Today we headed out into the heat of bangkok, to do a bit of sight-seeing, and at the firm assurance of our hostel we were told to use the water-taxis used solely by the locals to navigate the backstreet waterways into the centre of the city. Quite the experience as the language barrier proved to be quite a problem and the walk there underneath a motorway, which was where some vagabonds and stray dogs had decided to call home, didn't do much to settle our nerves!...

So we have finally arrived in Bangkok, after what has seemed like a decade of planning and preparation. Well it certainly is a unique typeof place. After squeezing 4 rucksacks, 4 handbags and 5 sweaty bodies into the back of our taxi we headed off for our hostel "refill now" in an area called Sukhumvit. After a somewhat anxious journey through shanty towns with numerous open backed trucks passing us by filled with masked men in balaclavas, we arrived ...