Bonjour,

Last time I wrote was the day before Darren and I had to leave each other. On our last day together it was generally a slow paced morning not rushing anything before heading to the airport. Neither of us wanted to drag out the goodbye so we attempted to make it quick but still stood hugging for quite some time. I then had to start the next leg of my trip on my own. I felt very nervous and obvsiously really upset about leaving Darren but it'sk in just under 12 weeks he will be back with me in Singapoe- yay.

Slightly amusing for me was no sooner had I boarded my flight than Darren had gotten himself lost in the airport when he should have been boarding his plane. He then had to leg it back just in time for when they were calling his row. Seriously if he was doing this trip I would have to worry so much more.

I arrived in Bangkok and got to my hostel about 9. It's such a lovely hostel, really new and clean and kinda funky. Jen one of the girls from my room I met as soon as I walked in and we got chatting. Within about 5 min she told her and the rest of the room were going to see Harry Potter tomorrow and would I like to go. Naturally I said yes and we then went down to the bar for a drink. It was nice to meet someone straight away. I felt happier with moving forward with my trip. The two other girls in my room are called Zi and Giselle. They are both lovely too. We are all single travellers.

The next day Jen and I planned to go to some markets. Sadly the huge one is only open on the weekends so we settled with heading over to Ko San Rd which is also know as Backpackers rd. This rd is filled with westerners and travellers. We met a girl called Sarah at brekkie and she ended up coming with us as well. So the 3 of us got our first Tuk Tuk over which was good fun and then into the heat of the market. It really is very hot and humid here-yuk. The market was great, I love bartering. It is so much fun and so far have always managed to get them down by about half pr more of what they ask for. I love that all up and down the streets are food market stalls. Its not like China where you have to have a strong stomach. They also have lots of fresh food on ice that they cut up in front of you. Its really good and very refreshing in the heat. After a long day in the market we decided to treat ourselves to our first foot massage. For 2 pounds you can hardly grumble. It was very relaxing and I could have easily of fallen asleep, when we had to walk back to get a Tuk Tuk back my legs felt like jelly. I don't think my feet appreciated being relaxed and then made to walk again. We were meant to meet the other girls at 4pm but because of the bad traffic we were late. We ended up taking the sky train over, we missed their showing but got antoher later one. Its was just over 3 quid to go. I wish cinema tickets where that price at home too. The cinema has AC and very comfy chairs that recline. At the beginning of each film the Kings Anthem is played and the whole cinema has to stand up in respect for it. The film was great and we then headed over to the night market, in the fastest Tuk Tuk in Bangkok. I swear it had a suped up engine. The night market was ok but it was a lot of the same stuff we had seen today but more of it. It was still good fun to go and see what it was like but I was feeling shattered.

The next day I had said to Jen and Sarah I would like to see some temples but when I woke up I just couldn't be bothered. I feel like I have started my trip all over again now I am without Darren. I felt all templed out and wanted to day to do some laundry and get use to being on my own. I ended up trying to get my Cambodia visa. What a joke. I must have got in the worst taxi ever. First off he didn't really speak English but seemed to know where he was going. Then as I got in I realised he had been sick in a bag in the back. Then he took me the wrong way to the U.S. Embassay because he thought I was American and couldn't understand me. Then took me to the British Embassay where I had to get out and talk to the security guard who thought I was trying to get a taxi to Cambodia. Then I went over to speak to the lady at the embassay who spoke English and told my stupid taxi driver the road that I had already pointed out to him as to where it was. Then we eventually made it only to discover that the embassay had been moved. I tried to tell him to take me home but the man was an idiot. I gave up and thought I would get another taxi. However he was trying to charge me over double what it should have been. I refused to pay so we both had to get back out on the street again and found a guy who spoke very good Engish. He explained to the taxi driver that because he got me lost and drove me everywhere I wasn't paying that. Nightmare. Then the guy told me to walk through Lubdin or something like that, park. A beautiful park in the centre of Bangkok, sadly it's all just man made and I am really looking forward to seeing some actually nature. On the other side of this huge park my hostel wasn't too far, so i just ended up walking back.

That night I went out to try out the Silom Rd night market. My hostel is a road of this huge main road. I was really keen to try some street market food. I had been craving spring rolls all day so decided I would just get some of these. Sadly instead of yummy veg they were filled with something not nice. So I gave up and wandered back to the hostel for Mac and Cheee. That night was just a night of sorting stuff out and skyping home a lot. I have wireless in my room so I was abusing it.

My last day in Bangkok I felt bad I hadn't seen any cultural stuff. I decided to go see Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. It is also home to the 'Reclining Buddha', the largest Buddha in Thailand. It is hugeeeeee! I have never seen a religious statue so big. Giselle one of my room mates came with me as she wanted to so something that morning. People were telling us we couldn't wear shorts in. So Giselle thought she couldn't go in but I found out that she could have. Bizarre as some girls are walking around in very short shorts. Its your shoulders that they like to be covered up. The buddha is beautiful and the rest of the temple is wonderful to look at as well. It had lots of mini temple surronding it. They are covered in Mosaique pieces of glass or ceremaic. When the light hits them they look wonderful. I was really pleased that this was the one temple I decided to visit whilst I was here and I felt that it was well worth it. It was really beautiful with lots of statues. It is also the temple that has the most Buddha's in it- compared to anywhere else in Thailand. There were rows and row of them.

After this I headed bac to my hostel to cool down a bit. I have booked a bus to Chang Mai as my next stop. Its one of my furthest stops north of Thailand. I can't wait to get out of city's, I have had enough of them. Gonna head back to backpackers rd for food before hopping on my 12 hour night bus.

See you in Chang Mai xx