Yo!

I am now in Bangkok with no mates and no plan.

Left Glasgow at about 4pm on Tuesday 19th of July. Said the most painful goodbye of my life to my girlfriend Alison who I have been sharing my life with for the past 8 months. Then had about 24 hours of Travelling to get to Bangkok.

Travel was Glasgow -> London -> Dubai -> Bangkok. I had no where to stay upon arrival so checked the Lonely Planet book and got a bus to a hotel which appeared reasonable.

The hotel was called the Premier Inn and seemed to have a good review. It was 900 Baht for a double room with en suite and breakfast included. That works out at about 13 Pounds. Once I was in the room it was about 9:30pm local time. I gave Alison a call to tell her how much I missed her then went out of a walk. Turned out that phone call cost the same as the room for the night so my next priority was to get a Thai sim card for my mobile.

After a trip to the good old 7-11 I was sorted and had an Orange Thai sim card, (+6640446489 if you want to call or text). Next on the list was to get smoe food as I hadn't eatten since the plane. I had noticed a Pizza Hut some way back so proceeded to walk there (Have had too much Thai food over the last few months working in the Thai Restaurant).

I was in an area of Bangkok called Thanon Sukhumvit which is quite a new development. There is one very busy road going through the district and I walked the full length of it to get to Pizza hut. Unfortunately on my arrive Pizza Hut was closed :'( so I walked back to a 24hour Thai cafe.

The cafe served western food aswell but I figured I'd make a start on eatting Thai in Thailand so had some Chicked Garlic stirfry with rice and a Singha beer. Walking back to the hotel was quite interesting. As before when I was in Kuala Lumpur, I knew that everyone could see I was a white european and therefore a tourist with money to spend. It took me a little while to get used to ignoring everyone that shouted at me beacuse if you even glance over at them they won't leave you alone. This includes people who want to take you to have a suit made, beggars (usually with small children or missing limbs), taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers (Who screach to a halt and try and get you in there cab, and of course prostitues and lady boys shouting "Hey sexy man, where you go!". I managed to get through most of this ok but one of the lady boys blocked my path and tried to get his/her hands in my pockets so I had to run away.

When I got back to the hotel I decided I didn't want to be here anymore so started thinking about where to go. The obvious choice seemed to be out of Bangkok but I couldn't decied where. After considering Pattaya, Ko Change, Ko Samet and Ko Samui I realised I needed abit more time to think and plan. I got the guide book out again and tried to decide which part of Bangkok would be best to stay in next. Banglamphu sounded interesting so I called up a guest house there and made a booking, then checked out my current lodgings.

I figured a Tuk Tuk would be an interesting way to get there as it was on the otherside of town. Finding one wasn't easy but the driver didnt speak any english and wanted to take me to buy some apples first. After some arguing and pointing at the map we where in our way. In the end I had to be a back seat driver and give the guy directions as he seemd to have no clue about that part of town. After getting to the guest house and checking in I realised I had made a mistake.

It was only about 2 pounds for the room for the night, but the bed was solid, the canal it looked out over was rank and worst of all there was no powerpoint from which to charge my iPod! I set of to put some washing on and familiarise myself with this part of town. I tried to get to a temple to check it out but couldn't find a way across the motor way so just walked aimlessly for a bit.

I eventually found myself on a busy road with lots happening. I check the guide book and found that it was Khao San, a very popular area with tourists. It was very busy with lots of stalls, shops restaurants and guest houses. I found a nice Air Conditions McDonalds (by this time was drenched in sweat with all the walking) and got a big mac meal (only 1.50 pounds) and read the guide book.

The guide book talked about afew different guest housesin the area which sounded ok, so I took a look around an eventually booked my self into a place called New Joe. This was more like it. A bit more expensive but it had a nice restaurant and bar on the ground floor, laundry services and a travel agent, as well as the all important friendly english speaking staff. I booked my self in for a couple of nights, £6.50 per night for a double room with aircon, shower, toilet and balcony.

The room wasn't the best, the shower had no cubicle for example, the whole toilet room was the cubicle which is weird. The balcony it about 1 square meter and looks over the hostel next door which is currently a building site. Aside from that the room seemed clean and so far free from bed bugs. I sat down for five minutes and work up 3 hours later, not the best as I almost had my sleeping pattern sorted out. Anyway headed out and found a Boots the Chemist, so got some shampoo and shaving gel and then headed to the internet cafe where I am now writing this.

So now I need a plan. I think I will head out of bangkok in the next couple of days. Ko Samui seems the best option at the moment. I could fly there for £40 or get a bus and ferry for about £7. Once there I can chill on the beach and hopefully make some friends. Alison has mentioned that she might beable to come over which would be amazing but I will have to wait and see what happens. Duncan has said he will come to but seeing as he never turned up to Majorca, Gatecrasher or Glasgow almost everytime he said he is coming for a visit I don't see this happening.

I am going to head for a walk along Khao San road now and see if I can find some speakers for my iPod, then back to the Hostel to have some dinner and maybe a lonely beer.

Tomorrow I will try and sort out smoe webspace and get some pictures online, as my University account has just closed down (not bad going seeing as how I left uni 2 years ago).

Anyway, stay tuned and hopefully I will have some Fantastic Adventures to report soon =)