Okay so we land in Bangkok and get a bus to Khao San Road, the backpackers central. We head down the main street it is busy and there are obviously a lot of ‘characters’ here, it feels like we’ve hit party central! We don’t get hounded there are just few people of a good tailor. We find our hostel and get a bare but clean room with shared bathroom, you can hear the street buzzin but we don’t mind. We head out and find a little place to eat, I have my first Chang beer, it’s good, and then some Tom Yum. The waiters response is ‘you know it’s hot!’ they bring it out and it literally melted the eye brows off my face before I even got it into my mouth. Once you get going though it does taste amazing, despite my top lip feeling a little like Mick Jaggers. We have a few more Chang and go to bed.

In the morning we get up late, shower and decide to go the MBK centre, we decide to walk and although it was ok, we wouldn’t recommend it as it’s to bloody hot to walk about 5k. We get a little hounded by Tuk Tuks offering to take you to the ‘Big Buddha’? The MBK is huge, full of great little shops selling all sorts, it is about 2/3 football pitches long and 7 floors high, we waste plenty of time here and buy a few little things. It starts to get dark so we wait for the illusive bus no. 15 (there not very reliable here) to head back, after about 45 minutes we’re on our way. It’s St Patrick’s day so we go out for some Singha, Chang and Cheers and listen to a pub repeat the only Irish CD they have, which includes a xmas song ‘fairy tale in New York’ (for those of you who don’t know the f***** song), it’s hilarious! We have a good night and fairly full of beer we go of to bed.

We had aimed to get up early to do the tourist stuff but obviously we didn’t, so we decide to book our train tickets to Chiang Ma. It’s a mission to get there with the bus’s and dodgy tuk tuks, but we book the tickets easily and decide to wonder in the direction of the MBK again, it get some ice cream from KFC, it’s like a 99 but they dip it in chocolate and it sets – lovely! After some more looking around we then decide to go back, walking around the corner of the MBK centre we see a boxing ring, camera men and a mass of people - free Muay Thai Boxing! This is something they do on a Wednesday night for free, we watch 5 fights and one of the fights was a Women’s World Title fight! The title fight was Italy vs. Thailand; it was brutal elbows to the face and knee’s to the stomach. The Italian lady won, it was great to watch! On the way back we get bus 15 again after a long wait and meet some lovely Germans along the way, Aenne and Bjorn. We meet them later for drinks. We also see a strange delicacy being wheeled up through the street, it’s too good to miss! Bjorn leading the way, we tuck into some bugs – grubs, maggots and giant grass hoppers. Delicious! I unfortunately don’t have my camera though…………..

I apologise for the length of this next story but it needs telling in all it’s annoyance and glory....................!

The next day we get up and head for the Grand Palace, we are hounded by tuk tuks trying to take us to the mysterious ‘Big Buddha’ that is in the north of Bangkok but on no map??? Walking further down the street we bump into a smartly dressed man who works at the university and also teaches at a monastery. We have a really good chat, talking about football, his family, our family, what he teaches, how long we’ve been in Thailand, what colored tuk tuks are safe to get in etc. He then asks where we’re off too. We say the Grand Palace and he explains it’s actually a national Buddhist Holiday and loads of people will be going to the Temple there to pray, so it’s closed to tourist until the afternoon. We’re very thankful as we now won’t waste our day. He then explains that there are other areas on our map we could visit that are free today because of the national holiday and we could see them and then go in the afternoon to the Grand Palace. Cutting this already long story a bit shorter, he carries on telling us places, writing on our map etc for about 20minutes, and then says because he speaks Thai he could help get us a tuk tuk for 40 baht and get it to wait for us at each stop. Now at the point of trying to push us in a ‘safe’ tuk tuk we think this is dodgy and try to bail saying we want breakfast first. We try to walk off, but he insists the tuk tuk can take us to a nice place for breakfast and wait. We try to say we would like to have breakfast here and could do the things he suggested a bit later and thank him for his help. He is looking a little mad by now and so we try to leave again. He then scribbles out the attractions he wrote on our map and ends up calling us stupid b****!? He’s obviously a w**ker and not very peaceful for a teacher of Buddhism me thinks?! We then manage to break free! What a bloody start to the day!

Thankful to get away from the con man, we only then get hounded by some women trying to give you ‘free’ bird food as it’s a national holiday and will give you luck. Karen is freaking out about the pigeons and just runs away screaming but I’m surrounded. They literally put food in your bag and hand, I spray one bit of food (you fool Williams!) and then put the bag on the floor as she won’t take it and leg it whilst being shouted at ‘you pay money!’ I just shout ‘No!’

Walking to the Grand Palace you see a lot of locals telling Tourist everything is closed and some people believe it. We’re now on a mission to see for our selves. As we get closer we see some massive tour buses arrive at the Palace unloading hundreds of people. We can’t believe it!!!!!!!! Anyway being us the Palace is to expensive for our budget so we don’t bother and go to the Reclining Buddha for next to nothing, it is brilliant. The Buddha is huge and the architecture is beautiful. Although on the way even random people try and tell you you’re going the wrong way when you know your not, I’m now furious with all the lying and it’s too bloody hot!

We have had enough of Bangkok today and decide to go back to our hostel to relax as we’re both pretty annoyed and exhausted. In the evening we arrange to meet with Bjorn and Aenne, we start talking about our days and can’t believe that we both met the same con man and crazy bird ladies! Bjorn and I were equally furious. We have a great evening, including cocktails and sadly say our fair wells, as Bjorn and Aenne are going home tomorrow……… although Germany is Destination 2010! On the way home I’m obligated to eat more bugs for photos, yummy!