I got here ok! Touched down in Bangkok airport around 8am Wednesday 5th, after the best flight ever with Jet Airways to India (my own TV screen, choice of movies, lots of Indian food) followed by my worst airport experience ever in Mumbai (terrible organization, crazy officials with guns shouting at us, hoards of Indian ladies barging us out of the way to get in front) which confirmed my lack of desire to travel to such a chaotic country…couldn't handle the no personal space/smell my sweaty pits issue! We were met at the airport by some of Maryam's friends and were promptly whisked by air-conditioned car to somewhere on the outskirts of Bangkok. Serious jet-lag and anxiety ensued….strange country, in a car with people I don't know, pulling up in a housing estate unlike I have ever seen before (cows, stray dogs, people staring, yep, we're the only westerners here!), can't read any road signs, have no clue where I am, haven't slept much in 3 days and what the hell is the time???? I won't lie, I pretty much freaked for the first 3, 4, maybe 5 days? Probably longer. I'm glad I've waited to write this as I'm much more objective now and can laugh about it all now. Let me introduce the gang: we stayed with Tip (female!) and Aof (male!) who are a married couple, 30ish, and very, very welcoming. Aof's younger sister Ice and her boyfriend Khing, 19ish, chaperoned us round in the day while Tip & Aof were at work. They were amazing, if not a little too amazing! Thai people are so happy 'to do for you' and view looking after us 'ferang' (foreigners) as a bit of an honor. I quickly learnt not to tell them what you like as low and behold, they will promptly get it for you or take you there. For about a week we stayed on Tip & Aof's sofa, in their modest condominium which had no hot water and strangely no kitchen! Not much sleep as we were taken care of all evening 'til late by Tip & Aof and then promptly woken by Khing & Ice around 6ish ready to take us out & about for the day….it was great but by the 3rd day Maryam & I were craving some space!!! (Space in Bangkok…no chance!) Our first evening they whisked us into the sticks north of Bangkok to meet Aof & Ice's parents…who had laid on a lovely home-cooked Thai feast for us - was amazing! It was here I discovered my love of Morning Glory (ahem) no, not what you're thinking…a lovely leafy Thai vegetable dish! We were further more entertained by an evening of Karaoke! My word do they love there ballads out here…Ronan Keating, Celine Dione, you name it! Actually it was fun…the whole evening was a perfect example of Thai hospitality!Well, Bangkok…or should I say Bang-shock! What can I say? It's way more run-down than I ever imagined, so much poverty & lots of stray dogs, cats & children. It's pretty shocking, crazy, hectic, polluted and not at all pretty. Oh and the smell….nothing on earth can prepare you for that smell! I gotta tell you about the street electricity cables & pylons…they're everywhere… a crazy mess of old, worn-out wires that buzz loudly when you walk by & I have to dodge the hanging ones as I quite like my life right now…so funny! And let's talk about the Khao San Road! I have no words to describe the backpacker hovel from hell….never seen so much dirt, begging, drunk farang, rubbish in the gutter, tuk tuks & mayhem! The narrow market stalls, everyone trying to sell you something, hundreds of taxi drivers touting for business, people being tattooed on the street, children who have been stolen by criminal gangs begging on the street for money, alongside burn victims & dismembered people. And the amount of old, fat, white farang with young, pretty Thai girlfriend…we've renamed them Farang-o-tangs! And the fireworks & banger things being thrown at your feet, and the food vendors selling insects fried in soy sauce - I ATE A CRICKET! In the spirit of adventure I had to! Was a bit crunchy but generally…well…disgusting! Ha!What about the good bits? Well we survived many a tuk tuk ride to see some nice stuff like Wat Po (biggest temple in BKK) and had a massage from the training school there and saw some monks and saw the largest reclining Buddha in T-land. And there was Lumpini park, lovely park in BKK where we took a pedal boat ride out on the lake & came face-to-face with a giant lizard! Though the park was surrounded on all sides by thick smoggy traffic and the whole time in BKK we couldn't see the sun. When my new Thai friends suggested a weekend trip to the seaside to stay in a hotel, I thought all my prayers had come true…how wrong can you be.....