This morning we again awoke around 4am, but after half an hour or so awake managed to sleep in til 9. Deciding on breakfast today we went down to check out the offerings, though my stomach still felt as though there was precious little room in it. I just had some fruit, and Mrs Tom had some pastry thingy and some weird other bits and bobs, of which there were plenty on display.

With plenty of time to kill until 6pm when we were to meet with Rafaele, our tour guide, and the rest of our party (known only to us as the names Summer, Barry, Gaynor, Darren and Steven on our into pack for the moment) we plumped for another trip into town. Feeling a little braver, we decided on the public boat, and with directions from our hotel porter we set off down the road the short journey to the pontoon under the road bridge where we were to catch the boat.

Here we encountered a widened old man who told us important tales of wars won and lost. Actually he didn’t, he just took to us because we were from England and he knew a bit of English. He apparently lived near the bus stop near our hotel, and was what he called a Chinese Thai, though he said he was born in Bangkok, so perhaps we’ll learn what that meant another time. He also told us the fare for the journey. Remember that 300 baht cab ride? The public boat was 13 baht each to pretty much the exact same point the cab dropped us off. Awesome. 25 english pence for the two of us, as opposed to £6 in the cab.

Anyhoo, we strolled through a market, and decided to visit the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is the official residence of the King of Thailand, currently King Rama IX. It is filled with beautifully decorated buildings covered in gold, different coloured glass tiles, painted brickwork and plaster. One of the temples is the home of the Emerald Buddha, who despite his name is actually made from jade. Look it up!

There are many different sections to the palace which stretches a long way, including a few museums containing weapons, donated and acquired items of pottery and decoration, pieces of various sections of the palace which have been replaced and are now stored inside for people to see. We spent many hours there, more than we had intended, so when we left we decided to come back to the hotel for our meeting with the group at 6.

After a quick visit to the pool (during which Mrs Tom went into the actual pool, but I refused due to it being ridiculously cold so instead went for the jacuzzi which was mildly warmer) we went down to meet with our new companions. Having seen many potential would be companions throughout the day at the hotel (“that could be them”) we finally met with Summer, an Australian woman who had travelled in from Australia the day before, and Barry and Gaynor, a retired couple from Bedfordshire who had also arrived the previous day. Steven and Darren however were not at the meeting, presumably not yet arrived. Rafaele began by giving us a drink, and then settled into talking about the trip. A lot of emphasis on responsible travel, and some reassurances that he was there to make sure everything was tickety boo is an approximate summary of the meeting. Steven and Darren turned up around halfway through having just arrived following their transfer.

After the meeting we went for a group dinner, where Rafa (as he began referring to himself, so we joined in) took us to a local restaurant just next to the hotel. Having eaten at the hotel the night before I can say the food was much better than at the hotel, and if we needed more evidence the place was full of Thai people. Rafa chose most of the food as we were happy to bow to his past experiences, and we even had a few beers. It was a good evening and a good way for us to begin to get to know each other. Summer didn’t join us at the dinner as she had met another Australian at the airport on arrival, and was meeting up with her in Bangkok to visit the night markets and eat in the city. Apparently that part if town is where one goes for hookers of all types, including those who like a bit of both. She would no doubt have some interesting stories and hopefully pictures to share tomorrow.

We left the restaurant and were in bed by 10:30, again very tired. Tomorrow, Laos.