24 Inn Hotel Bangkok

5am and I wake up randomly and phone Pete. He has been sleeping somewhere someplace at the airport!! Only that boy I tell thee!!

Unable to sleep I switch the tv on and check out the channels. they have Australian Network here so I watch that for a bit. It's funny as am not a fan of Australia but suddenly I realise that that coutry has become my temporary home and I can relate to the programmes shown on this chanel!!

I fall back to sleep till 9ish when I get up ...

D Day.

Got on a flight which I thought was to heathrow so you should of seen my face when it said welcome to Gatwick when I landed. Had booked the flight so far in advance I forgot which airport I was going to. Plumb. Had to get a bus(20 pounds WTF) to heathrow and I was almost glad as it gave me something to do. Terminal 3 is super boring so just wondered about aimlessly untill flight time.

Checked in online but I never got my seat ...

... everything personal there is to know about Whitney (and she about me) and everything this woman was saying was dead on! Obviously the predictions of the future cannot be validated, but the analysis of her personality and her tendencies in relationships was on point. I was actually nervous when it was my turn. She started with a fairly accurate description of me and my relationship with my friends (but it could be a total generalization) and then launched into a fairly detailed ...

... market (Chukachat) and only Marcin and I can walk away from over 8000 stalls buying not one thing!! We are just too fussy or tight...I think we are too fussy! The market itself is the essence of Bangkok...PURE CHAOS. You can find literally everything, even dogs wearing shoes.
We tried to get to a meditation centre here so that we could learn about this run by a Monk, however we managed to get there on time but the Monsoon kept us from ...

... have to leave at 7am, and won't be back till 6pm. I think I'll hold off on that till next time.

Instead, I kept occupied by heading to the Grand Temple - taxis are fantastic here - costing 100 baht (or $3) to cross to the other side of town. After being told that the monks were praying till 1pm, I was scooped up by a tuk tuk driver and toured the jewellery and tailor shops and succombed to 3 tailor made shirts for $100. Please, if ...

... the bus cost us only 10 Baht into Bangkok. But then we got a reality check as New Joe's was fully booked. We had to chose another place so just went up the lane and found 7 Holder. It is a Japanese run hotel that has prison cell sized rooms...no window and all...and shared bathrooms.

Our first night we went and watched Man Utd...Orla loved that. Then walked up Khoa San Road and did bit of shopping before having a few drinks, which ...

... 3 so we decided to go on a different tour of Buddha's. We rode on "tuk-tuk", which is basically a lawn mower with two passenger seats, to see the lucky Buddha, the standing Buddha and visit a Thai tailor factory where I purchases a pure Thai silk scarf for (20GBP which ...

So.....we have arrived in Bangkok!

The flight was not quite so glamorous as the previous one, but it got us here in one piece!

We came out of the airport, with no idea where to go or what to do. We managed to find a taxi to take us to Khao San Road,(the backpacker area of Bangkok). Much to Beckie's dissapointment, we were in an orange taxi...not the usual bright pink ones that take over the streets of Bangkok!

We got the the right place, piled out the car ...

... was exciting and novel at the time, turned out to be not such a great idea for poor Dame whose stomach was having major problems with our midnight snack off the streets! At midday we checked out, got Dame into a cab headed for his new, more upmarket accommodation and Sam, Gemma and I hit the streets of Khao San Road for a shopping frenzy.

I’d been looking forward to this moment of extravagance for a while ...

... morning and beautiful weather for a boat ride - about 20 bhat, less than $1. The views were great as we made our way upriver.

We got off at the Chang Pier and wound our way through a market. Walked to the Grand Palace and shortly were taken in by the best Bangkok tourist scam. As we were walking to the Palace a tuk-tuk driver ...