We arrived in Bangkok around midday yesterday, and thankfully we had already arranged a transfer to our hotel and there was somebody waiting at the airport holding a card with our names on it. We felt so important!!

As soon as we were out of the airport and on our way to the hotel, we could tell that Bangkok was a lot more Westernised than anything we had experienced in Vietnam. All the major brand names that we knew were scattered around, and we even saw our first Burger King of the trip.

When we got to our hotel, check in was pretty smooth and we were soon in our room on the 38th floor!! We decided to have a quick walk around the hotel and we soon stumbled upon the swimming pool that was outside on the 20th floor. We then headed up to the 76th floor to the observation deck to look out across the city and try to find out where to go the next day, from the information points. The views were pretty spectacular, although it didn't feel like we were actually all that high up. Maybe the floors are smaller because most people out here are shorter??

It was then time for dinner, and what an experience that was!! For just over six pounds we were taken to the 78th floor restaurant and treated to the biggest buffet ever known to man! There were tables and tables of salads, Thai dishes, western cuisine, sushi, pasta, curry, cakes etc..... needless to say, we stayed there some time and after about our 3rd plate we decided it was stop or be sick time! We were both feeling particularly brave so we headed up to the 84th floor outdoor observatory to take a view of the city. The city looks really good at night, and was so much bigger than either of us had imagined, even compared to New York it seemed huge. The expressway runs above the smaller streets below and seems to be constantly full of traffic at any time of the day or night. After many photos (and many more attempted ones that ended up being just a black screen) it was time to sleep off all that food.

Our second day in Bangkok was far more productive.

We had a reasonably early start this morning and jumped in a 'tuc tuc' and headed off to the Grand Palace. Along the way, the tuc tuc driver told us that if we had a look around his sponsor's shop then he would get a free tank of petrol, so we duly obliged. The only problem was that we spent so long looking at all the little nik naks that were on show and not actually buying anything, that by the time we got our of the shop it was pouring with rain. For those of you who don't know what a tuc tuc is, look at the image on the Vietnam postcards section of this site, and you will see that they are fairly open to the elements!!

By the time we got to the Grand Palace we were both fairly drenched, but as the rain had eased off it wasn't long before we were drying out again. Now, to get into the palace, we knew that you cannot wear shorts or sleeveless tops. When we got there we found out that some 3/4 lengths aren't allowed either as there must only be a certain amount of leg visible, so the top buttons came undone, and we slid them down a bit until we were safely inside the grounds.

The palace is huge and really flamboyant. The whole thing is covered with diamonds and other precious stones, and when you go into the room to see the emerald Buddha you cannot wear shoes or point your feet at the Buddha. There are so many rules that we only stayed in there for about a minute, for fear of offending someone!!

Once we had walked around the grounds for a about an hour, we found ourselves back at the entrance and decided we would walk to the main backpackers area to hunt out some bargains.

After about ten minutes of walking around in ever decreasing circles we got a taxi.

When we got there it was like being in any city in the UK. There was a McDonalds, a Burger King, Oasis and Eminem blaring out of stereos along the streets and out of the bars, and there must have been more westerners there than locals. There was something both slightly comforting and slightly depressing about this, as i guess everyone that does this sort of thing likes to imagine they're the only ones doing it and that it's really difficult to do, but this was all washed away by just one street.

We walked along the markets for a little while, having a good old haggle with the stall owners and were soon the owners of a couple of pairs of pants each, a bag, a photo album and a chopstick and mats set. All this for about 10 pounds! Bargain!! Now all we had to do was find somewhere to post it!?

After we had met up with Fran (a girl we met in Vietnam) for a couple of drinks it was time to head back to the hotel once more for another feast and to start the increasingly depressing task of packing our bags for the next leg of our trip.

We would have loved to stay in Bangkok for a few days more as there is so much to do, but no doubt Kanchanaburi will have many more amazing things to offer us.