We've been in Thailand about 6 days now. First to Bangkok where we spent 3 days exploring the markets, the side street bars(!!!), the canals and the Thai monasteries, known locally as Wats. It's been a bit of a shock to the system. Bangkok is so westernised and highly developed. Even the infamous Khao San Rd, featured in the 'Beach', is so much more developed and chilled out than we had expected. With lots of budget shops, loud bars, cheap restaurants and roadside stalls, this area is often called a backpackers ghetto. But we found it to be rather less hectic tha it's reputation suggests. After India everything seems like a doddle. People are friendly and colourful but they don't harass you in the same way. And buses actually run on time. We even got to see the latest Harry Potter film, The Goblet of fire, in one of the massive mega stores that exist here. We actually spent 7 hours roaming around inside this 7 storey gigantic shopping complex, eating, drinking and generally browsing for bagains. Everything is so cheap! A real shoppers paradise. Had to forceful remove Isa from the premises. She vows to come back and fill here suitcases with 100s of 'girlie-things' before we head home.

After Bkk we headed down to the Gulf of Thailand, and straight into a storm! It's been raining very heavily here for the past 3 days. Apparently, the monsoons haven't finished, November being the worst month for rainfall. I thought that I had seen heavy rainfall in India but here it's worse. The showers can start with little or no warning and pour out in less than a few minutes. Never seen so much water to gather so quickly in the one place. A dry road or path can suddenly become like a river in a matter of minutes. Makes trying to get around whilst staying dry a bit of fun. (We were down to our last change of clothes within the first few hours of landing on Koh Tao). Today, we start an open water diving course. So for the next 4 days it really doesn't matter what the weather does, we'll be wet one way or the other!!!

Noddy, in Bangkok?
Wat statue
palace from outside
Canals
Isa on Khao San Rd