Only Problem is I got a little carried away ordering… I blame possibly the best Pork I’ve ever eaten in my life… Sun dried then lightly battered and fried! I HAD to order a second helping! I had told Paul we were not worrying about money tonight anyway…

A few hours of indulgence followed and then the bill arrived. We then realised we had miscalculated and over spent. We could just afford the bill, but not the train ride home. I thought about walking, but it was 11.30pm, and we were literally on the opposite side of the city to our hotel, with no Wi-Fi and no map! We only needed the equivalent of £1 for the train! In a split second I decided to chase after the last table of customers that were just leaving to beg for a pound! I explained the situation and offered to compensate him with some of the contents of my bag chocolate, cigarettes, hand gel?! Luckily, he was a nice guy, saw the funny side and gave us double our asking price “Just to be on the safe side.” What a legend, and hey remember people will always help each other out on the road, and you don’t ask in life you don’t get!

4.) I was having lunch in a little street cafe in the midst of Thailand’s biggest and busiest weekend market- The famous Chatuchak market when I experienced a very surreal moment.

Now this place is busy, and I mean seriously packed out. Layers of noise, hundreds of thousands of people, major hustle and bustle, it’s crazy and I adore it! As usual at a food break I was pretty obsessed and consumed by my delicious food… All I remember is munching away on some Thai fried chicken and soup, watching the world go by in front of me. Then suddenly hearing a single bell sound ring out, I lifted my spoonful of Tom Yum soup to my mouth while lifting my head up simultaneously to find everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was perfectly still. Literally completely frozen in whatever position they were in when the sound played out. I could see to the left of me two foreigners standing awkwardly and unbalanced in the marketplace, like toddlers involved in a game of musical statues- Eyes wide and darting around, trying to work out what was going on.

For a second I honestly had to hold in the giggles, I thought I had found my way into some kind of flash mob or something, it was just so strange and un-nerving for an environment that busy to be transformed into silence and stillness in a split second and then held. It was also really incredible. A minute later the bell sound chimed again and it all just clicked back to normal as if it never happened! I tried to ask a local waitress what had happened, she didn’t speak English, but when I gestured to praying, she nodded her head and said “Yes, Yes.”

Whether it was for religion, or in honour of the recently departed King I am not sure- But I will remember that minute of my life for a long time, for how surreal and fascinating it was, but mainly how beautiful faith, honour and time invested in something can be.

5.) I have partied on Koh San Road, Hangover style! It was quite a few years ago now in all its raucous, crazy blurry glory and luckily no photo evidence exists- Thank god! My favourite memory though is in it’s raw, trashed and brutal state at 6am in the morning as the sun was rising. I was there, (sober this time) waiting for my very early bus pick up. I thought I would stretch my legs up and down the road taking in this crazy scene. Some backpackers still dressed up, still wasted, some slumped on the pavement while locals weave in and out of them setting up their stalls for the day ahead. Kids eating breakfast, remarkably unfazed. Trucks narrowly passing each other, one heading out taking the mounds of rubbish, the other entering with the next day of supplies.

It was here, amongst all of this I got talking to a local street cleaner, I had been watching him for a while from a distance as I walked up the road towards him. What a job he had, a mammoth, dirty, poorly paid and tireless job he had in front of him, cleaning up the thoughtless mess hedonistic tourists create night after night. As I smiled at him and said good morning, we chatted, he then asked if I had a fun night I told him I hadn’t been out, I was travelling alone, and didn’t really feel like it on this trip. He then proceeded to shake his head, and then ask me to dance!

Apparently- “Everyone must dance here, if not at night, then in the morning!”

So we did, a little waltz type dance down the middle of the street on Koh San Road at Dawn!

A second earlier I thought how the locals must be sick of foreigners coming here to party and then leaving a trail of destruction behind us- But this local worker was as happy, positive and non judgemental as any one could be. Miraculous really… He certainly made me smile, which at that time of the morning is no easy feat!

Bangkok is a brilliant city, if your heading to Asia to travel, simply do not miss a trip here and go and create your own random funny memories- You never know what you will discover… Arcade Fishing anyone?!