Bangkok

Hey guys,
So... I'm in Bangkok and have been here for two and a half days now. Let me run you through things on a day by day basis...

Day One: Arrived in Bangkok (New Years Eve) and caught the bus into town. Got chatting to this guy called Nick who it turns out is from Frankson. We made the obligatory jokes about each other's home town and occupation, got on like a house on fire actually. Andre (who is suffering tremendously from jet lag) dozed. Nick advised us on how to get to the hostel we'd picked and told us about Bangkok. Turns out that our place is a bit of a mint green prision, the upside being it's very secure and safe. It's also about a 2 minute walk from Khao San Road, which is like backpacker central. I honestly have never seen so many dreadlocks, fisherman pants and mac pacs in one place. There are stalls up and down the street selling anything you could possibly ever imagine needing for backpacking, including the bags themselves!

Anyway, so we drop all our stuff, get changed and head over to Chryso and Shivan (Andre's sister and her Boyfriend)'s hotel. The Novotel Lotus. In the good end of town it is about a SQUILLION times nicer than ours! For example, it has hot and cold water. Ours only has cold. Their toilets take paper. Ours don't. But other than that, exactly the same i'm sure! So after being awestruck by their environs we headed over to the Bed Supper Club. http://www.bedsupperclub.com/home.php

Which is AMAZING! It's been regularly listed as one of the best clubs in the world and i can see why. This place is a minimalist's dream barbie house. So we counted down the new year here and drank cocktails and Shivan suprised us all with a bottle of Moet. Good lord, what a way to start the new year, shame all of the next few months won't be like that! Andre and I then headed home and came across an elephant. Just hanging out in the street with it's owner going for a walk. Returned to our mint green prison and slept off the comsopolitan martini's.

Day Two: So Andre and I got up RELTIVELY early and headed down to Khao San Road o just have a look around and get the vibe for the place. At which point I decided to fufil one of my new years resolutions. Get my nose pierced. So for the small price of 500 baht, i am the proud owner of a shiny little nose stud. It's only taken me two days of trying to rember that it's meant to be there and is not a bit of snot that needs to be blown out. Seriously though, it's awesome. It absolutely caned straight up but now it's fine and it looks really good (obviously in my own very humble opinon!). Andre, Shivan and Chryso we're killing themselves laughing th whole time i was having it done. Bastards :P (But don;t worry, mum the whole thing was very clean, hygenic and didn't hurt any more than i deserve for letting a bald thai man shove a piece of metal through my face!)

Having been so brave during that whole adventure the crew and I decided it was enough to merit a nice calming Thai massage. Which in essence is paying someone money to bash me up! They twist, crack and manuvour your body in ways that you didn't know it hysically could go and it was the most relaxing thing i've ever done. I did start to feel a little dubious when she grabbed my arms twied them backwards and then crack my back with her feet, but the whole thing turned out ok in the end!

After a refreshing juice shake we all headed out to thins POSH resturant on the river. It was so beautiful and calming. The only distressing thing is Shivan and Chryso's ability to let Andre and I pay for anything. I know it's lovely and wonderful because otherwise we wouldn't be having all these amazin experiences but I like to contribute! Anyway, It's incredibly nice of them and all finished now so i an rest easier again.

After a lovely restful evening what do all sane people do in Bangkok. Of course! Go and see a sex show in Patpong. Let's just say the whole thing was sad, and that i will never look at a banana in quite the same way again. I defintely do NOT recommend it to people.

Then after my fifth fruit shake of the day and Andre and I crashed out home.

Day Three: Andre and I were wandering through the temple next to our guesthouse and came across a Thai school where the kids are taught by monks. Had a chat to the year two teacher and go to have a look around and talk to some kids. It was fantastic. The kids are so little and cute. They wear the most immaculate school uniforms!

We then took a two hour boat trip around the canals of Bangkok taking in the floating markets, an orchid market, some temples and all the houses of the river. It was fantastic. It opened up a whole new side of the city to me. It felt like just being in a rural area.

Anyway, after a lovely lunch in Khao San Road we bid Shivan and Chryso good bye. Which brings me to now... and god only knows what comes after this! I've been wrapped, ripped off, amazed and appauled. It's onyl day three, how will i cope with the sensory overlead for another four months! It's going to be awesome. I'll try to get some photos up in the next day or two and blog more regularly so you don't have to read enormous boring misives like this!! Hope you all had a wonderful new year and are safe and well.

Talk to you soon,

Simone xxx