armed with our water pistols, and leaving the rest behind, we took to the streets to see what it was about. I was soaked in seconds. The street was packed with locals and travelers alike, all lightheartedly soaking anyone you wanted. On the side of the street there would be people selling you water to refill, 5Baht for normal water, 10Baht for ice water, whilst simultaneously using there water for soaking passers by as well. One old man decided to take my water gun, start soaking the crowd using all my water, then try and sell me his water for a reduced price of 4Baht, cheers. Occasionally there would be people walking around with pots of talcum powder soaked in water, so it made a clay or cement. They would then rub your face and body with it. So within 2 or 3 minutes, you'd be soaked through and covered in white powdered paint. This was basically how we spend our Saturday, walking the roads around Khoasan, soaked and even whiter than normally.

As i was walking down one of the many roads, I walked past two large figures (i say that because i remember thinking, those guys are big) and I heard a call of "James Parrott". I turned around, and It was Jack Crawford and a much larger (than I previously knew him) Harry Bate, two boys I played rugby with and against. Even though this was travelers central, and not that abnormal to meet people you know here, it's always a surprise to run into people you know in another country. That night the four of us went out, armed with our water pistols, to go to a bar, getting soaked and painted in the process. At the bar was our first experience of a Sang Som bucket, in which you get a bottle of Sang Som whisky, a couple bottles of soft drinks. You mix them in a bucket, drink them, and, to coin a phrase from a Welshman i met, get bucketed.

The next day we woke up feeling... a decided we'd go to the Chatuchak market, and market that all other markets in South Asia aspire to be like. It was awesome. For some reason, going shopping in a place were you could get everything you ever wanted, if you can find it in the vastness of the market, getting lost amongst the thousands of shops, and coming out the other side with a Chang Beer vest, a knife, ukulele, straw hat and countless bracelets, having spent no more than 10 pounds, is far more fun than walking into the Oracle or worse, Westfield, knowing where everything is what everything sells, and coming out having to cancel a holiday. I've discovered my hatred is not for shopping in general, but organised shopping.

We left Bangkok the next day, not having seen anything of the city, but knowing we were coming back for another few days, for Vang Vieng in Laos. To go into detail of what you do in Vang Vieng would uninteresting and futile, but to put it shortly, it's a bar crawl during the day along a river were bucketing is involved, have a few hours for rest and food after 7 or 8, then if want, go to the bars in town. I will go into detail about one of the nights though. After a day at the bars, we headed back to our Hostel, Spicy's. (The best place to stay without question. You stay in dorm rooms that are large tree houses, and then when you are not in the river, you relax in hammocks and cushions around the tables, chatting to the rest of the people there) We invited loads of people we met down at the river, one of them, a very talented guitarist. We just so happened to have 2 guitars within our group staying at the hostels, so we spent the next 3 or 4 hours playing, singing and chatting with at least 20 people there, of which only two of them i knew before I came to Vang Vieng. (Hannah and Katie had left the day before as they were on a tighter schedule). Despite this seeming like a highly chiched scene, I can understand why it has become that way as it is a great way to spend a night.

On the 21st of April, after three full days in Vang Vieng I reluctantly left, to meet Hannah, Katie and Eva in Chiang Mai. It took 20 hours over night, changing three buses and feeling horribly ill for the duration. I am very pleased to say now that after 4 or 5 days of not being in tip top condition, I'm am now fully better.

The next blog will be about Chiang Mai and Bangkok, and should come with in the next few days. Currently on Koh Samui, having met up with Jack and Adam, and will be heading up to Koh Phangan in the next few days. Toodles.