hello!!

I dont really know where to start, it seems that we have done so much already!! Having a bit of trouble uploading photos at the min too!

Its wednesday lunchtime at the min, we are still in bangkok but we start our trip/tour at 4.40 this afternoon- we leave the hotel for the train station to get the overnight train down to surat thani- we should get there about 6am tomorrow morning! Then we have a 2 hour minibus journey to Khao sok national park where we are staying in the rainforest and can do elephant rides!

Anyway il just recap what we have done so far..

We arrived here about 5pm saturday night, our hotel was really lovely and we decided to go for a wander and try and stay up to get used to the time difference( and heat!!)- quite difficult after not sleeping much on the plane over!We are quite near khao san road, the main backpacker street in bangkok. It still feels a very Thai area though with open air street markets and food stalls everywhere and tuk tuks trying to get you to go on them.

On sunday we had a bit of a lie in to catch up then had a walk out and found khao san road, had some breakfast then braved a taxi to the tourist info place but we got taken to one of the fake ones which is actually a travel agents so they try and sell you stuff, very annoying!! Then we went to the MBK shopping centre with 8 floors and over 2000 shops and millions of people, amazing but didnt spend too much. Had a night out on khao san road and ended up in a bar with a live thai band doing oasis and ac/dc covers!

On monday 25th we got up and walked down to the bog river that runs through bangkok, through some more thai markets where the smells are quite overpowering sometimes! Went to the Wat Pho Reclining Buddha- see above pic! Absolutely massive! Got back to the hotel to meet emma and james, very exciting! (to not have to talk to josie all the time,hehe) We had a bit of a catch up on travelling stories then went out to eat and have a few drinks!

Tuesday 26th- we spent the day with emma and mr jams, went to the Grand Palace which was amazing (see photos) then we went to the Bangkok Sky Hotel which is the tallest building here. We ate there and it was very posh but still soo cheap, then went up to the very top where they have an outdoor revolving platform with brilliant views. At night we met our group that we are travelling down to singapore with, theres 9 girls and 3 boys and they all seemed quite nice so we shall see how we get on! We went out with emma and james at night for more food and drinks and met James' friends from uni- some of them have been here a while and knew some good places to go.

So now im back round to today, all we have done so far is packed up and checked out of our hotel and spent some time writing this! Looking forward to our trip but that means saying bye to emma and james :( swings and roundabouts! Having a brilliant time though, really liked Bangkok, its not what I imagined! Hope you are all well, despite the scary sounding earthquake!! Would love to hear from any of you :) Take care, Love Jem (and josie) xxxxxxxxx