Hello from Bangkok! you will be pleased to know we made it here safely, and that we all enjoyed the flights, free food, films and alcohlol!

We arrived at our hotel late in the evening of the 2nd after a long day, and were pleased to find that the hour long taxi was only 8 english pounds, and that our new home was complete luxury compared to the 16 bed dorm we had left in australia. after all enjoying a relaxing bath, (our first in 2 months-hurray!) we fell into the best beds, and after a blissful nights sleep, we were revived and ready to hit the infamous thai shopping at the weekend markets. after filling up on a beautiful buffet breakfast, both with traditional thai and western food, we hailed a tuktuk, these funny little carts that fit 3 passengers in the back, and confidently set off to our destination. although it turned out we were headed for a totally different place! slightly stranded and with no idea how to communicate where it was we wanted to go, we were relieved when some english speaking locals explained our case to the driver!

the market was simply crazy! john saw people selling chickens and guinea pigs, and there were clothes stalls, sunglasses, books, furnature, literally everything you could possibly think of! worse than primark on a saturday afternoon! but of course we fully embraced it and set about covering all of the lanes, picking up some right old bargains! sam went to enjoy some food (he is really loving the cheapness and the portions!) whilst we continued to barter, and ended our spree with a gorgeous foot and shoulder massage. after an exhausting day, we were all happy to stay in and enjoy our lavish hotel room, air conditioning, en suite and tv, it couldn't get much better! we even ordered some room service! but don't panic, it still only cost about 2 pounds!

next day we were up early again and hopped on a tuktuk to koh san road, the number one destination for backpackers in bangkok. we did some more mooching around, exploring the many lanes and even more stalls before going to MBK, thailands largest shopping centre where john and I desperately seeked out some trainers to fit our fat western feet!! this evening, we got ready and set off to pat pong, bangkok's red light district. first the taxi driver took us down some dodgy alley way telling us 'pingpongpingpong.' we rapidly told him NO! and got dropped instead at a busier street to buy some dinner. as we strolled along taking in the atmosphere, (a rather strange one at that with prostitutes scattered everywhere!) a nice man, so called 'dam' befriended us and led us to a top pingpong show, but as we told him it was too expensive, he instead took us to a 'much cheaper' venue. with drink in hand, and not realising we were being totally mugged off, we viewed the show. hard to know how to describe it, maybe you should come to thailand to see this one for yourself!-all i can say is that we were rather shocked! as we sat there in disbelief, a large scary looking woman approached and demanded 3,900 baht. we were under the impression it was 100 each! bad times. after much screaming and shouting at each other, with me nearly being beaten up (she was prodding me with her torch!) we threw down 1,000 baht and fled! a show that should have cost us 2 pounds ended up costing us 6, oh the despair, but a fanatastic story for us naive little westerners to tell, and an excuse to get completely plastered, this time at a much friendlier cocktail bar. the drunken tuktuk back was an adventure in itself, as was the next morning! i skipped breakfast and laid intead very still in bed whilst the boys braved the local cuisine with less than stable stomachs! needless to say it was a very relaxed day with large helpings of junk food, water and trash tv!

yesterday was more productive, as we hunted down some US dollars for our local payment. a lot harder than we had anticipated! sweaty and frustrated we tried every bank and exchange booth, to no avail. no where had any notes for us! after searching the greater part of bangkok, we eventually found an abundance of notes, in a bank located RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOTEL. again, what mugs! we also did some laundry, although when i say we, it was a nice little thai man with a long beard and it smelt...amazing! then it was time to meet our group! there had been much eyeing up of white people in our hotel, as we wondered if they were staying there in preparation to the trip, as we were. oh the suspense! we all made an effort with our outfits, under johns instruction so that they would get 'the right impression of us!' what is he like! he then told us that we must drink a fair deal at the meal, so that they would 'know what they were in for!' our group is lovely. we are the youngest by far, with a newly wed canadian couple in their 40's, a man called steve from canberra, (who was also mugged off by buying a fake ruby! come on thats worse than ours!) and rebekah, from adelade, who is big on laughs. they all seem pretty cool, and we love our guide, darra. he is from cambodia and has already told us some really interesting stories. we feel set for an awesome and educational month of travels!

this morning we went on a khlong boat trip along Bangkok river, where we sat and relaxed as we passed through a little village. it is just like what you see on telly, the wooden houses on sticks, the washing pegged to the veranda, and the houses crumbling down into the water. it was beautiful, but a bit sad as you could see the poverty of the poor in harsh comparison to the rich.

after the khlong, we visited the 'what po' temple, which houses the largest reclining buddha in the world. it is also the oldest temple. the heat was overwhelming, so we hopped in a cab back to the hotel for some air-conditioned-goodness and to tell you all of our adventures so far. we are now off to prepare for our overnight train, heading up to chaing mai, which should take around 14 hours, but is our most comfortable train ride so we are looking forward to it.

hope you are all well, and that the sun is shining for you back home.

lots of love, tors sam and john xxxx