I cannot say how wonderful it is to be in Thailand. To be away from the noisy streets and constant stares of India feels so good. Suddenly I am normal again. I am astounded by the contrast between the two countries. I had been in India so long I forgot how poor it was, compared to the rest of the east. Thailand has been absolute luxury in comparison.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was the calmness and order. The airport was clean and everything worked. The roads were smooth, quiet and ordered, nobody swerved in front of you, and there was no hooting. It felt like I had been transported to the future.

I found a nice hostel on the Khao San Road, with a lovely garden restaurant serving proper tea and coffee and fabulous Thai food. I spent the whole of my first day just sitting there, drinking good tea and resetting my brain for the new world I had just entered.

The first few days in Bangkok I was exploring and meeting people. I went to Thailand three years ago, so I knew what to expect, although it has definitely developed a great deal since then. The whole place is totally geared up for tourists now. It makes life a lot easier, I must say.

I took a boat along the Chao Phraya river and visited some Buddhist temples. I'd already visited the main tourists sights, such as the Grand Palace, so I didn't return this time, although I did call in on the Chatuchak weekend market, which was amazing. It is absolutely massive and seems to go on forever, selling everything from furniture to fish. I especially liked the pet section.

Tourists in Thailand are very different from those in India. The country seems to be full of young English people, mostly on short summer breaks. On the whole, I think I prefer the travellers in India, but the Thai people themselves are lovely: very polite and quiet and less intrusive than the Indians I encountered.

Somebody I met took me to the Oriental Hotel (a top hotel in Asia), for a luxury tea ceremony, and we ended up drinking Mai Tai's and smoking Cuban cigars in the jazz bar all night. A real treat. Someone else offered me some work on film shoot - they wanted some foreign extras - but I was a little suspicious, so I declined. Why do I always get accosted?

I avoided Bangkok's red light district, but the prostitution is still very visible, especially where I was staying. There were lots of ladyboys hanging around on street corners freaking people out. More disturbing was the common sight of fat, old, western men with petite, young Thai girls hanging off their rich arms. Makes me sick.

I escaped the bright city lights and went up into the jungle for a few days to Khao Yai National Park. It is fantastic: one of the biggest national parks in Thailand, covering an area of 2000km. Joining a group of Germans, I did a trek with the promise of tigers, but again there was no show, although I did see elephants, gibbons, turtles and lots of deer. I was especially excited to see a giant squirrel.

The jungle was very lush and green and the sounds were amazing. Crazy buzzing insects in the trees and birds maniacally squawking at each other. We saw falcons, trees full of hornbills and countless colourful butterflies fluttering about. There were giant black and yellow spiders everywhere and I very nearly walked straight into one. I was busy trying to take a picture of another spider I had spotted up in a tree, when I suddenly came across an even bigger one about two inches from my nose. That got the adrenalin pumping, alright.

We had to wear special white, leech socks which went up to your knees, in order to spot them before they sucked all your blood. It was all a bit gross having to flick them off all the time. They move so fast as well, you need to check constantly. I thought my blood had escaped the vampires, only to find one had miraculously crawled through the sock and into my boot and was sucking away happily at my ankles. Not for the squeamish.

Later, we went on a night safari, in an open truck through the jungle. There were monkeys sleeping in the trees, lots of deer grazing and porcupines scampering about. We visited a cave of a million bats and watched them all leaving the cave to feed. They flew in a thin line and looked like a swarm of bees, and the procession went on for about half an hour.

After the jungle I decided to chill out on one of Thailand's paradise islands, Ko Chang, near Cambodia. It was quite deserted and very beautiful. I just lay on the beach and read and wrote. I rented a tiny bamboo hut which was perched on stilts right on the beach, with a hammock hanging outside between the coconut palms, and felt I could stay there forever.

Now I am back in Bangkok, and heading to Japan soon. Unfortunately, as I predicted, I have no time to visit Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia: my friend in Japan is leaving at the end of the month and I want to go when he is there. I wanted to be free from deadlines this year, but it seems you can never escape them.

Donna
xx