As I write this, I'm on my way back from a tour, the itinerary of which was almost entirely different to the one I booked. I'm sure when I get hold of my Lonely Planet I'll be able to pad out the details, but today I went to the river Kwai (the death railway), saw some elephants, had a Thai meal, saw some waterfalls and went in a cave, then took a train ride along the death railway. And sweated. A lot. Just like yesterday, and just like the moment I stepped off the plane at Bangkok's international airport on Sunday.

Update: It turns out that I was the one who made the mistake by not checking what tour I'd actually been booked on. That receipt showed the wrong tour. Still, it was a full day of something to do at least. So let's start from the beginning...

The wonderful bus that took me from across the road of my hostel in Hong Kong to the airport is great. It had free wifi so I went on a download rampage to stock up on entertainment for the journey. It turned out I wouldn't need it as Cathay Pacific are the best airline I've ever flown with; they have an on-demand entertainment system (4 episodes of Peep Show ta very much), great food and they even have hand cream in the toilets. The heat in Bangkok hit me like a frying pan in the face, after I'd spent ages being directed to the part of immigration that had the longest queues. By the time I'd got to the baggage reclaim point, everyone and everything bar my bags had gone. A half hour wait for my very own airport express bus and I was in my hostel at 8pm. Some street food for 30 baht and I was instantly in love with Thailand's prices!

The next day I went through Chinatown to the pier and took a riverboat to the grand palace area. Predictably I got hunted down by a scammer who tried to claim that the palace was "closed until 2pm" and proceeded to mark on my map some places to see (how helpful) and that a tuk-tuk was waiting for me. Thankfully I wasn't born yesterday so I respectfully declined and continued on my way. And would you believe it, the grand palace was open! The nice man must have made an honest mistake, in much the same way as Hitler made an honest mistake during the holocaust.

So I wandered around contently, enjoying a free English tour of the palace, soaking up the tremendously hot sun, seeing the jade Buddha, still worryingly in its rainy season attire, before I ambled down to the Wat Pho - the giant reclining Buddha - via a local park with literally no tourists in it. Sauntered to the amulet market as it was getting dark and enjoyed dinner by the river before hopping back on a boat.

Bangkok is a strange place. The old town area by the river is not built up at all. Chinatown is full of street markets and food, though I'm not sure it's Thai food. I'm in the wrong area for nightlife and everyone here is quite relaxed and nobody in my hostel seems to go out. I've seen no ladyboys or flashing lights lining the streets. It's not been quite what I expected. Still, I'm not complaining. That night I booked a sleeper train ticket to Chiang Mai and booked myself on the (evidently wrong) tour that I went on today. That was to Kanchanaburi and the surrounding area, apparently.