Sawasdee Krap!

The sinuous and sensual curves of Thai Buddha statues are completely different to their more austere cousins in Korea and Japan.

Reclining Buddha flashes a bit of thigh.

Nothing better than looking out on the roof tiles of a temple complex after a storm has cleared the air of all that smog and heat.

The famous Wat Po was more special than usual with all the local school kids getting involved in some sutra chanting.

The ceiling of my ultramodern room had all the 'innards explosed' which was hunky-dory until a huge, concealed cockroach decided to descend from its lare behind one of those pipes around 4 in the morning and waltz across my face - and I was worried about the bed bugs...

Good to be back in Bangkok, and the plush hotel I checked into was all very soothing until I took a glance outside the window of my room at the shanty town below... for many Bangkok still represents life on the edge.