Dear All Having spent a week in Hong Kong, I have now made my way to Bangkok, Thailand. The Flight only took a few hours, and I was prompted whisked away by taxi to the Shambara Hostel. The Hostel is fantastic, airconditioned rooms (which is more of a necessity as it's 33 degrees Celsius), friendly staff, clean showers, your own towell, and free Bog Paper....Backpacker Heaven! I'm staying just off Kha San Rd which is a busy street offering cheap food and beer. As you can imagine this draws in the tourists. As soon as you sit down you can guarantee you will be approached by a local tout selling watches/bracelets/wooden croaching frogs (I couldn't resist buying the latter). This is a city where the car is king, and the pedestrian is a target with a big bulls eye painted across their chest. Crossing the road is a bit scarey....To get a feel for the city I hoped onto one of the local Tot Tot's today (basically a glorified motorbike with a passenger backseat). Putting my life in the hands of the driver, he merrily ferried me from palace, to Buddha temple, finally dropping me at a the pier to catch a boat trip. Which I was honoured to have all to myself, 45ft long gondola whose front bow lifted out of the water with speed. Quite how the boat driver could see where he was going was beyond me (I thought it best not to ask). Feeling like an emperor on his maiden voyage of discovery i was shown the floating markets and Palace. Lots of sightseeing. Also Explored the Grand Palace, the emerald Buddha; won of Thailands most sacred Buddha Statues. Then I crossed the river to see the Temple of Dawn, lots of steps to climb. My tour begins heading south to singapore with the imaginative Traveller, with lots of beaches along the way. Yeaaah, shame I forgot to pack my bucket and spade! having fun Stephen