We got out of our room a bit late today - we were still tired from our drinking night! The plan was to go visit a few temples. We'd not done much research on Bangkok, but we'd picked up a pretty good map from the hotel that showed attractions on it, plus we had a look on Tripadvisor.

We went via the skytrain, then the Chao Phyrah river ferry. There were loads of people trying to sell us ferry tickets and they even showed you official badges saying they was part of the river ferry boat company, but they were actually trying to sell us the tourist boat at a cost of 150 Baht (£3). We'd read something about all this, so stuck to our guns and queued for the public ferry. All we did was get on the public ferry and paid on board - only 14 Baht each (30p)! Couldn't believe that the other person was trying to sell us it for 10 times as much.

We made our way up to pier 8 and then caught the cross river ferry for 3 Baht each (about 6p), to the Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). It was 50 Baht (£1) to get in, and Therese was told to cover up her shoulders and knees. It was really warm though and Therese had to put some pants on over her shorts. The temples are really detailed and have these really high parts that have very steep stairs to climb up. It's a great view of the city from the top though and can see a good distance over Bangkok.

We caught the river crossing ferry again and went to the next temple, Wat Pho. There's loads of Buddha statues in here and the buildings have lots of colourful details with different colored glass and jewels really nice and impressive. They look to be constantly restoring everything though. I suppose they have to do it but I find it a bit less impressive (it was the same in China). The big attraction at this temple is the reclining Buddha. It's an absolutely huge Buddha laying down. I've tried to take some pictures but not sure you'll be able to appreciate the size from them.

The biggest attraction of Bangkok is the Grand Palace. We were close by so walked around to that. We were constantly being harassed by tuk-tuk drivers wanting to take us there, but we didn't need it and they often take detours and people to jewellers and suit shops! It was so hot today and we were just pouring with sweat - very humid and sunny. Then when we got to the gate for the Grand Palace, we were both told to cover knees and shoulders - very strict here. It was just too warm. It cost 350 Baht (£7) each - a bit pricey really! Therese was nearly passing out with the heat and I wasn't far from it either. And then we looked at the map and realised that the place is massive. Lots of nice buildings and architecture, and lots of walls with paintings on with incredible amounts of detail. All being restored though...

We were hot, sweaty and sticky so headed back to the hotel to have a shower and get changed for a night on Khaosan Road (a very touristy backpackers area).

We took the skytrain and then the river ferry again. It was nice going up the river and seeing all the buildings lit up. Lots of boats and dinner cruises on the river too. We wasn't entirely sure how to get to Khaosan Road, but seemed to be heading in the right direction and stopped off for some food on the way. The food was nice and reasonably priced, but nowhere near as food as the street cafe we've been going to.
This is the first night we have to start taking malaria tablets too and will be taking them for the next 40 days. We're taking Malarone and one of the side-affects is mental issues e.g. Strange nightmares. We'll see what happens with these things...

We followed the music and food to Khaosan Road. It's a pretty wild! Market all the way down the street, loads of bars and restaurants, lots of massage places, and loads of people. We had a wander around and then found a bar with a live singer so went for a drink there. It was a Thai guy singing...he was very good actually. Got talking to a couple of people from Indonesia - a guy with his daughter. Talking about traveling etc and they were telling us how we needed to visit Bali. Sounds great and we did originally think about going there but don't think we can fit it in.

We finished up there and went onto the next bar. We heard the live music which was upstairs and went there - another Thai guy singing all kinds of stuff and was really good. Was really warm in there but they did have a few fans blowing cold mist - was still pouring with sweat though! Got chatting to a nice couple from Essex for a while and showed them some of our pictures from China. Really liked that bar and the music but wanted to try another place and the other couple had to go too as they had an early flight in the morning.

As we were walking down the road, we were literally dragged into a bar by a very camp English guy who kept calling us b****es... If we didn't go in with him, the crowd of people there were going to drag us in. The rowdy group pulled us into there gang which was a good mix of people. Can't remember all there names, but there was a couple from Cornwall called Simon and Claire, and then 4 guys who are Emirates cabin crew and a few others. The Emirates gang were mental. They'd only arrived a few hours before and went straight out drinking - they don't have a flight until tomorrow late afternoon though. Had a really good laugh with all them. I was asking the Emirates guys where they were from - Egypt, Wirral, South Africa and the last guy told me he was from Mauritius. This last guy then came back 10 minutes later and we were talking about where people are from again. He said I bet you don't know where I'm from...I said Mauritius...he seriously could not believe I knew where he was from. He was absolutely amazed and just kept saying I can't believe you know where I'm from, how did you do that....absolutely pissed he was. Good to know he's only cabin crew and not the pilot.

We left that place fairly late and all went to a club which was free entry. Was a good place with 2 rooms - one was dance music and the other a live band. The band (Thai, obviously) were brilliant and did everything from Beatles to Kings of Leon. Had a good time in there and spent most our time with Simon and Claire.
We exchanged contact details with Simon and Claire and will hopefully meet up with them in Koh Tao in about 5 weeks time. They've moved out to Thailand and are going to the islands to be diving instructors.

Me and Therese were the last standing, but didn't last much longer. We were hungry too so had a McDonalds...
We haggled with a tuk-tuk guy and had a mental drive back to our hotel. Got some video of it to. You have to be really stern with the tuk-tuk guys. Agree on a price and tell him you don't want any damn stop-offs on the way - no clubs, no jewellery, no suits and no ping-pong shows!

Was 4.30am by the time we got into bed...