Last hours in Bagkok... It's been a fun week here. My experience of Thailand was probably very different from most people who come here to visit, since I stayed with a family who's lived here for 16 years (and Isa who I'm with lived here for 9 years). Because of this I have managed to avoid the tacky turisty side of Bangkok, which I'm happy about. Also I've got to see the beautiful and peaceful side of the city. Generally Bangkok is crowded, busy, chaotic and noisy, but there's some lovery quiet places. Lumpini park is one of them, which I probably wouldn't have visited if my 'host family' hadn't taken me there with them for their sunday morning walk. It was full of people meditating, practising joga, doing sports or just families spending time together, a very calm place compared to the rest of the city. The river we visited today is another rather peaceful place and a good way to escape the polluted streets, the ticket on the ferry costs very little and soon you are on the other side of city. I'm leaving Bangkok tomorrow to spend a few days on Ko Samet, an island only a few hours away from Bagkok. It's supposed to be rather empty at this time of the year - exactly what I need after a hectic couple of weeks in Simgapore and Bangkok! Also it'll be nice to spend a few days doing absolutely nothing (well maybe I'll manage some walking on the beach, sleeping, swimming, sunbathing and reading) before Uni with all its fun and not-so-fun (read: homework) activities starts again. Isabelle can't come with me, she's got a dentist appointment tomorrow and is flying back to Singapore on Thursday. So it'll be just me, my book and my hammock (no, I don't actually own a hammock yet but I'm very much considering getting one). Me and Isa cooked some Finnish food for our 'host family' yesterday. It was slightly chaotic but fun! There's this traditional dish I've never made before but always wanted to try... the food was delicious in the end but we made so much food it could have fed a small army! Well I just didn't want anyone to be hungry... Today was our first and only actual sightseeing day. We went to see the Grand Palace which was very impressive. After that we wondered around the area and ended up in a crowded market place. There was no tourists there, and we managed to find this cute tiny restaurant by the river. Our food and drinks were 70 baht altogether, which is about one pound - an absolute bargain considering the amazing view to the river which usually adds some extra to the price. After that Isa went home to get some rest but I wanted to continue wandering around because it's my last day here. It was a fun afternoon, I was mostly trying to avoid getting hit by a car and touching the monks (women are not allowed to touch them, which for a clumsy person like me is very difficult). I also went to get my hair cut - quite an adventure considering they didn't speak any English and my Thai is so far limited to 'thank you' and 'hello'... Well I got what I wanted, a nice haircut (and the price? 150 baht, about 2 quid... awesome) I also started to explore the Chinatown but got cought in hard-core monsoon rain! Now I'm waiting for Isa, we're heading for dinner to a place called Cabbages and Condoms, it's a restaurant held by the Prevention of Population Growth Agency (it's not really called that but something like that anyway), hence there's condoms everywhere. If there's no internet in Ko Samet (I don't actually know anything about the place), I won't be able to give any updates from there - just think of palm trees and white sand and you'll get the picture...