Bangkok

After a gruelling 24 hours awake and travelling I finally made it into my dorm room in the hostel in Bangkok. I flew with China Airlines via a stopover in Amsterdam. The second leg of the flight was 12 hours but I was hoping to be entertained with the latest movie releases, I was thinking the new Star Trek or Superman perhaps. What I got was Goldfinger! I made in into Bangkok at 6.15am and by the time I had cleared passport control with my latest visa and picked up my backpack it was after 7am. I was heading straight into rush hour traffic. I had already decided in true backpacker style that I would get to the hostel via public transport as opposed to the pricier and far easier method of a taxi. There was a station in the airport which made the first leg quite easy. I took the airport link train into the middle of Bangkok. When I got on the train it had been empty, when I left, it was so crowded that breathing out had become almost impossible. I had to change onto a further two trains before I reached my destination. Then came the fun part. Walking with the backpacks in humidity I had never experienced before. The hostel was only 10 minutes away but I was exhausted. I did feel rather smug when I did check-in, but the feeling only lasted seconds before I collapsed in a heap. My hostel was not in the backpacker mecca of Koa San Road but a quieter area in the district of Silom. This gave me a chance to acclimatise and recover from the jet lag. The hostel was within walking distance of the river and for only 15Baht the Chao Phraya Express would take you along the length of the river to any of its 30 piers / dropping off points. It was a really fun way of getting around and by far the cheapest. 15 Baht is less than 50p

I visited Wat Pho the temple with the 45metre long reclining buddha. This photo was taken in the temple complex. I realize I am stood in front of an old Chinese statue and that the flag flying in the background is not the Thai one, but you will have to take my word that I am in Bangkok. I have started off my culinary experience trying to be as adventurous as possible, not that easy if you are a non-meat eater with a mild allergy to peanuts. Nether-the-less I am hunting out street food. I have been very impressed with the 7 mini fried quails eggs I got, not to mention the egg-vegetable noodles and the tumeric rice. The tofu soup was less successful. Together with a girl from my dorm, we tracked down the local indoor market with lots of food stalls. There was alot of business men in suits looking extremely cool whilst we tried not to collapse with the 90% humidity that day nor choke with all the chilli in the air. Trying to eat like a local is not as easy as it sounds! Realising it is going to take me a while to adjust to the weather, I've decided what I need is a refreshing sea breeze. I'm going to go south to the islands!