Hello!

This is my first blog but I'll try and jeep it short and sweet because I've realised that reading about other people's travelling can be a bit boring! Also I keep going on the internet and it's a bad habit!

Anyway, I got to Thailand about a week ago and met up with 2 girls who I've been with ever since. I had never met them before so it was a bit of a gamble but they are really nice and easy to get on with and generally good fun to travel with so it's all good! We spent our first night in Bangkok but it is quite an exhausting place in many ways and you have to be in the right frame of mind to do it, so instead of spending our first few days there, the next morning we headed for the nearest Island, a lovely place called Ko Samet. We arrived on the Monday evening and checked into some beach bungalows which were basic but quite clean, but they charged us loads! In hindsight we did keep getting ripped off the first few days we were there. But they were the best ones on that part of the island, and there were only some ants, bed bugs and other wildlife, as opposed to some of the bungalows which were apparently windowless and totally open to the elements! There were loads of mosquitoes so were immediately covered in bites, and there were also stray dogs everywhere but apart from that the place was perfect. We ate dinner and had a few drinks on the beach most nights and spent the day on the beach. It was actually picture postcard perfect, I wish I could upload the pics but I can't get it to work! Will sort something out soon though. Anyway, after a few days I managed to get totally sunburnt and also loads of jelly fish started appearing in the sea which wasn't so fun, at one point I had to walk through loads! The stings didn't hurt luckily. So we left on Friday morning to head back to Bangkok. Thai transport is pretty funny. We caught a ferry back to mainland and basically jump between 3 boats and miles of water to get to ours, with all our bags on our backs (bearing in mind the hideously painful sunburn), but we made it. Their car to the bus station was also interestingly defined, and was in actual fact more of a scooter with a wooden bench on the back of it.

Anyway, by this time, we felt ready to brave Bangkok so we went back on a bus and then got a taxi to the hostel we had booked. It took nearly 2 hours to get across the city, traffic here is a total nightmare. At one point we sat at 1 red light for 20 minutes and it didn't change. Crazy. Anyway, we got to our hostel near Khao San road and it was lovely and delightfully free of creatures. We went and got food from the street vendors which was delicious and stupidly cheap. We wandered up and down the Khao San road (backpacker central here) and took it all in - it's pretty weird, very westernised, and full of people trying to sell you stuff - jewellery, thai massage, stupid ornaments, ping pong shows! We weren't really there for the partying and drinking so the 3 nights we stayed we just ate the food and had a few beers (only about 50p for a nice bottle of Chang).

Over the weekend we visited the weekend market which was massive and absolutely heaving, and quite difficult to do in the heat, but we got a few things and put our haggling skills to practice! The main attraction here is the Grand Palace and it is well worth the hype - the temples and buildings are just stunning, I have some great pictures, especially as it was a beautifully sunny day! We saw the emerald buddha which is the main attraction, it is the most sacred buddha here so we were not allowed to photograph it, and we had to remove our shoes and take care not to point our feet at it when we were in the monastery. To be honest I just felt honoured to be allowed in, especially when we were surrounded by monks who had made a pilgrimage to see it. We also saw the Wat Pho which houses the biggest reclining Buddha, it was absolutely massive. A Thai man in there asked me where I was from and when I said the UK he wouldn't shake my hand. I was offended.

We then decided to try and get a river boat to see a bit more of Bangkok and maybe a river market. It took ages to get the taxi driver to understand where we wanted to go but eventually I spoke enough Thai and he got it, I was so proud of myself! It's not an easy language to pronounce. Anyway, we got to a place where they had boats and as usual we were instantly accosted by people selling us stuff. 5 minutes later we had paid 400B and were apparently on our way around the canals of Bangkok, and also visiting a crocodile and snake farm. It was a bit scary to begin with as the river was choppy and the boat was kind of narrow but we soon got used to it. It was amazing seeing the real Bangkok and not just what the tourists got to see so although we did get totally ripped off (we paid for 2 hours and got 45 minutes), it was well worth it. We didn't fancy the crocodile farm but ended up seeing crocodiles in the river anyway (probably escaped!) and people swimming in it just a way down from them! Nutters! I also saw what I thought was a floating wooden dog in the river, but as we got nearer I realised it was a stiff dead dog, which made me want to puke for a while. It's always the horrible things you see you remember!

Anyway, we're having an early one tonight as it's our last in Bangkok and getting up early tomorrow to head north and see some more things, we are going to the Death Railway, and then heading north to Chiang Mai. Once I'm over my sunburn I'll be back on the beach, but that can wait! There is so much to see and do here, I could easily stay longer, but for the moment I am loving it here and so glad I came. Thailand is a really amazing place to visit because it so much to offer and it is really multi dimensional, you dont just come here for one type of thing!

Anyway, I hope everyone is well, I am missing you all and want to know what is going down in England! Be in touch soon, I will do this again soon, hope I havent rambled too much - I am new to this!

Love you all! Anj xxxx