Bangkok, round two!

After three full days in Bangkok already the prospect of another two could, to some I guess, be a little overwhelming. We couldn't wait to get back out there!

After sitting down and planning our assault for the next few days we ventured outside once again into the intense heat of inner city Bangkok and headed for Bangkok's very own Chinatown. Arriving into the thick of it you instantly got the feeling that if you didn't like crowds, dirt or suffered even slightly from claustrophobia then this wouldn't be the place for you. It was, in every sense of the word, insane. We have experienced madness in hong kong, several places in china, Hanoi and Saigon but this was as if someone had turned the notch up to full blast. At one point, after almost army-crawling down a sidestreet, we found ourselves trapped by delivery trucks on either side. We got out by climbing over several stacked boxes...

After buying a wicked teapot and cups for our imaginary home we made our way out of the chaos and headed towards the metro so we could make for the air-conditioned sanctity of another mall, we had many choices! In the end we made our way back to terminal 21 where we ate the most amazing food I think we have had in Thailand. Yet again, the food court proved irresistible. It's almost as if every small food station is trying to outdo each other. The food was out of this world! We ate crab, shrimp and pork dim sum and the most tender stewed pork you can imagine. I hate to bang on yet again about food but it was astonishing.

From there we took in another film at the cinema, how could you not for two pounds! It's like nineties prices! This time we watched a film called five days of war about war reporters in Georgia after the Russians invaded three years ago. Great film about such a recent subject, go see. Once out we took a walk down Sukhamvit road, quite possibly the busiest road in the world where we passed through 'cowboy street', a brightly neon lit street that catered for the mostly fat, old western men with a fondness for young Thai girls. We have seen it now for two months, more than that if you count Saigon too, but it still turns my stomach. It is both sad and depressing that the only way they can get their intimate gratification is by paying some young girl who's only interest in you is when you will next give her some baht.

Anyway, after walking for another hour we eventually found a place doing 40 baht draught beers so decided to pull up some chairs! Leaving a couple of hours later, slightly worse for wear, we made our way back to the hotel where we once again paid a visit to the pizzeria!

For our last day in Bangkok we decided to concentrate on the old town area. After sipping green tea in a great little tea room we walked around the tightly packed streets until we came across koh San once again. As we walked down the street a small guy essentially grabbed me by the arm and shoved me into a barbers chair. Although I needed a haircut the site of the big Thai guy plugging in his giant razor was enough for me so in a flash threw off my towel and cloak and dashed down the road! Shell was in stitches. I was happy I'd escaped the demon barber of Bangkok.

We did manage to haggle a bloke down for two lonely planet books (Malaysia and new zealand) to a reasonable price before we headed for a coffee. After booking our flights and next hotel for malaysia we made our way back towards our hotel for a well earned rest, we were shattered!

The time has finally come to not only leave a city we have completely taken to but a country that has been our hone for nearly two months now. When we look back, hopefully in years to come, about our time here, we can have nothing but broad smiles. We know this isn't the hardest place to travel in the world and we certainly aren't breaking down barriers here but Thailand represents a culture and a people that are crucially unique. I guess one of the big reasons people keep coming back here is for it's natural beauty, the beaches, the mountains, that sort of thing. You can't really blame them. For me though it will eternally be the smiles. The feeling that even though everyone is trying to get on, no one takes life too seriously. A smile really does go a long way. And I suppose that is Bangkok, a city with an international reputation, not always for the better. It's huge, dirty in places, wildly chaotic and suffers from choking pollution but ask us to go back and both shell and I would bite your hand off for the ticket. I think you could compare it to smoking, ultimately dangerous and bad for your lungs but highly addictive.

Next up, Malaysia and a country we know next to nothing about. We are in the process of frantically searching through the lonely planet for inspiration. We can't wait though, a whole month until we fly to Perth. Asia, in this instance anyway, is definitely our oyster.

Peace and love, Tommo and 'face 'xxx