Well here I am in Bangkok - it doesnt feel as far away as it actaully is which is nice. I think our hotel is in the main CBD rather than the touristy backpacker area so the culture shock hasnt been to bad, there are huge shopping complex's with all the usual shops - Calvin Kelin, North Face, Ted Baker, McDonalds and Starbucks - so could be anywhere really, espeically as although there are loads of thai and chinese people everywhere, they just look like they do at home and for some reason i automatically assume they are tourists! The hotel we were staying in was very western and consequently I felt a bit isolated and seperated from everything which wasnt nice. Am not good at change or being on my own - thats something I should probably work on - and so last night wasnt the ideal start as we had nothing to throw us into it and keep us busy which gave us time to think about home and the amount of time that stretched ahead. I had a bad nights sleep, we went to bed at about half 10 cos we were totally shattered after not really sleeping on the plane, but this was only 4.30pm at home. i fell asleep straight away but then woke up at about 1.30 and couldnt get back to sleep, I saw 3.45am on my phone before i drifted off, so it was like having a nap, waking up at 7.30pm and then going back to sleep at about 9.45pm which sounds like a good way to catch up on sleep, but then the alarm went off at 8.30am for breakfast so im still tired today. But hopefully I will adjust soon. After I've written this me and jen are off to the hotel that our tour starts in which is in the backpacker area, so we should be busy and immersed in it all which will be good. We might get a tuktuk or a river boat as its right across town. Our hotel is right near the Khao San Road so hoepfully we will be in the thick of it and the excitement will kick in. We meet our tour group later too which will be good, we have a meeting between 5 and 6 and then i think we're left to our own devices, so hopefully we will all stick together and go and get some food or soemthing. Will be good to meet some new people and get their views and advice on the city as I dont really know much about it to be honest. Also its gonna be nice to just relax and let someone else do the organising and tell us where to go and what to see and when to do things, as that will mean we can just follow along and really absorb whats around us. It's mega hot today, at least 30 degrees and the sun it trying to come out! its quite humid but not too bad, and on the tv in our hotel room (good old BBC world news) it said tomorrow and saturday are meant to be 34 and 35 degrees with clear skys so Im looking forward to that! We're in Bangkok tonight and tomorrow night (thur and fri) and then we leave to go north to Chaing Mai - i dont know whats there but am sure it will be interesting!! It looks really far on the map so it looks like it will be a long drive on saturday. Everyone seems to have heard of it, i must have bypassed so much information about Thailand somewhere along the line as Iv only heard of bangkok and Phuket from the film the beach! It think Chaing Mai is quite a main town so am sure there will be internet cafes etc there but will prob check before we leave Bangkok just in case. Everything is so cheap here - its 35 Baht an hour to use this internet, 100Baht is 1.50 so thats like 50p. And last night we were very unadventuous and had an all you can eat thai buffet in the hotel which is mega overpriced, but it was still only about 350Baht which equates to about a fiver, if that. Also Jen bought this gorgeous silk scarf which is all hand stitched and woven, really beautiful, for 200THB which would be about 20quid in accessorize. So it really is as cheap as everyone says it is. Anyway, Bangkok awaits! Im clearly writing far too much as Jen has already sent her emails and is busy googling what to do in Bangkok - shes even got the street map and a biro out, circling certain attractions - bless. Iew shes just said that apparantly theres a snake farm - think we might leave that one! Weve got our backpacks with us as we are going to check into our tours start hotel and they are ridiculously heavy and proved quite entertaining when we tried to put them on AND stand up in the hotel this morning!! i really wasnt built for heavy work! Im def a more trolly dolly, suitcase on wheels whcih you can carry while wearing heels kind of girl!! As if anyone didnt know that already....