Kanchanaburi

I went to bed early on Wednesday in preparation for my early morning trip to Kanchanaburi. However, it was barely 11 hours since awaking from the night out on Khao San Road, and overall I can't have got more than five hours sleep. Once my driver arrived to meet me in the lobby he lead me outside. A green shabby pick up truck with some boxes on the back and space for a couple of people was waiting outside. 'Surely not' I thought. "We go in this!" stated the driver. As my face dropped the driver laughed out loud, "No no" he joked. The real mini bus was hiding behind the truck.

It's incredible how cheap things are over here. I paid about 14 pounds for the trip. This included a visit to the Kanchanaburi World War 2 Prisoner Of War Cemetery, a World War 2 Museum and Art Gallery, a marginally hazardous walk on the bridge over the River Kwai, a nice lunch, a quaint little elephant trek, a beautiful bamboo raft trip, a break at a stunning little waterfall, a journey on the Death Railway (built by thousands of prisoners of war, many of whom perished on the tracks), plus what must have totalled about 5 or 6 hours of transport. Overall it was fantastic. The other tourists on the trip were great as well, although one of them learnt the hard way that when you're about to hop onto a bamboo raft, don't assume that the little rock on the water is a stepping stone ... it may just to turn out to be a floating piece of foam. (Whether the locals place it there for a laugh, I don't know!). The trip was incredibly well organised; we did so much in such a confined space of time. According to some of the other travellers, this was one of the best trips they'd been on, and I hope to experience many more like it.

I returned back to Bangkok in great spirits. It felt like my travelling had really started to begin, and the bus ride home had been the first time I could really relax, switch on my IPod, and sing along to myself to some Damien Rice. Whether the other travellers noticed me tapping my feet and mouthing the words, I didn't really care. It didn't even bother me one bit that I currently had no place to stay for the night!

As it turned out, finding a place to stay was extremely easy. After all, I was being dropped off in the tourist centre of Bangkok. Many single rooms with a fan were available, and many air conditioned double rooms were available, but ultimately I found a little air-con single room in the sprightly named 'Happy House'.

With my bags stored in my new room, I decided to be brave. It was time to sample some Red Thai Curry! I placed my order at quite a western looking restaurant, ordered a red curry and a big bottle of water, and subsequently wondered if maybe my taste buds would have found a mushroom pizza and coke more inviting. My curry arrived and looked great, despite the red chilli settled in the centre of my plate. I slowly and awkwardly maneuvered a tiny drop of red curry sauce into the corner of my spoon, followed by an ample supply of rice. As I brought the spoon closer, all my senses were alive with anticipation. Initially I tasted little, but I hung on a few more seconds waiting for the burning after taste. There was none. I gathered a bigger spoon full and tried again. It was mild ... but also absolutely delicious. I gobbled down the lot, paid the bill, and headed down to Boots; the only thing that was burning was my sun-burnt neck.

I slept well that night, and the following morning I went back to where I booked my Kanchanaburi trip and booked an 11 hour night train to Chiang Mai in North Thailand. My Bangkok visit is about to come to an end. There have been ups and downs, fun and laughter, exhausting heat, confusion and sunburn, but ultimately I'm happy with how things have gone. I hope to escape the humidity, but in honesty I have to continue to expect heat wherever I go. Chiang Mai is famous for trekking, so only time will tell what that brings.