October 23rd - 26th Bangkok

Journey took about 9 hours door to door which was fine - ferry first, ten a 6 hour bus which had a stench producing toilet and ants all over it, but at least it was quiet (I wonder why?).

We had a bit of trouble finding our accommodation (Sunflower Place) as our taxi driver misread our piece of paper and took us the wrong way, but we found it in the end. We're staying in Silom which is the newer part of town and away form the backpacker hell that is Khao San. Our hostel is more like a hotel and has massive rooms, is amazingly clean and sat right next to the Sky Train so we can get to the main city parts really easily. London take note, trips on this thing are about 50p max.

We decided to make the most of our first night and head out to the cinema in one of the shopping complexes. Paid 14 pounds a ticket (!), but the experience was well worth it. We were initially stopped from going in at first as the King's daughter was just leaving (surrounded by a huge entourage) which was a good sign and we were first offered a complimentary drink at the bar. We were shown to our double seats which were fully reclining and came with their own blanket as the air con is so cold and after standing for the playing of the national anthem and accompanying video of the king, we settle down for Wall Street 2. Put it his way, the experience was a lot better than the film.

Lie in after a late night at the cinema - got to bed at about 1 in the morning and have been going to bed about 10!

Took the tourist boat up the Chao Phraya river running through the city to have a look at the palace and some of the temples (Wats) which are sat alongside the banks. The guide on the mic had pretty bad English and some shocking jokes which clearly get rolled out every trip.

The golden palace was amazing and still looks as though it's just been built even though it was finished in the 16th century. The searing heat caused a 'slight altercation' between us in the palace grounds, but after a half hour cooling off period all was forgotten! We must have had about 3 bottles of water each during the day and there was some serious sweatage going on.

Wat Phra Kaew is housed at the same site of the palace and contains the 'emerald buddha', a widely revered statue that's actually made out of jade - where are trading standards when you need them? We took our shoes off to go in and were careful not to point our feet towards the statue (highly offensive in Thailand).

We then jumped back on the 'fun' boat and headed up to have a look at the famous Khao San Road which is the backpacker strip in Bangkok. It wasn't quite as pikey as we thought it would be although it was pretty noisy and full of 'the unwashed' so we were glad we'd decided to stay the other ed of town. Sarah managed to buy a new watch for a couple of quid after a good bit of haggling (which is amazingly still working) and a t-shirt seller kindly commented on my likeness to Paul Scholes, hardly flattering so I made sure not to buy anything. Clearly his business will now crumble.

Back on the boat and off to the amazing Wat Pho to see the golden reclining buddha. Sounds a bit dull, but was actually amazing. The size of the thing is unbelievable and loads of people were understandably clamouring for photos, us included.

Managed to get back and showered/fed in time for the United v Stoke game - superb work from El Chicarito - Wayne who?


We have finally managed to get our camera sticks sorted out at the local Canon shop in the shopping centre - hurrah and many thanks to the incomprehensible shop staff who we think were laughing at our complete ineptitude, but can't be totally sure. Who cares, we now have all our photos and 2 spare memory sticks, bought prior to sorting out the old ones. dammit.

Got the Sky Train over to the Pratanum fashion market which was a bit average and strangely sold way more women's clothes than men's. Both managed to make some cheap purchases for the trip ahead which will no doubt disintegrate on exposure to sunlight. There were a fair few scooters down the very narrow market lanes so you had to have your wits about you. We have also finally managed to buy ourselves umbrellas after getting caught in yet another flashflood - mine's a stylish Snoopy one, result.

Went for a fantastic wander around China Town in the evening which was really atmospheric with lots going on and we had the best meal we've had in Thailand so far after stopping at an awesome street cafe serving fresh fish dishes. The place was rammed with tourists and locals and everyone was devouring the food. We had a freshly cooked snapper, crab omelette, deep fried prawns, vegetables, mushrooms, rice and two large beers for eight quid each!

We've both loved Bangkok a lot more than we thought we would. It can be a little bit 'tuk-tuk sir', 'ping pong show sir' at times, but this only adds to the atmosphere and you don't really get hassled too much outside the main tourist areas.

One other thing that stands out is the advertising which is unbelievably intrusive. Practically every surface is covered and there are TV's and speakers blaring out messaging on the trains and platforms and anywhere you stop. I thought London was bad, but this place is a step up (or down).

Next stop, Chiang Mai for a break from the city madness.