Well we are near the end of our stay in Bangkok, and to be honest we are ready to get out of here! The islands await.... Koh Phangan first and then Koh Samui, before our trip through Malaysia and to Singapore...

There have been some interesting experiences in Bangkok. We decided to take a day to see all the sights, starting with a boat trip down the river Chaophraya. We had our own private boat, but after about 20 minutes we encoutered trouble. The propellor had been caught on a plastic bag and so wasn't working properly. No worries, the boat driver stripped off and dived overboard into the filthy river to deal with the problem. A few minutes later he resurfaced and we were ready to go again.... This was most amusing and also rather scary as we sat stationary in the middle of the river with boats flying by on all sides!

We visited Wat Arun, the Royal Grand Palace and the Golden Mountain, none of which were overly impressive. Fortunately, our tuk tuk driver took us round all 3 and only cost 50 Baht (£0.90). Though we did have to go into a few different shops to 'look around' so that he got some free petrol! He was pretty crazy, and there seem to be few, if any, driving laws here!

Evenings have been rather amusing. Saw an elephant walking down the main road yesterday which was a shock. Fortunately, we got used to it, as there were another 2 there today! Have seen numerous Thai brides and prostitutes on pretty much every street corner. We were invited to attend a 'ping pong' show but kindly declined the offer! We have also experienced the underground, which to be honest is the nicest aspect of Bangkok. It is brand new, costs hardly anything to use, and is fully air conditioned!

Have booked our train tickets to the islands and we leave on Saturday evening. It takes 9 hours, but fortunately it is overnight so will hopefully be able to sleep for most of it. Looking forward to maybe seeing some sun at last, as Bangkok is so polluted that we haven't yet!

We were hoping to go to the Thai Boxing tonight, but all events have been cancelled due to the passing of the King's wife last week.... A little disappointing. Hopefully th photos do our time here a bit of justice, it has been crazy to say the least. It also takes about an hour for them to upload cos the internet is so slow! Best be going then....

Love to all, Ben and Sam. x