Went to try and get in the Grand Palace but again we were declined for various reasons. No-one in this country seems to know whats going on! We wandered down to the 3B river crossing to Wat Arun. It was ridicously hot today, must be 30+. not sure wot the weather is in England... The temple was another big one and in the middle was a huge spire thing which was about 150ft tall. We climbed to the top and enjoyed another great view of the whole city. We then went back to the Palace to try to get in again. [View Full Entry]

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Woke up at 11.30 to the sound of the hotel staff banging the door saying we had to leave by 12! Jammed everything in our bags and left for our place before we left for Chaing Mai. Another crap room but hey. I then found out in the rush, I'd managed to change the combination on my padlock. I messed about with the numbers and finally got it open. The good luck bracelet must be working! Checked the hotel's toilet to see if it was Hamilton proof and was again in luck. Went out to see the Golden Mount and Wat [View Full Entry]

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Woke up with a hangover and headed off to the temples. 95% of Thais are Buddhist and there are quite a few temples as well as shrines all over the place. We first went to the Grand Palace which is where the King lives and the most important temple religiously in the country is situated. We were told when we got there that it was shut for the day to tourists because of Thai New Year. At this point a man appeared. He told us he was from Chaing Mai and was glad we were going there next week. He then [View Full Entry]

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We got a cab to the cheap area of town, Banglampu, and the Backpacker's street Khao San Road. A strip dedicated to cheap hostels, cheap bars, cheap market stalls and far too many hippies who obviously just live here. After wandering down, trying to avoid being hassled by Thais offering us anytrhing and everything, we settled on a place with a twin en-suite room with air-con and a pool on the roof. One of the more upmarket places on the strip at 300B each a night (6quid). Went for some cheap food and had squid with rice and about 7-8 chillis [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Bangkok at 3pm local time after a pretty decent flight (apart from passing over Afganistan!). As we got out of the plane, I gratefully took in the 28'c temperature. Slightly different from the snow and ice in England! We passed through an uneventful visa check and baggage claim and then went to get a taxi with some bloke called Mr N. He seemed happy with us calling him that at least. We picked him from a crowd of easily well over 100 taxi drivers. The traffic rules in Thailand are basically anything goes. The lights are pointless. We [View Full Entry]

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