Monday 23rd April 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand

After arriving to Bangkok bus terminal at 5.45, my next mission was to find some Internet so I could book my flight to Sri Lanka. A man told me to go to Khao San Road. I stayed at Khao San Road last year during my two week holiday to Thailand with Hugh last year. A cab driver was trying to charge me 400baht to go there but I was determined to find a local bus or a shared mini bus. It was pretty difficult as all the signs were in thai and no-one spoke English. Every person I asked, all women, looked at me puzzled when I asked how to get to Khao San Road so just pointed in a random direction hoping I would leave them alone - each woman pointed in the direction that the last woman just sent me away from. Eventually I found one helpful lady that pointed me in the direction of the local buses. 8baht!! Yeh boy!! That's like 16p! The bus dropped me off directly outside the hotel I had stayed at with Hugh whilst in Bangkok. At least I knew where I was I guess!!! But honestly, it made me smile rather than get sad. We had a great time here together and met some friends that I am still in contact with now.  Anyway, directly opposite there was an Internet cafe so I got online trying to find a flight to Sri Lanka for today but the next one wasnt until tomorrow. I booked the flight for tomorrow morning at 7am and a hotel room close to the airport for tonight. None of the tourist offices were open yet as it was only 7am so I went to have food until I could try and book a bus to the airport. Oh by the way, did I mention that I don't like Thailand?! It's crazy how I have gone from loving it last year to hating it this year as a single female traveller. No matter how friendly and smiley I am I get dirty looks and cut eyes. It's crazy.  After trying to prolong the eating of two eggs and toast for as long as possible, I walked over to the tourist office that I booked trips with last year. It was 8.30 so they were still closed. I plonked myself on the floor outside the shop with my backpack like some kind of tramp. People walked passed me not knowing whether to smile or avoid eye contact!! Hahaha! I smiled at them then they gave in to smiling. Whilst sitting on the floor the security guard that was patrolling the area cracked jokes with me and then when the shop still hadn't opened at 9.10 he offered to flag me down a cab and charge me 400baht for the fare. Although i had turned down many cabs already, the idea of waiting in the heat any longer killed me so I just agreed and thought how great it would be to get to the hotel. The fare actually ended up being 470baht because the guy made me pay the tolls but again, it was less that £10 and definitely worth it!! I had air conditioning and comfort, but most importantly I didn't have to lug my bag any further! Damn bag - I am seriously contemplating ditching some of my stuff.  Anyway, the hotel I booked (Rafael mansion) was a lot more expensive than the other places I had stayed during the trip - for one it was a hotel; I have only stayed in guesthouses so far. But actually it still only worked out to be £14 and was soooo worth it.  I arrived there at maybe 9 in the morning when check-in was not supposed to be until 2pm but the really friendly and warming people at the reception desk didn't even bat an eyelid. They gave me the key to my room, showed me where the hot water was to make coffee and tea whenever I wanted, and then told me there was free water, coke and sprite in my room. Free?! Wow!! I was impressed already. I can't begin to tell you how good it felt to walk into the bathroom and see hot water, shower gel, shampoo, shower caps, cotton buds, but most impressingly, Toilet roll!!! I stayed in hotels often for work, I am talking some really nice hotels where all of these things are standard, but this is the first time in a very long time that I have actually got excited about these things. The first time I went to the Malmaison in Liverpool I took photos and everything because I was so impressed, but the excitement I felt having all these luxuries after staying in places where I was constantly being harassed by Mosquitos whilst showering, or showering in cold water, and not ever having toilet roll, was just amazing. I jumped straight into the hot shower and spent maybe half an hour in there. I washed myself like three times using up all the shower gel, conditioned my hair, shaved my legs and just generally enjoyed this amazing feeling. After the shower I pulled out my cocoa butter, it has barely seen daylight on this trip because I have been constantly covering myself with just mosquito repellent, slathered it all over my body, got into clean clothes (my clothes had recently just come back from the launderette), jumped onto the soft bed and turned on the television. I really have taken things for granted back home but I really cannot begin to explain how frikin good it felt!!   I had an amazing day laying on my soft fluffy cushions and duvet (again I hadnt had a duvet the whole trip), with the aircon blasting watching movies - Save the Last Dance had me in tears though!! It was just joyous!! I ate dates, sour cream Pringles and pistachios.