Interesting Fact: The actual full name given to Bangkok is "Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit".

I can think of a description of it that lasts a full 1 word, 4 letters and a whole load of flem...

However, I'll start on the positives. The temples were beautiful, especially Wat Pho, and the Grand Palace is indeed a spectacle. The MBK and Siam markets were nice and relaxing, but extremely westernised, so it is possibly no wonder that I found it a bit more relaxing!

Now for the bad! We arrived at Kao San Road at around 7 pm on a Friday night and I was bewildered! Too little sleep, a load of jet lag and too many bright lights were an attack to the senses. The market traders on this road take great offense at you deciding not to buy anything and apparently, rumour has it that I can get a really nice suit made for about a fiver. At least that is what I was told by the 12 people that accosted me with business cards at some point over the past 5 days or so.

But my real gripe with Bangkok is the tuk-tuk (taxi things) drivers. Imagine a person with the class of a Rangers fan, the personal hygiene of a Celtic fan and the "better than thou" attitude of a Lithuanian Hearts owner and you're only halfway to imagining the pondlife that is your average tuk-tuk driver.

Bangkok's road system is confusing. Pedestrian crossings seem to be there as stadia for showdowns between car and human. Who'll budge first? Tuk-tuk drivers take the idea of dangerous driving and take it to a whole new stratospheric level. I mean, it's frankly suicidal. There seem to be no rules for these guys!

But tuk-tuk drivers are just straight out liars! They told us on several occasions that major attractions were closed and they'd take us to a 45 metre high Buddha statue for 5 baht. Very nice of them, you think. Well, there is no statue fitting that description and major attractions just don't seem to close for any occasion. If this was one tuk-tuk driver, I could let it go but this happened with pretty much every tuk-tuk driver.

To sum up my feelings about Bangkok, I'll say this:

I haven't been to every city in the world but if I was to hazard a guess at which city best symbolised the rectum of this planet, I would have to say Bangkok.

Now, thanks to a travel company with the worst customer service I have ever seen, we have arrived in Chiang Mai, and I'm pleased to report that it seems a lot less frenetic. Even the tuk-tuk drivers seem nicer here! It's fair to say that Chiang Mai (so far) has been a far more positive experience.

Today, we're having a chill out day and are essentially just living by the swimming pool. Tomorrow, we hope to go see some elephants, and we fly to Saigon on Friday, if we got granted Vietnamese visitor visas.

Well, that's my rant over. Believe me, it's not all been bad and I'm now officially NOT on edge. Something I was unable to say for a wee while there.

Leah will update soon but she did take to Bangkok a little better than I did.

Anyway, pictures will be uploaded soon (hopefully).

Stephen