We left for Heathrow at 4pm and arrived in Bangkok twenty four hours later one passport down (nearly). We hopped into a taxi to Khoasan Road and were immediately ambushed at a petrol station by seven lads jumping on the car and trying to speak English to us and our blonde hair. The taxi man was a mentalist and without seatbelts it all added to the experience of shear terror. Whilst flying down the highway, pick-up trucks sped past with fifty odd people crammed in the back. We wanted to take a photo but were quickly put off the idea when they began making gun gestures at us. Good times.

We got out at our destination and were kindly reminded by a local that Wedge had left her iPhone 4 in the back seat of the cab. So far so good. The hotel was pretty nice, especially due to the roof-top pool in thirty degree heat, and we quickly learned not to take favours from staff. They want money. And being unfamiliar with the currency, Jen handed over a day's budget.

At 7pm we met Harry (Jen's bf), he was a bit tipsy having adapted to life travelling alone and the abundance of cheap beer. He introduced us to his mates Chloe and Dom who had been travelling for seven months. That evening we got on with aclimatising and even caught a show...

We woke up the next morning pretty hot and flustered due to Jen's incompetent air con skills...'What? I just turned it up to the highest it could go'. That afternoon we crammed the five of us into a tuk tuk which was pretty much the same as signing your life away. We made it to the Grand Palace, and were quickly informed that Wedge was a little underdressed and subsequently had to whack on a man's shirt and a sexy floor-length wrap. The palace was beautiful, pretty OTT, in-keeping with much Southeast Asian architecture but all the same was breath taking: all gold and jewels. We saw about 50 more buddhas and that was that - Jen brandishing the guide book and getting a bit carried away. Soon we realised you're not expected to see every.single.thing. Jen also managed to offend a few monks by pointing her feet towards them. They forgave us. Wat Arun was a particular beauty. We wandered a few of the surrounding streets that evening and settled in a great restaurant in a side street, toasting ourselves with Thai beer in recognition of our travelling capability.

On our final day in Bangkok we thought we'd treat our feet to a bit of a nibble by some fish. They loved it. That evening we caught a boat ride down the river which was incredible. Once out of the city centre we passed hundreds of little wooden houses lining the bank. The poverty struck us, but in these little communities of fishermen/women, the people seemed quite content - waving energetically at us as we passed. We had a 3am departure from the airport that night, so thought we'd see it through and stayed up all night, bad idea. The airport was pretty deserted besides a group who appeared to be on a Southeast Asian equivalent of a SAGA holiday.

Then to Hanoi.