I can see how easy it would be to never venture out from Khao San Road - this safe haven for foriengers could easily swalow you up whole. Yesterday was my designated 'play it safe' day, so this morning when i woke up at 9am (compliments of a sticky sheen of sweat running down my back), it was with an ambitious plan for the day.

My plan was to find the Chao Praya river (the source of Bangkok's pervading stench), and hitch a ride on a longtail boat downstream to see the Museum of Forensic science, The golden Mount and the Giant Swing / Thawet temple.

The forensic museum lies in the grounds of the riverside hospital, and is a historical account of all things disgusting and seriously off. I planned to take this day trip before Sarah joined me later in the week, because how an you explain you want to visit a place that boasts the preserved remains of Bangkok's worst seriel killer and various clothing from murder victims in its collection? I just find that stuff so macarbe and interesting, in a hideous sort of way.

It certainly didnt disappoit - several body parts in jard, dead bodies and supressed gagging motions later, i was back on the boat heading towards Chinatown. Trying to find the temples took over an hour - i got so lost in the tiny sois (allyways) filled with bric a brac, clothing and hello kitty merch. Everntually i stumbled back onto a main road, feeling slighty dazed with a satay prawn stick and a $2 skirt in my hand.

I did end up finding the temple -it was magnificent and gave an enlightening birds eye view of the sprawling inner city (I was heading in the wrong direction all that time?) A long line of brass bells line the temple walkway, with monks, Thais and anyone who cares to able to ring each one as they pass. This brings good luck and prosperity.

To finish my round tour of the city for the day, i just needed to see one last temple. So i took a deep breath, prayed those bells really worked and jumped into a dusty, fuel belching machine for my first ever tuk tuk ride. Guess what? I dont think i'll ever feel carsick again. Hurtling through traffic with a manic driver turning to look at you shouting "I get you there fast, Miss!", all i could think about were those blunt force trauma pictures i had seen at the mueseum. Oddly, tuk tuk drivers supposedly have a very small incidence of crashes, probably because every else knows how crazy they actually are and gets the hell out of the way.

I experienced some truly amazing things today, but funnily, most of them weren't at the temples or the designated tourist sites. They were while getting hopelessly lost in the back alleys of some small neighbourhood. This bad sense of direction actually led to one of the nicest things to happen to me so far. At one stage i was obviously looking lost, because a shrunken littke Thia lady gestured for me to sit down next to her and her dog ("You Loss? Where did you wan go?")

Conditioned by the tourist trap of Khao San road, i tensed up, expecting a hard sell. But i instantly felt hot shame (or was that the humidity?) as she offered to share her lunch with me. For half a hour i sat next to her on a wodden crate, watching the lane life go by. She chatted to me in Thai, i chatted back to her in English - neither of us understood a single word, but i think we got the gist of what the other was saying. And I think that means so much more than anything else i have done so far, or would like to do in Thailand.