Right - my first post in Thailand!

This is bound to be a long 'un, so bear with me.

My initial impression of Thailand was not a good one. It is unfortunate that Bangkok is the first port of call for the main bulk of travelers heading to Thailand. I say 'unfortunate' as Bangkok is one nasty place. It is humid, dirty, crowded, smelly, majorly polluted and full of touts and rip-off artists.
Sadly many people seem to get the wrong impression of Thailand and it's people from their experiences in Bangkok, and Ness and I were exactly the same. You soon get to recognize that the friendly man making conversation with you is actually trying to sell you anything from an overpriced tuk-tuk ride to a dodgy ping pong ( and it's not table tennis) show. Even some man who was helping us out reading our map offered to take us in his car for 50 Baht! I do recognize that this is still a developing country and that poverty is a problem, but the aggression and determination that people show in order to get at your money astounds me. But then this is the first non-Western country I have been to on my own, and so I obviously wasn't prepared.

Once I managed to escape the horror of Bangkok, and headed north to Chiang Mai (known as the "Rose of the North") I began to get a taste of true Thai life. Chiang Mai is a complete opposite to Bangkok. The people are openly friendly for a start, they converse with you because they want to, not because they've got their eye on your wallet. It is amazing how jovial they are, and how well they look after visitors to their country. The guides on my 3 day trek in Chiang Mai were no exception, especially when they rushed to my aid after I vomited at the end of my bed, thanks to some drinking games and dodgy Thai whisky. Never touching that stuff again.
The Thais also (oddly) love English football, and as soon as I mention I'm from near London (far easier than saying Bedfordshire, and getting a blank look) they all go :-

"Ahhhh!! Lon-don!! Chelsea! Tottenham! Arsenal!!!"

It is even more amusing to see their reactions when you say you don't like football.

The food here is also amazing, I am eating a big meal including noodles/rice and a drink for less than a pound. In fact the exact same meal I had at a Thai restaurant at home (chicken with cashew nuts, rice and a drink) cost me about a tenner. I could feed myself for over a week on the same amount here. With things being so cheap I've also 'accidentally' bought quite a lot of things I don't need, like clothes and jewellery. But at less than a fiver for a hand made skirt, I'm not going to complain. (Until my back gives way under the burden of my overpacked bag).

Speaking of amazing food, the toilets are the exact opposite.

All the hotels I've stayed in have had normal sit down loos, but anywhere else (service stations, tourist attractions) have what's known as a squat toilet, which looks like a bidet set in the ground. You basically place your feet (shoes on, because these toilets are all minging as hell) either side of the 'toilet', squat down and have a party.
Annoyingly, the worst thing about these bogs is that you can't flush loo paper (which us 'Crazy Westerners' with our 'Crazy Toilets' have to provide ourselves) down the actual toilet. Instead, it goes down a bucket next to the toilet. You then have to 'flush' the loo by pouring water from a bucket down it, and praying that whatever you've done in there goes away with minimal fuss. I have to say that the toilets I used on my hill tribe trek were particularly terrifying, and it is there that I learnt the art of taking off my trousers, rolling up my trouser legs, and taking off my underwear, all standing on one leg.

That's an art I can put on my CV I reckon.

I think this is all I can write for today. I haven't mentioned any of the places I've been much yet, and I will get round to it, but I thought I might give some initial impressions of my thoughts on Thailand so far. And it's bastard toilets.