As we arrived in Bangkok, weary eyed from our overnight train from Surat, we left the train station and jumped straight in a Thailand's famous tuk tuk's. We made our way to the heavily commercialisedKhaosan road where we found a bed with 4 walls, an area known for its suit sellers and tuk tuk con artists who hail you from every gap possible, and the endless rows of shops with priceless items in between bars that blare out the latest chart music. Over the next three days we explored the Thai capital in every way possible; from the tourist dense Khaosan to the more cultural Chinatown; hailing tuk tuk's became an addiction and haggling the price even more so. As the days past we wandered through the numbers of temples and attractions that Bangkok had to offer, from the Grand Palace and Golden Mount to the Democracy monument and Lumpini Park. The structures standing tall and distinct in their artistry surrounded by shacks and sky rise buildings of downtown Bangkok. We also learned that Bangkok had its own version of the green cross code. One, Zebra crossings are only a decoration on the road. Two regardless what colour the traffic light is, red or green it still means go, and finally just because the road is one way does not mean you should not look the other

Amid the midday heat we would find shelter in small little cafes to get away noise from the continuous traffic and congestion in the city, come the afternoon as the smog reached its peak we would take an afternoon siesta to get ready for Bangkok's night life. After the first night of shopping and drinking we made our way down to Chinatown, an area well known for its street vendors of superb hot dishes along with an endless supply of the fruit that is so over priced in UK supermarkets. We found a small little restaurant populated to its brim by locals, so much so that the tables and chairs were sitting across main road through the area. The menu being of little choice showed they specialise in certain dishes a common thing we have noticed out here we jumped straight in and ordered six king prawns with morning glory and bean spouts in oyster sauce, the pictures will tell the story.

One of main memories from Bangkok will probably be our visit to the immigration office, not realising that we had only been granted a 30 day visa in to the country! We had no choice but to take a taxi across the city to get it amended, on the first attempt we found the place closed due to it being a bank holiday, 'excellent'. On the second attempt I think we may have traveled up and down the stairs the best part of 10 times. "Ok that may be a mossy, 5 times". Eventually the problem was rectified and our passport was stamped immensely, next time we will check our visa stamp at the Air port.

The city of Bangkok has been an experience, and has delivered in every way that people can imagine the city would do, from the dense smog that covers the city in peak hours to the street vendors offering Thai delicacies at every street corner. If asked whether I come back to Bangkok I would probably pass on the opportunity as much as I loved the tuk tuk's and food, the constant roar of traffic, polluted air and street sellers is more of a repellant than the city itself.

Tomorrow we start our journey to Chiang Mai, during the day we will look around the ruins of the old capital Ayuttahya before catching the overnight train there, let the cooking and trekking begin.