Bangkok

Oops! With our travel plans changing quicker than Labour's education policies it was impossible to predict what awaited us in the Asian melting pot that is Bangkok! Oh how we'd love to bring you stories from the city's amazing bars and restaurants, pictures of sunset over Chao Phraya River or even an insight into what makes the Thais camper than a row of tents. Alas our decision to base ourselves in the travellers mecca that is Khao San Road proved disastrous for our arrival into this fabulous kingdom coincided with Songkran, the Thai New Year.

Now to put this into perspective, in the first day of four more than 41 people were killed and 500 injured in "accidents" (reports according to the Bangkok Post). You see, Songkran is an excuse for mayhem. A four day water festival during which just about anything goes!

Six plus million Thais live in Bangkok. Now when you add to this number the millions, including tourists, who flock to the city to embrace the chaos that ensues you get a small insight into what unfolds. For example. No one, and we mean no one, escapes a good soaking! The only thing to do is splash out (excuse the pun) on a Super Soaker and get shooting, or seek refuge in a bar. Course the mixture of booze and water only serve to bring out the ten year old in us all!

Fortunately our visit to this crazy city in 2003 allowed us to forget the sightseeing (there's none to be done as everything is closed and all the fun is concentrated around Khao San) and get busy with the drinking and shooting! Black eyes, gashed toes, broken camera. You name it we experienced it! And to think we have hose pipe bans back in the UK!

If day one wasn't carnage (big hats off to the rest of our squadron:Daan, Laar, Mark, Marc and Nigel) during which we were assaulted by barstewards, literally, and chased by coppers - apparently buying all the cold drinking water Seven Eleven could supply us with to shoot bus passengers at 1am is not what the festival's about - then day two was. Food stalls were replaced with DJ booths, hose pipes with foam machines and beer with whisky. By day three we'd had enough - skin really doesn't like being wet for 48 hours straight - and sought refuge in Bangkok's space age shopping malls before opting for a 12hour bus ride across the border to Laos.

Regrettably, as we write this the locals are out in force celebrating the Lao New Year! Seems there's no escaping a soaking anywhere in Asia at this point in time!