After our flight down to Bangkok we checked into our hotel, the most basic one yet. For £7 a night for a room including breakfast we weren't expecting much! But it had a fan and a decent (cold) shower and it would do for the three nights we were there.

Although knackered we were looking forward to the show that evening. After our minibus pick-up we arrived at the show and were greeted by massive Chang sponsorship signs and a woman in traditional dress who quickly pinned a corsage on me and posed for a photograph. Further inside, two elephants were stood majestically, willing to be stroked, fed and ridden depending on how much you were prepared to pay!

Unfortunately the anti-camera rules were very strict, they all had to be checked in and bags were searched just in case. However, with so much happening on the stage it was hard enough to know where to look, let alone try and take pictures too.

We had a buffet dinner then took our seats in the huge 2000-seater theatre, that was only about a third full. We were then surprised and amazed for the next 90 minutes as the scenes got more and more spectacular. With 150 actors, 500 different costumes and some incredible scenery, the show had been well advertised, particularly for being in the Guinness World Records for having the tallest stage in the world. Though nothing could have prepared us for what came. Numerous dancers, acrobats flying from the roof up to 12 in the air at a time, live animals including chickens, goats and elephants on the stage, even a river appeared part way through that one of the actors swam in, then two boats rowed right across the stage. There were absolutely incredible effects too with lighting and stage fireworks.

To top it all off, I was one of about 10-12 people at the end invited to come up to the stage a lay a flower wreath on the river to float away. Luke was incredibly jealous and wished he hadn't given me the aisle seat! I was just glad I didn't trip up or down any of the stairs in the dark!

The only slight shame was that because the theatre wasn't full, we sounded rather pathetic when we clapped the actors. Most of the audience was in a hurry to leave and the rush at the end was quite embarrassing, people got up to leave as the actors were still on the stage for the finale. Granted, there were big queues outside to get out and to pick up cameras, but we made sure we stayed and clapped until the very end!