Central Thailand

---

I reluctantly dragged myself away from the idyllic peacefulness of Laos and threw myself head first back into the chaos that is Bangkok. My original intention was that I was going to spend as little time as possible in Bangkok- just put in my application for my Indian visa and get out asap. However, I unfortunately had very bad timing and arrived at the start of Songkran- Thai New Year which is celebrated by staging the world largest 4 day water fight! Whilst this was happening on the other side of the city all the politic riots and protests were under way as Im sure you saw on the news, this meant that all the transport systems were closed down to try and prevent any more protesters arriving. This effectively meant that I was stuck in Bangkok for the foreseeable future so I gave up being a pacifist, bought a gun and whole heartedly went to war! (the water fight variety that is rather than the one with tanks and petrol bombs!)

After 4 days of getting absolutely drenched and covered in clay, normality (or as normal as it gets in Bangkok) was returned and I was able to travel north up to Ayuthaya which is an Island formed by the Mea Nam Lopburi, Chao Phraya and Pa Sak rivers all converge before reaching the Gulf of Thailand. The rivers created a really strong natural defence against invasion so Ayuthaya has some of the most beautiful holi ruins and religious treasures.

My last few days in Thailand were spent at one of the worlds finest National Parks- Khao Yai where much to my delight I saw wild elephants as well as hundreds of different species of birds, monkeys, gibbons, turtles and yet again the evil leeches!!

---