Cian (Ireland) and I walk down the street until it dead ends into the canal. We are taking the boat into town to spend time on Kho San Road. This is the backpackers hub of the world. The area is filled with hostels for backpackers as well as all sorts of restaurants, tattoo parlors, bars and all sorts of vendors selling goods and food. It's crowded and lively all night long. We make our way slowly down the street, rubbing shoulders with other backpackers and locals. There is an offering of about anything you want here. I don't want anything.

James (from Australia) had to leave yesterday . He teaches school and has been off for the summer (it's summer in Australia now), but school is about to start back. So it left Cian and I doing this trip today. It will take about 40 minutes on the river boat to get to Kho San Road.

Jai is Australian also and has just left India to come here to Thailand for awhile. Dierk, (German, but has been living in Cambodia for a number of years) is here to get knee surgery from a injury he got in a soccer accident. The hospital is just next door almost. We talked extensively and he gave me a lot of good information about traveling to Cambodia. He also gave me his number in Siem Riep to call him when I get to Cambodia. The hostel is full now, with a lot of backpackers checking in today.

On Koa San Road Cian and we eat a popular Thai dish, Pad Thai. It is noodles and then you choose if you want eggs in it or eggs and chicken or a few other choices. We get the eggs. We buy it from a street vendor and it is cooked right in front of us . At least, the eggs and other ingredients are. The noodles and chicken have already been cooked. We buy the noodles and chicken Pad Thai and it is delicious. It is served on a paper plate and we eat standing up in the middle of throngs of people walking around us.

It's dark now and the river boats have stopped running. We walk around town for a while before deciding to get a tuk tuk to the sky train station. 100B for the two of us, about $1.50 each.

We ride the Sky Train back to our hostel. 25 baht. (84 cents).

The next day Cian and I decide to take a walk to the Lumpini Park in Bangkok.

Lumpini Park is an inner-city haven of tranquility, fresh air and shade. Once inside the park the busy Bangkok streets seem far away. The open space and trees and lake are just the key to unwind in this busy city. The park is more than a half million square kilometers.

Historically, it dates back to the 1920s and was set to be an exhibition centre for Thai crafts and flower displays. Lumpini Park is filled with the locals on this sunset evening. They are jogging, walking, sitting by the lake and there is even an outdoor gym with guys working out.

We head on down the way to find the Snake Farm. Here you can see them extract venom from the snakes, see the hatching of snakes and learn about them. You can even handle them and have your picture taken. Unfortunately, we are late. It closed about 3:30 in the afternoon.