Las foo stop

Well after all that extensive researching we eventually got to Bangkok on the night bus rather than the train. We thought we'd just check with a travel agent to see what prices they could give us for the journey and it turns out the train (well at least the seats we could afford) was full anyway and the bus was half the price. So much for my foolproof plan of turning up at the train station and hopping on a train! With the help of a lovely lady boy travel agent we got sorted with tickets and here we are in the bright lights of Bangkok. (I'm confused as to whether lady boys should correctly be referred to as he or she - I guess "she" makes more sense) Anyway, she was so lovely and helpful, I have no regrets about missing the train experience (or a night of sleep) at all.

The 13 hour over-night bus journey was pretty painful but we had a good load of people to while the time away with. How people manage to sleep in so many weird, contorted positions is beyond me though. I mean, I try, but my body just won't cooperate - I start out in one position and my neck will start whinging that it hurts so I move and then my hand gets pins and needles so I move again and my hip starts clicking out of joint. And so it continues for 13 hours. It's like all of my bones and joints conspire against me to punish me for putting them there in the first place. Stupid high maintenance body parts!

By far the funniest part of the whole trip was our 1.45am break. By this time pretty much the whole bus is fast asleep (those with agreeable body parts obviously). There's a large restaurant type set up that apparently stays open just for the night buses, as such they make dam sure that they get there money's worth from us! Most people were rudely awoken by the bright lights flicking on the bus and then there's a shout up the bus that this is "the las foo stop." And in case anyone should have missed that, the driver parades around the bus bellowing "las foo stop" at the top of his lungs. Literally noone escapes. So there we are - all these half asleep passengers being practically force fed all manner of Thai food delights at 2am in the morning. To me and Brett, semi hysterical as we are from lack of sleep, this is still funny now! (It's the small things!)

We arrived in Bangkok at about 7 in the morning - a really nice time to arrive in a new place. There was a light rain which woke us up enough to stumble the streets and find somewhere to stay. And we seem to have got lucky with a lovely, friendly little guest house just off Kho San Road which is cheap and cheerful and has a nice little court yard so we can sit and chat, away from the constant hustle of the streets. And we even have a window this time (in fact two windows!).

Not only is there bigger and better food available in Bangkok, but the coffee is a million times better than down south. There, we mostly got by on some kind of instant shit and if you wanted anything nicer you paid for it. Today, we stopped at a little takeaway coffee place and asked for Thai style coffees. They were sweet and strong, oh so strong! I think that's what's keeping me going now 10 hours later. So far, Bangkok is seeming alright by us (wired on caffeine and dysfunctional as we may be!)