I arrived in Bangkok on the Fourth of May with Josh and Pat, my two companions in travel. We had with us just our large rucksacks and smaller day rucksacks. Instantly as we neared the exit, we were verbally assaulted by all kinds of taxi drivers wanting to take us to central Bangkok - apparently it was quite a distance. Eventually we settle on a guy who wants 1000 Baht; okay we say, we had a few thousand each on us ready so we went with it. The car park was just across the road, he said.

Wearing our jeans and t-shirts, we smile and head out of the door and feel as though we've been hit by a bus. The heat was like nothing any of us had ever felt, having never left Europe. By the time we cross the road and get to the car in the car park, we're all covered in sweat. The driver is a chatty guy and the thirty minute or so journey to Bangkok central was enjoyable, especially just to get a feel of how things looked out here. The driver was our first encounter with a tout; he wanted to sell us "boom boom" with "big girl". Assuring him we were happy just to go find a hotel, he dropped us off at Khao San road and we were on our way.

We reached the end of the heaving road, having seen a fair few hostels but not particularly wanting to stay right there, we stopped to think for a moment. A man came up to us and instinctively me and Josh assumed he was a tout and so ignored him; Pat however spoke to him and he seemed to be fairly genuine. He was called Donny and he was a History teacher, apparently he'd show us a nice hotel. We went down a few alleys and roads (one of which someone had just been shot and killed on) before we reached an incredibly tranquil local area and a very nice hotel. We got changed and showered and went to head out, and Donny was downstairs still; he said he'd show us a place for a nice meal.

We went to this little restaurant with small stools and no menu and had one of the best meals of our lives. We drank a load of bottles of Heineken and generally had fun with Donny and the locals. Eventually, me Pat and Josh split the bill and then Donny told us he'd take us to a local bar, and he'd pay for the taxi and the drinks. I had gotten fairly dubious by this point but he did indeed pay for it all, and we had a good night drinking rice whiskey and chatting to the locals, learning about their culture and teaching them about us.

The next day we awoke fairly late and then found that we could take a tuk-tuk around town for 30 Baht all day, and he'd take us to various landmarks and wait for us whilst we looked around. Our driver was an excitable guy called Tiger, and we filled up the culture quota by going to various Wats and seeing the world's largest golden Buddha. Afterwards, we had a good meal and a few beers with Tiger who was more than happy to drink and drive, which we soon picked up was fairly standard in South-East Asia.

We were fairly tired after the hot day and so went back and had a nap. We woke up and went out to Khao San road at about eight. We went into a bar that was playing the football and decided to indulge in a phenomenon known as the "bucket". We weren't entirely sure at the time, but we soon realised it was simply a bucket with a half a large bottle of spirit of your choosing, mixed with a few different soft drinks (usually including Red Bull). We had for some reason come to the assumption that bars closed at around two.

By nine o'clock in the morning both of my friends had disappeared and I realised that in fact my previous assumption was entirely off the mark. I said goodbye to the various new friends I had made and somehow explained to a non-English speaking tuk-tuk driver to take me back to my hotel which I didn't know the name of. I woke up in the bath tub. To this day it is a mystery how I got back as I did not even remotely know the way.

We had one more night in Bangkok on which we took it easy, then we decided we were tired of the ridiculous hustle and bustle and the constantly being bothered and got on a train to Chiang Mai, where we we would go trekking.

'til next time.