Hello Bangkok

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Yes, I have arrived, and am loving it. I've got no idea about much, am out of my comfort zone, excellent. Quite a mad place Bangkok compared to Clevedon... Although it’s surprising how familiar the place seems when you are sitting in a bar with a big beer.

Its hot. I walked out of the plane and thought "hell its hot for 11pm" but didn't realise the airport was air-conditioned...

We arrived into Bangkok at 11pm local time, and went with a mad Thai woman who was on the plane next to us to a hotel in the middle of the business district. Shower, air con, TV, fridge, for $14 each. Dodgy-looking though.

First priority today was massage. Had an awesome Thai massage for an hour for $6. The little Thai massage girls loved us and fed us stuff, gave us tea, and requested photos. They were however capable of causing much pain despite their size!

At the moment I am on Ko San Rd because I wanted to get a singlet. If another Tuk Tuk driver pesters me about a "tour" (where they take you to a jewellery or tailor’s outfit to get a commission) I am going to swing.

Got some $4 CDs and a fake ISIC card for travel in Europe. Yes I got yours Jaz.

We are going to the floating markets tomorrow, then to the Bridge on River Kwai later in the week, then down to one of the beaches.
This is good.

7th August
Jesse and I have been here for less than 48 hours and it seems like a week.
I love life. I am not coming back. Today I had more Thai food, another hour of massage, and sat 1 metre away from two young king cobras who looked pretty pissed off to me ( I think they had milked their venom, so the Thai snake fella felt OK about putting the goofy blonde falang next to them for a photo). I also held a large python, that seems pretty clichéd so I gave him a kiss for the photo. God I'm a tourist.

Tomorrow and the next day I am going to the Bridge on the river Kwai, riding the death railway, and going for an elephant trek (will be interesting to see how they are trained and managed). The night we get back we head down south by bus for 10 hours and hop on a boat to Ko Samui then on to Ko Peng Yang (really really spelt wrong). Laxing out on the beach for a few days, full moon party on the 12th, hung over 13th 14th, then over to Ko Tao for my open water Padi diving cert for 5 days. the transport (including elephants, death trains etc), accommodation, and diving course will cost me about NZ$650. Not bad for two weeks.

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Photos

My first massage in Thailand
Awesome.