i made it to a week! and am loving it for the most part! Ended up staying 4 nghts in Bangkok....(mainly because my guest house was SO cute, the food vendours are amazing and there was so much to see!)

Started off playing tourist by going to visit the temples- i tell you, the journey getting there is in part an adventure! After only getting 100m down the street i'd already been told by tuktuk drivers that no, the wat pho and grand palace were closed (scam #1)- luckily i'd been warned off this and ended up joining a danish couple and finding it (suprise suprise!) open! the reclining Buddha is HUGE!! acutally amazing...his feet were about 1.5 taller than me...and forgive my memory but think he's 45m long- impresseive enough but the fact that he's covered in gold makes him even more so!

After seeing the giant, decided on going to visit the Golden Moutain so i'd have a good look at the city..sounds simple..but here's how it went. Decided to get a taxi because a)it was sweltering hot, b)was about 2km away and c) they're so cheap! So easily enough waved one of the ten million down and told him where to go... Sign number one that taxi driver may not be all he's made out to be; he needs to look at you map. After me being persistant, he assured me "yes yes i know!" and presumed id be there in no time.... sign number two he's not so flash; we go up and down a billion bckstreets then he stops to ask someone else for directions (where for the 3rd tiem that day they tried to etll me it was closed). i wasn't taking any of it so just demanded to be taken there... sign number 3; you were a wise traveller and insisted on him using the metre at the start-and it comes to 47baht....i give him 100baht not- how convenient-he has only 40 in change! As annoying as that guy was- he's only one of them and all the others i have have been lovely, and the views from the top were amazng! (when i find an internet cafe that can cater for putting on photos il show you!)

Decided to do away with taxi on way home, and wit map in hand (even though i had no idea where the hell i was on it) decided to walk home.... down some very dark deserted ally's that i had no idea where i was going (don't worry mum-i'm safe now!) so kinda freaky..but eventually after an hour i SOMEHOW ended up in the right place and found some other tourists to lead me the way...definitly had mixed luck tht day!

Also visited the Chatuchuk markets (apparently biggest in suoth east asia!) which were incredible! Tips for those who go
- don't bother taking a map- you wil get lost anyway.
-don't think, il come back to this stall and buy it...you'll never find it again!
-bring plenty of room in your bag- i limited myself to one purchase of a skirt but could've bought SOOO much more!

Am now in Kanchanaburi which is a smallish town to the north west of Bangkok. Have spent the last few days here in a guesthosue near the river... visited the famous bridge yesterday (2km NO 500m as lonely planets scale would make it look, from the guest house) which hd amazing views! (pics wil day more!)

Off to ayutthaya tommorow! Update again soon.
love to all
XX