From Ko Pha-Ngan we took an overnight bus to Bangkok. The journey was about 13 hours and when we arrived we jumped into a taxi so we could reach our hotel for a well earned rest. Unfortunately our taxi driver didn't have a clue where our hotel was even though he said he did when he took the fare and we drove round and round in circles for about 30 minutes. We could see the driver was getting a little irate. He was a small old Thai fella who sat very close to the wheel stopping ever couple of minutes to ask someone else where our destination should be. Was funny as the photo he displayed on his taxi badge showed him at about age 19 and he must have been over 65. Eventually he found the police station and they directed him, thank goodness we thought we may have to just get out and try and find it ourselves. He eventually left after an argument about the fare, as expected! We had heard that almost everyone in Bangkok would try and scam us and we had learnt this was very true after only 30 minutes of being in the city.

Bangkok was surprisingly very nice. We had heard lots of stories about it being dangerous and you see all the sex imagery on TV but we didn't really see any of the seedy side. The only negative thing was that everyone was trying to get a few hundred extra Thai Baht from us. Think its what you call 'the white man tax'.Also they are so tiny, honestly we both feel like giants and thats saying something. The ceilings are so low that Rich was putting on his t-shirt in our hotel room and when he held his arms up he hit the glass lampshade which bounced onto his head then onto the floor and smashed into a thousand pieces. Luckily no injuries but shows how small you have to be!

We spent almost 1 week in Bangkok and for the first couple of days we walked around trying to sort out our Vietnam Visa and checked out a few of their shopping malls. You can buy almost anything in Bangkok and there are market stalls on every corner. We visited the weekend market while we were there, there must have been over 600 stalls perhaps even more. They sold everything, clothes, handicrafts, jewellery, even puppies and little rabbits dressed up in skirts, very cute but also very wrong!

Also whilst in Bangkok, it becomes very apparent how much the Thai people love the royal family. Apparently this year its his 60th year on the throne so there are flags and pictures everywhere.Monday is the Kings birthday this year so each Monday the Thai people all wear yellow shirts as this is the royal colour and light blue shirts on Friday as this symbolises the Queens birthday, one big school uniform! You also can't say anything bad or be disrespectful in anyway to the King as its considered treason. Whilst in Bangkok a 57 year old Swiss man was convicted for 10 years as he defaced a picture of King Rama when he was drunk, now thats a long hangover!

We stayed in a hotel just off Kao San Road which is reputed to be the backpacker capital of the world. There were lots of market stalls cheap food, and also almost everyone offering to take us to the famous 'ping-pong' shows. Its amazing how open they are about them. We were in a travel agency trying to book a tour and they had an advertisment on their desks offering various sex shows. basically its unbelievable what these Thai women can magic from their nether regions. The advert boasted ping pong balls, razor blades, light bulbs, balloons, some girls even magic a pen and can write a letter. All very strange. When we asked the guy he said that the girls are so practised its not ping pong shows anymore more like footballs. We thought that was quite witty!.

On the 1st April we went on a tour to the floating market which is just outside of Bangkok. It was amazing, basically its a whole market on the waterways, so you can take a paddle boat and you float down all the canal passages stopping at the various stalls for a quick bartar. It was really good fun.

On our return to the city we were told by a local guy we met that every Sunday there was free Thai boxing in the north of the city. We hailed a taxi, we had now learnt to make them use the taxi meter or we didn't get in. They really do try and rip you off probably charge at least four times the price. We didn't take a Tuk-Tuk as we heard they were even worse. Apparently they offer a really cheap fare and then drop you off at shops of their friends and family so you buy things. Anyway back to the boxing; so we took a cab and even the driver hadn't really heard of it even though we got the local guy to write down the address in Thai. Eventually after he asked a few more locals we arrived. It seemed like a strange place as it just looked like an office building. We weren't convinced we had found the right place. We walked into the building and said 'Thai Boxing' to the security guard who pointed to a door at the back of the building. We walked through and to our amazement there was a whole boxing ring there complete with a really noisy exciteable crowd. It was brilliant, we stood in the aisles as all the seats were full to watch the first match. When this was over one member of the security at the fight gestured for us to come over and he lead us to 2 ring side seats. We were literally placed on the front row just outside the ring, right by the TV cameras as it was a good fight so was televised. We felt like Posh and Becks, it was superb. Before each fight both contestants do spiritual dance to music actually looks quite beautiful hard to believe a few seconds later they may be kicking each other in the head. apparently in thai boxing they get more points for using their knees, feet and elbows a ouch is the least respected move. The fights we saw were really good, one of them ended in a knockout as his opponent struck him in with a kick to the eye and then followed up with another to his temple. Poor guy he dropped like a stone.

On our final day in Bangkok we visited some of the famous temples. First we saw Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace buildings which were in the same location. We had to borrow clothes from the temple as you aren't allowed to show any part of your arms and legs. allison was given a sarong which wasn't too bad and Rich an impressive pair of MC hammer style trousers, he hoped the visit was worth the embarrassment!

The buildings were amazing, really elaborate and beautifully decorated. There were several temples,Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most famous in Thailand and held the Emerald Buddha which is highly regarded as it was a gift to the King in the 15th century but was raided when the Burmese attacked Thailand. Apparently it turned up again one century later so was then moved to Bangkok for safe keeping. The 'robe' that it wears is changed 3 times each year by the King himself, at the start of each season: A diamond encrusted gold robe during the hot season, a solid gold robe in the cool season and a gilded monk's robe in the rainy season.the statue is surprising tiny only about 60-75cm high but the image is considered a talisman and holds tremendous significance for Thailand and the Thais.

We also saw a minture version of cambodias Ankor Wat and finally The Grand Palace where royalty used to live for many years. We got to see the coronation chair which didn't looked as impressive as our own Queen Liz's but they gave it a go!

After these temples we headed to Wat Pho which is the largest and oldest temple in bangkok. It is famous for its huge reclining Buddha statue.The statue is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of Buddha into nirvana. the whole statue is gold and the feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration,the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha. There were also 108 gold pots surrounding the Buddha where legend has it, if you put a coin into each you have a long healthy life. naturally we had to, leave nothing to chance, so we plopped our coins into the pots hoping bhuddha would smile upon us.

This ended our few days in Bangkok, we had a great time saw some amazing sites. The Thai people seem nice although you do get a little fed up of them constantly trying to rob you blind cheeky blighters.

Next stop the ancient Thai city of Ayuthuya.