Bangkok

Had a bit of a drama on the plane, my EpiPen was confiscated by the air steward, as it was a sharp object; "will you need it during the flight?" he asked with the biggest smile on his face, "not unless you're planning on giving out little bags of nuts?!" It was quite embarrassing being pulled out the queue and ushered to one side, I started thinking about Nicole Kidman in Bangkok Hilton, eek!

Got to Khao San Road, and it's amazing. Such a cool vibe, surrounded by loads of travellers and holiday makers. I want to buy everything - but need to remind myself that whatever I buy I have to carry around and I hate carry bags from Tesco! Also, I know I'd probably get it home and hate it. I ended up in this great little hotel on Rambuttri Road, which runs parallel to Khao San and has everything, including an English cafe (yes, I had a full English) and curry house. I've also found this cool reggae bar down an alley off the Khao San, they have a loud music-off with the Harley bar next door, so you can't hear a flippin' thing, but it's great.

Been swapping books and exploring the city. Wednesday is a Buddhist day and all the tuk-tuks get government subsidises to take tourists around all the temples. So I hoped onto a tuk-tuk and went to the 'big Buddha', which is about 45 feet tall and then 'lucky Buddha' which is a 300 year old statue. Met this Thai English teacher, who took pity on me looking lost and bewildered about what to do in a temple. He showed my how to pray to Buddha, which I did. He went on to about a tailors that make suits for Armani, Hugo Boss... Without me or this dude mentioning it to driver, he took me to a tailors, they showed me all their brochures, got out rolls of fabric to choose from, all I could say is "don't wear suits, look at me do I look like someone who wears suits?" So, off I went to the marble temple, where I bumped into a Filipino lady who was going on about buying jewellery in Thailand and selling it on for profit in England. No surprise that I ended up in said jewellery shop...I was starting to feel like I was in the Truman Show. After this, the driver asked to take me to another 'factory' for 'special promotion for tourists'...when I said no, he said just so I can get the coupons (to pay for fuel). He was old and I thought I would get some karma points, so I agreed. By this point, I had no patience for sales pitch.

It's so warm and sunny, although people say that it's cold for this time of year. I think it's blowing in from the chilly northern hemisphere. I'm loving it, having been wrapped up for the best part of 12 months. Hanging out at the hotel pool (it's on the roof), trying to get some colour and because of all the gorgeous French men ;)

I'm really enjoying playing games like 'real monk/fake monk' and 'real lady/lady boy', it's great because no-one argues with me, so I'm always right! I love Thailand and would love to spend more time in Bangkok hanging around with all the travellers and exploring the country, like Chang Mai, Attayutha, Koh Chang and down south. I'm definitely going to come back here soon...once I've cleared my credit cards...and bring a big suitcase!

All my visas for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are now sorted and getting a bus to Siem Reap. Next stop Cambodia!!