[Not putting on an act, but putting on the truth]

Arun eventually emerged to join me for lunch, after which we decided to wander the Road for a little bit. Becoming more familiar with it, it was evident that rather than many options, there was lots of the same things to do - five 7-elevens, 10 foot massage places, infinite interwoven bars. A Gorillaz t-shirt shone right out at me from one of the stalls and i bought it, getting about a quarter off the asking price after a spot of casual bartering.

We needed to scout out our next bed for the following night, knowing that a night out was going to leave us a little the worse for wear the next day. After a little searching we settled on a little hostel down one of the alleys, which was later to prove a mistake. Before we realised this though, we went looking for a place for a quiet beer, and whilst the Irish pub we found wasn't the most authentic Thai experience, the pool table and friendly staff more than made up for it. Plus, i won at pool.

With our uncreative lunch experience in mind, we later went looking for a more interesting place to eat some dinner, and after searching the lanes behind Khao San Road (where any hint of the party atmosphere just metres away disappears amidst local families cooking and eating their own dinners in long rows of open tables) we found an awesome place that served fresh barbequed fish. Half way through our meal, an unassuming little Thai dude set up an acoustic guitar and proceeded to gently entertain us with a selection of belters. He sang quietly and powerfully and Arun and I made sure he knew we were loving it.

Arun, suffering everso slightly from his first Khao San night out, went for a brief nap so I decided to head up to the Roof Bar which we could see from our room across the street. It turned out to be just as cool as it looked. I sat down with a whiskey (a measure of which from here would make several members of my family smile - think triple) and got chatting to Kim, the dude from New Zealand who would feature much more in the coming days. We chatted about tobacco and Thailand for an hour, and once Arun rose we all met up at the big Centre Point Bar - the main starting point for a night out here. With a "bucket" each (essentially a bottle of spirit dumped into a bucket of ice with 2 red bull concentrates and a bottle of coke) we proceeded to meet more and more people, all of whom were up for any kind of chat you like. Kim and I decided to take a crack at pool, but just as we set up two hefty looking Thai girls jumped out of their seat, demanding that since one of them had won the last game, they had to play me. She played one handed and lefty, evidently trying to take the piss, and it was working as we played the tightest game ever. As Kim cheered me on, i kept my cool to sink the black and proceeded to have a little jig before politely bowing to my competitor. This bow might have saved my life as she was anything but a good loser; she turned on Kim, screaming "You fuck off! Are you fucking blind or deaf?! Get out!!" We all left, with a small crew in tow.

As we sat at another bar, some cute little kids came up to sell us some stuff, but taking a shine to us decided to have a dance and sing with us instead. After this, Arun, Kim and I moved everyone up to Hippie the Bar for yet another bucket and after this the night became a little bit Blackpool, except, that was, for the fried scorpions Kim bought back for the three of us to try. They were more than edible, tasting kind of like crackling and with the texture of...well, a scorpion. It was about 7 in the morning and the sun was rising when we realised that, whilst having had a hell of a fun night out, that really is all you get from Khao San Road, and that once is enough. The next day this became even more apparent thanks to some cracking hangovers all round; admittedly one night had cost us the whole next day.

Arun and I did (eventually) manage to check out of our place and lug our things across to MarcoPolo hostel, our stop for the next two nights. Receptions can be deceptive, as upon arriving in my room, already feeling a little delicate, we were greeted with the most god-awful smell imaginable, the source of which i never discovered and am delighted to have seen the back of this morning. The beds were solid and without duvet, so we both opted to use our towels to cover our legs at night whilst being blasted with air con (turning the air con off was a less desirable option).

Arun slept, but i couldn't, probably thanks to the red bull concentrate. I tried to use a cash machine, and so began my adventure with Natwest's fraud department. Seeing as this blog is meant to be interesting at all, i will leave this alone, suffice to say that if the camp travel agent near our hostel hadn't taken a shine to me and helped well beyond his call of duty, i might be on a flight home.

I managed to make it all the way through to 10p.m. and sat downstairs on the Road to grab a little dinner before going up to bed for the best sleep ever (i barely even noticed the smell).

As we both woke yesterday with a film of yellow over our eyes, we decided to recuperate with a creative breakfast of cereal and mango shakes. We decided that we had to pay for our sins by doing some proper tourism, and proper tourism we did. In the blazing midday heat we walked slowly towards the river, aiming to catch a boat across to Wat Arun ("the Temple of the Dawn"). For 3 baht we were ferried south and jumped off right outside the Wat. It is an incredible place to see up close; the intricate detail gets impossibly more beautiful close up and the serenity of the sight of monks eating their food behind the temple beats the atmosphere of any film. The main structure juts upwards like a cone, with stairs along the side getting as steep as probably 70 degrees, an intimidating prospect on the way down. The beauty of this area was immense and the peacefulness slowly brought us both fully back to life.

On the way back we decided to catch the local bus-boat right up the river instead of walking back through town. Our spirits lifted, we watched Bangkok, half beauty half business, roll by for about 20 minutes. The only disturbance on this trip was an unbelievable Manc fella who, when tapped on the shoulder and asked not to sit on the steps of the boat, proceeded to scream right back at the little Thai ticket lady. Arun and I stepped right in, telling him where to get off and that if he did what he said he would and threw her off the boat, we'd politely do the same to him. He shut up.

A tuk-tuk took us home and we grabbed some chicken sticks on the road behind Khao San, Rambuthri, a far more pleasant little strip where the hippie-backpacker vibe exists more strongly. After this we met up with Rory's friend Giftzy, the most lovely young lady around who has sorted out our travel today; we're headed south for Ko Tao island on an overnight coach/bus ride which should arrive mid-morning tomorrow.

We finished the day on Rambuthri with a nice dinner, and hooked up with Kim to say goodbye over a shisha. It was a perfect day to end Bangkok.