Don't believe everything in the Lonely Planet!

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What a chaotic few days, so much for getting away from it all and relaxing!

Monday was mad, we had to find the one office in Bangkok where we could change our flight tickets, which turned out to be right next to a train station so was easier to find than we thought. The lady in the travel office was lovely and altered our tickets without hassle. Job one done, and in good time.

Next we had to head to the Southern Bus Terminal as Lonely Planet said we needed to get bus tickets the day before travel. We could see it one the map and decided that another train from the travel office and a boat would take us to the road the bus terminal was on. Then just walk up the road a bit to the bus station - easy...

... turns out the map isn't quite so accurate and it was a bit more than 'just up the road'! After what seemed like hours, there was no sign of the bus station so we decided to stop and ask for help - only we weren't in the tourist part of Bangkok any more and no-one spoke English, not even our best charades helped! So next plan - get a taxi, only the taxi driver spoke the same amount of English as we spoke Thai, so no use there. Last resort - we spotted a 'Fitness First', someone there must know enough English to point us in the right direction. Thankfully she did and there was a bus just outside going in that direction - relief! After a bit more confusion over our fare, we finally arrived at the bus station, only to find that we just turn up on the day and buy our ticket for the next available bus as they leave every 20 minutes!

One thing to make up for it is the friendliness of the Thais, if you are stood anywhere looking a bit lost, guaranteed someone will walk up to offer assistance. Obviously sometimes it is with a view to selling you something, but generally it is to help. And even if you decline their Tuktuk/taxi/suit or whatever, they accept with a gracious smile and don't bother you any more.

Arrived in Kanchanaburi yesterday - off to see the bridge over the River Kwai this afternoon...

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