Getting here was a little fraught - the signage in Bali Airport is not the greatest in the world and the transfer dropped me about as far away from where I needed to be as possible - which was distinctly unhelpful!! Anyway, finally got myself to the right place, got stung for a "Departure tax" I knew nothing about (right up there with my "Visa on Arrival" which cost me US$25!!) which was 40 Rupiah and all the signs said, "Must be paid in Rupiah" which was an issue, as I had none at all, so when I asked about US$ I was given a big smile & told US$5 only! Oh well, it's only 5 bucks, but that really should be included in the airfare!?!

I wasn't flying direct to Bangkok, I was flying via Jakarta, and finding the right place to check in wasn't the easiest, but I got through ok and then ended up in quite possibly the most disgusting smoking room I have ever been in - the roof leaked, it stunk, it wasn't a room, it had about 2 bins but fag butts all over the place and was completely occupied by men who all stared at me like I was some kind of alien. Needless to say it was a very short fag!

Flight to Jakarta was fine, but the food was horrible and Jakarta airport is much nicer than Bali airport, though the signage still sucks. Got hit with another departure tax which cost me US$20 (which means with the visa & the 2 departure taxes I got hit for US$50 - which would be a fair bit if you're on a tight budget) and the flight to Bangkok was fine - though the food was still pretty awful.

Arrived in Bangkok about 4.30ish and my transfer was late, but fortunately turned up before I had a chance to start getting worried. It had gotten dark by the time I was checked in & sorted at the hotel, so I thought I would go to the pool on the 6th floor and have a quick dip. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty cold by the time I got out there and not pleasant to sit by the pool, especially as the mossie's were coming out. Went and had dinner in the buffet restaurant in the lobby - boy what a mistake that was!! Some dodgy chicken and I spent half the night on the toilet. Finally gave up trying to sleep around 5.30ish, as I had a 7am pick up for my 1st tour, so had long shower to try & perk myself up again (throwing up in the middle of brushing my teeth wasn't pleasant, but I did feel better for it!! Please note, I did clean my teeth again!!)

Tour turned out to be a personal guided tour - which was a bit of a surprise - I was expecting to be part of a small group, but it was nice in a way, because it meant we could go at my pace, not a group pace. We had a personal taxi driver for the day and went out to Kanchanaburi province, which was a 2 hour or so taxi drive. Needless to say I was dozing quite extensively in the backseat. I was trying to stay awake a bit, as I wanted to actually see something of the country, but I couldn't help it!

We had a quick stop off at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, which is beautifully kept and full of very young soldiers who died in WW2. Found another bunch from the Suffolk Regiment.

Next stop was an elephant camp, where the elephants had been trained & raised to work, for a short ride. The ride was pretty cool, I had an elephant to myself, though the guide was pretty disgusting and kept hawking & spitting all over the place. We walked along a path, had a quick dip in the river (which I think the elephants enjoyed more than the tourists) and then back up to the start again. At one point my "driver" started hitting the elephant with his stick, which was fairly distressing - okay, my elephant was definitely the slowest and he didn't want to get out of the river and I guess you have to hit an elephant fairly hard to make an impact, but it's still not something I want to see. Anyway, then I was supposed to go river rafting. Given my previous history with boats and my tendency to burn to a frazzle when on water, I decided I didn't really want to this, especially as I would be sharing said raft with a bunch of bikini clad club 18-30 types who had turned up on a tour bus.

So, we made our way to a part of the "Death Railway", which also included Krae Sae temple, where we had lunch. Given my dodgy stomach I didn't eat much, so I took a very short walk along a section of the Death Railway to the Temple, which is in a cave that used to be a camp/living area for the POW's building the railway. I can absolutely see why so many died, trying to do hard manual labour in the stifling heat and appalling conditions, you can see why so many got sick and died. Took a ride along the Death railway towards the Bridge on the river Kwai, which was the bit I was looking forward to.

It's not quite so prosiac once you get there - unlike the film it does not sit in isolated splendour in the countryside, but slap bang in the middle of a town and is not the actual Bridge, as that was destroyed. Apart from all of that, it is still pretty iconic and it's a very wide river and a very long bridge and I'm glad I did it.

Last stop was the Jeath War Museum, which is housed in a replica hut that the prisoners would have lived in in a camp and has a whole bunch of pictures and articles and drawings of camp life. It's not the greatest museum in the world, but it's a fairly depressing subject.

Trip back to the hotel was a relief, just to be in the air con, as I was completely wilting in the heat. It was over 35 degrees and I was really struggling to cope and had sweated through my trousers and T shirt several times over. Got back to the hotel just before 7 and basically went up to my room, stripped off my sweaty clothing and put on the robe, intending to shower and get some dinner. What I actually did was lie down on the bed for about 5 mins to cool down and basically passed out. Woke up sometime around 4am, so I guess I needed the sleep!!

Dozed until time to get up for my 8am start for my morning Bangkok introductory tour. I had switched the tour from the afternoon to the morning on the advice of my tour guide the previous day, as she said it would be even hotter today and it would be brutal in the afternoon. I really believed her!!

Itinerary for today was fairly simple - Golden Mount, Grand Palace and Wat Pho Temple, all fairly close by, so you got to try various modes of public transport in Bangkok.

The Golden Mount is a temple shaped like a mountain with a fairly stupendous view from the top. It's actually pretty easy to climb, except that there is a sermon being boomed at you while you climb the steps up to the top. It's a beautiful building, with lots of flowers and plants and cascading waterfalls all built into the outside and then a huge dome like structure at the top - even though we were there by about 8.30 I was dripping with sweat by the end of it (and no I'm really not that unfit!). Next stop was the Grand Palace which houses the Emerald Buddha.

As this was getting on to mid morning, the tour buses had arrived, so the place was heaving. It is however well worth a visit and if I were ever here again, I would certainly take a few hours to wander around again. I don't think that there is a spare centimetre in the whole huge complex that isn't decorated in some way. I didn't realise that there was that much goldleaf in the world. You could spend all day here, it is huge and detailed and complex and very beautiful. Apparently they have an offical app which I suspect is well worth whatever the price is, because you couldn't photograph all the amazing art and buildings that there are here. The Emerald Buddha is a slight let down, in that you can't actually get near it, you can't photograph it and it isn't actually emerald, it's jade. But the throne room it's in is spectacular.

Next, took a tuktuk to Wat Pho, which was fun although I don't really think they are designed for tall people, had a lot of trouble getting in and out of it! Wat Pho is almost as amazing as the Grand Palace, though not as big a complex I think. It has masses of Buddha statues lining the walls, I think my guide said around 400 hundred, but I could be wrong. Wat Pho is home to the Reclining Buddha, which is huge and has the most beautiful feet I've ever seen on a statue - go look at the photos!

Heat was now fairly brutal and I was wilting fast and thankfully our itinerary was over. So, we took a boat service up the river, then picked up the Skytrain to the station nearest the hotel - which was still 2 blocks away and then a taxi to the hotel - I don't think I could have walked the 2 blocks. I know that sounds pathetic, but I was right on the edge of heatstroke and the sweat was running down to my ankles, despite having just got off a wonderfully cool air conditioned Skytrain.

Had a long, tepid shower back in the hotel to try and cool down and then read for a couple of hours just to make sure I wasn't going to suffer any heatstroke symptoms. Rumbling tummy sent me around the hotel in search of food mid afternoon and found a lovely bakery attached to the hotel where I got some fairly weak tea - but it was English breakfast, so I was happy - and a ham & cheese roll thing and I treated myself to 3 macaroons. Bliss!

Early bed tonight, as pick up for tour tomorrow is 7am. Have deliberately chosen it this early, as the train will be an hour and I want to try and avoid as much of the heat as possible, though it is supposed to be a couple of degrees cooler tomorrow, with a possibility of rain.