Hi Everyone! I arrived in Bangkok early afternoon after a pleasant flight with Air Asia from Singapore. I was expecting the flight to take 1.5 hours, but I didn't factor in the time difference, so it was actually 2.5 hours, which was still fine, but I was starving as I hadn't packed any food for the journey and I had no more Singapore Dollars left! I jumped in a taxi and headed for Khao San Road to the D&D Inn, where I knew Daniel was staying. The hotel was actually quite lovely and to my surprise had a rooftop swimming pool, however the weather was hot and sweaty and not ideal for sunbathing. I knew that this was just a pit stop and I would only be staying here for a few nights to get my visas sorted and become acclimatised to the SE Asian ways of life, so I didn't do much in the way of sightseeing. I did however go and visit the Grand Palace one day, which was...well...very grand actually. There were lots of Buddas to be seen and some very palatial buildings and grounds. The hotspot is the 'Emerald Budda', which is made out of Jade, originally thought to be emerald hence it's name. It was quite disappointing as it was perched up high on lots of tacky gold platforms and only stood about 12-15 inches tall!! Still they dress him up in seasonal clothing 3 times per year which was quite amusing! I also visited the famous Reclining Budda, which was just around the corner from the Grand Palace. I never anticipated the size of this thing. It's absolutely huge! About the size of 2 or 3 double decker buses end to end. In fact, it's quite hard to get a photograph of the whole thing as it's so big. It's completely covered in gold leaf and is quite a spectacle. There were also lots more Buddas in the temples surrounding the Reclining Budda. The following couple of days were spent milling around and trying to book travel deals to Cambodia. Tried to find some cheap flights, which don't exist, so ended up booking a 'luxury coach' instead. I saw the pictures of the bus and it looked lovely, with air conditioning and fully reclining seats for the 10 hour journey. Coping with that would be a doddle, I thought! One of the evenings, I went to Pat Pong night market which was incredible. You get hassled to death by vendors trying to sell their wares at dirt cheap prices, but I wasn't buying this time around as I didn't have space in my luggage. I thought I would come back before I fly back to the UK and buy a suitcase and fill it with gifts. There is an absolute array of fake designer stuff (quite good quality also), and some really nice Asian artifacts which I really liked. On a different day I also went to the shopping mall, where there was lots of 'more authentic' designer clobber at realistic prices, but again I was not shopping. We went to the cinema which was nearby that evening to see 'White Chicks'. They offered me 'Gold seats' when I went to buy my tickets, which were 3 times the price, but still only about 8 GBP so I thought what the hell. After getting a free drink in the 'Gold lounge', served by a lady on her knees, we were ushered into the cinema. The auditorium was full of really posh leather seats that looked comfy as hell, but the lady showed us to the back row, which had even plusher seats - more like sofas really. Well, I have never experienced cinema like this before. The seats would recline almost flat, your legs lifted off the ground. The seats had 8 point massage facility in them, heating, blankets, pillows, socks to stop your feet getting cold - the bloody works!! It was incredible - almost like watching cinema in bed. I didn't want to leave. For the other evenings we just headed to some of the local bars and sampled the nightlife, which I found quite scary. I had heard about the lady boys in Bangkok, but never encountered one. They seem to make a beeline for Westerners and although on first impressions appear very friendly and harmless, are actually quite vicious b****es if they don't get their own way. My advice is to steer clear of these women - or even the 'real' local women as one of those went for the throat as well when I told her I didn't want to sleep with her. Perhaps my words could have been a little more subtle!! Anyway, that's all my adventures from Bangkok this time around. I will be returning to the UK from here, so will spend a few days back here before I return, buying all my Christmas presents - so family beware!! Off to Cambodia in the morning on the 'luxury bus'...