Bangkok, Thursday

1104 Just had Spanish lesson. Woke up about IIRC 6am feeling really hot - I didn't leave the air conditioning on overnight, but this felt a bit much all the same. Went back to bed and didn't really want to get up for the class at 10. Maybe was a bit of a hangover.

Not exactly looking forward to going out - it's going to mean getting a taxi over there, and for some reason I have formed an irrational distrust of taxi drivers (I haven't used one yet). Still, might as well finish getting ready and get on with it.

1235 At Chao Phraya pier hoping to get boat to palace. Not a fucking clue how to tell bwhat boat goes where or when or how much it is supposed to cost. Fucked off, I hate this feeling of having to rush about because you "have" to see things

1256 At Wat Pho, more luck than judgement. Continuing rant, when I'd rather be having a relaxe lunch or something. Also, how the FUCK can I be on a boat full of tourists, loads of who get off at the stop for THE tourist site in the centre of Bangkok and yet as soon as I get onto the street I seem to be ONLY FUCKING TOURIST IN THE COUNTRY. I need to be with my herd to feel safe.

I think I am going to have to officially give up. Guide books, friends, smug cunts I might meet in the future can all officially go fuck themselves sideways. Let's practice:

SC: Oh, you were in Bangkok? Wasn't Wat Fuckit absolutely astounding?
Me: I don't know, I didn't go.
SC: Guess you were out late partying, eh? The Bhanglamtwat district is just amazing isn't it, you meet so many people from all over the world!
Me: I wouldn't have a clue.

I'm going to do what I can when I can with what I have and "must'" can go fuck off. I don't care if I do the equivalent of going to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids. As long as I don't spend all day every day in bed, job done.

I also need to worry less about getting ripped off. The chances of a taxi driver stinging me for more than about twenty quid is pretty low and I can afford that. Let's wait until I do get fucked over before being pre-emptively cautious.

Anyway, 1302 now, let's go in.

1435 Walking around outside of Grand Palace trying to find the one entrance. Obviously it would kill them to put a fucking arrow pointing to the entrance on the 'no entry' signs around the building's other entrances. It's OK, I think the perimeter is only something like 2km and it's not hot and muggy and the place doesn't shut super early. (I should have done this first then Wat Pho, but I was feeling harried.)

Wat Pho quite interesting, reclining Buddha is indeed huge. But I'm a littl Buddha-ed out. The best one was a sitting one wearing an orange robe in some littleish room. Was quite tranquil in there, and there was a fan. Not sure I saw the whole complex as frankly the layout is confusing but I think I saw a reasonable amount.

1504 You know, I'm not enjoying this. I'm in the Grand Palace. THB 500, yes, ten quid, to get in. An audio guide is THB200 *and* you have to leave a credit card or your passport as a deposit. Yeah, right. I'm fucking hungry. I just managed to lose my shoes - you're taking them off left right and centre here, I don't mind not wearing them but the off-on is tedious, why can't they just lend you a shoe bag at the entrance and you carry it round, anyway I couldn't remember where the fuck the shoe rack I'd left mine on was.

Wat Pho was OK, it wasn't insanely expensive, it was interesting. I don't want to be here, I want to be sat in a restaurant with some food, but becuase thise closes so frickin' early I had to come here. It's really not ideal to be going round in this mood but fuck it, I'm here so let's really not enjoy it for my money's worth.

1741 At Swagath Indian Restaurant opposite hotel. Might possibly see if I can get some street food tonight but not sure. In any event I need to go back to hotel and look into the onward trip. Frankly given it would mean a taxi there and back and the traffic is horrific I doubt I am going to the backpacker kind of area tonight or tomorrow. I may just try the street food round the hotel, or I might get the metro over to Soi Cowboy and walk up and down it and see if there's anything to eat round there.

Was actually in emerald temple whatsit when wrote earlier rant, the grand palace itself was after. It was OK but do feel it was rather pricey. Finally got something to drink and a Magnum at a 7-Eleven after I left. Walked round through some street market back to the boat terminal, got boat back to same terminal I left from but took different meandering route back to hotel this time. (Not been back yet.) Had a chicken sausage in a sort of bun from 7-Eleven when left hotel this morning, otherwise only had the Magnum and the drinks. I got a corn-flavoured green tea in one place and an actual nothing-but-green-tea in another, the latter being disappointingly but logically un-sweet. ;-)

Ordered chicken dopyaza and lemon rice here. It seems slightly pricey but I don't think it's insane, I expect this with a diet coke to come in at about 3-400 THB. I just couldn't faff around any longer, I wanted to eat and I wanted to eat now!

Obviously I am Doing It Wrong by eating here instead of waiting to eat at the night market, but as per earlier decision, anyone who says that can go fuck themselves.

Apart from having to sort out the onward trip, which may involve trekking over to train or bus station to make a booking, I think I've done all the obvious major stuff or I'm not doing it. So although I hope to get up earlyish tomorrow, I also hope I can have a more relaxed day and eat properly and not be trekking around all over the fucking place.

I have no idea if I will have any beers tonight, it depends entirely on what comes my way if and when and where I go out.

1813 Food not bad, though chicken was on the bone. Will get bill soon and go back to hotel via corner shop, need to get some more water and if I can I might also see if I can get a carton of fruit juice and/or even some fresh fruit. Loads of tempting looking fruit sold in various markets I've seen today but not sure if it would be a good risk.

O Fortuna! playing softly in background.

1820 Fucking hell. Bill is 423 and I don't think that includes a service charge. Considering I paid about 140 for that meal in Deen restaurant the other day this is pretty expensive. I wouldn't have come in had I not been desperate, as there were no prices showing outside. Meh. It's not massively expensive in absolute terms, though I am not sure if I'm going to get any change - they are taking their time collecting the money. Guess a 10% tip is 42 so I'd only be looking to take back 20 or 30 out of my 500 note change.

Feel I've been manipulated by their selection of change but am leaving a 50 note as tip. Meh meh meh.

1849 Back at hostel. Withdrew some cash with extortionate fee. No fruit juice at the tiny 7-Eleven about 5-10 mins walk from hotel; two on other side of road in that distance, but crossing it is such a fucker didn't bother. Hot, bit tired, hacked off. Everything seems such a fucking chore. Got to sort out the onward travel. Where do I go? How do I get there? What sort of accomodation should I choose? I appreciate I 'should' be really jolly but I'm not.

2102 OK, heading out 'soon' to the area round Patpong night market again. Will leave phone behind just to be safe. Guide book says it is one of the main nightlife areas and so why trek halfway across city to go somewhere else when I can walk there? Will try Radio City and/or Barbican; these are mentioned in guidebook and presumably therefore safe and (given its prudishness) not sex show places.

Have had a little look into onward trip. Basically I think the rough plan is to take my time heading up to Chiang Mai along the railway line. First candidate stop is Lop something, about 3h north by train. Have e-mailed a potential hotel to see about a room and hope they reply by tomorrow morning so I can go buy a train ticket. Guide book says a lot of people get train in in morning, leave bag at station and get night train out after seeing town during day. I think that sounds a bit hurried, there is *some* stuff to do there, so I am proposing two nights. Anyway, we will see what happens.

2112 OK, off out then.

0030 Just got back. Couldn't find either of those bars, despite knowing the streets from last night. The description of the Barbican as having Japanese hostess bars outside was bang on for the street, but no sign of the bar. Ended up at Flann O'Brien's (named after the author of At Swim Two Birds? probably not) at the end of Thiyaya (sp), the street Barbican supposedly on. Had four pints of Carlsberg at a reasonable THB100 a go (10% tip on the last pint, I am so generous) and they had a live band on, who were certainly competent but be it me or the place didn't deliver the sense of boozy togetherness I got in that place in Tbilisi last Friday. I may go back there tomorrow night for all that, though I should probably have a day off the beer.

Bought a pack of grilled squid flavour seaweed snacks and a litre of orange juice at a 7-Eleven on the way back. As I walked back through the street stalls on Silom one placed had a T-shirt with Hangover repeated on it in blurry type. I was just pissed enough to be genuinely disturbed by the blurriness and wondered if I was seriously drunk. Quite clever in its way.

0202 Stayed up stupidly late writing draft e-mail to Rab. Anyway, bed.

Bangkok, Wednesday

1339 Up late. Alarm at 0845ish was OK but went back to bed, ditto 1230, finally got up about 1300. Can't even put this down to timezone. Anyway, I do at least feel fine (fingers crossed got away with that ice!) and with luck tomorrow will manage earlier.

Was thinking of going to Wat Pho and Grand Palace but guidebook says last admission is 1530 so I'd probably be pushing it badly today; will try tomorrow if I can get up early (and maybe also take advantage of free breakfast at hotel, which stops at 10).

1749 In Deen Restaurant (small, air-conditioned!) on Silom Rd.

Left hotel about 2, walked over to Chinatown and went to see the big golden Buddha and the museum about it and a separate museum about Chinese in Bangkok, both underneath big golden Buddha.

Then walked back getting drinks at a couple of 7-Elevens. Diet soft drinks don't seem big here. Got a sort of green tea with lemon and evidently a lot of sugar, and some sort of brown soft drink which said 'root beer flavour' on the label and was otherwise all in Thai. I have never had root beer, so I don't know if this was root beer or something else just flavoured like it. While actually quite nice, it had this bizarrely antiseptic aftertaste, a bit like Coke laced with TCP.

Having beef in spicy coconut broth with rice here, plus a can of non-diet coke. I felt bad asking for no ice but I did. Feels tantamount to saying 'I have no faith in your hygienic standards'.

1805 Food pretty good. 120 with no obvious service charge so made it 140. Back to hotel now.

1814 Back at hotel. Portion was not gigantic, I could have had a second dish (eg tempted by Tom Yum soup) but I am possibly going to eat at the night market tonight, so don't want to fill up. I feel reasonably sated; I guess also I've probably consumed several thousand calories worth of sugar with all these non-diet soft drinks.

Vague plan for tonight is to do some laundry (I seem to be getting through two changes of everything except trousers a day), shower of course and then have a good old read in guide book about the night market and these bloody sex shows which I think are in the same area (but not at all sure). Feel compelled to attend the latter, but frankly rather worried I'm going to be drugged and/or mugged. Will be glad to get it out of the way, to be honest. I may leave phone and wallet behind (obviously not taking camera anyway) and just take some cash in my pockets. That is a bit of a shame as even without GPS the phone has my maps (not to mention entertainment while sitting around waiting), but a) I do have a paper map I picked up at the airport b) I could do with some old-school travel with none of these electronic maps and c) I believe it's safe to employ the 'get a cab' approach to resolving being lost, if push comes to shove. If this all really is around the Patpong night market, that is a short walk from the hotel, which helps.

Golden Buddha was quite impressive but to be honest I wasn't blown away. It wasn't as shiny and gold-looking as the presumably-not-actually-gold gold decorations and statues around it. It is big and intellectually the fact it is made of gold is impressive and it's not unattractive, but I wasn't bowled over by its extreme beauty.

Did see an orange-robed monk with a packet of fags on the way over to the temple, which I found oddly enderaing.

Wat Traimit, that's the proper name according to guide book.

I then wandered a bit into Chinatown but a) wasn't desperate and b) wasn't sure any of the other sights mentioned in guide book would be open, as it was 4-5pm by this point. I did see some gilded kind of temple thing but it didn't seem particularly open. Given the guide book didn't lay huge stress of any of the other places in Chinatown I am not too fussed. I suspect I will overdose on temples long before I leave the country anyway.

Feeling very sweaty walking around, though the museums under the Golden Buddha were air-conditioned and revived me considerably. GB itself not, although maybe the shade helped it feel cooler, and perhaps being a few stories up contributed to a welcome if light breeze.

1918 OK, showered and laundered. Water is nice and hot anyway.

Before I read up on Patpong etc, let me observe that I was thinking this afternoon. I didn't consciously have any mental picture of what Bangkok would be like, but I guess I half expected something like Amsterdam's red light district but with temples, huge and surrounded by masses of nondescript non-tourist-relevant suburbs. It is obviously nothing like that in reality. With the possible exception of the number of massage parlours, what I've seen so far has not been in the least seedy - a little bit poor and ramshackle in places, but no more so than lots of places I've been in Latin America. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed - while I haven't fallen in love with the place at first sight, the reality is far superior to the imagined version (except that I suppose my imagined Bangkok wasn't so hot and sweaty ;-) ).

Anyway, I am going to read up on the night market etc and see what can/must be done.

1942 You know, I think I might say fuck it to this sex show business. The guide book seems to adopt a slightly right-on subtext and mixes it with a slightly prim attitude. Basically it doesn't really offer much advice on where to go, beyond saying that in many places you risk being presented with a massively inflated bill and a menacing bouncer. While I do have a slight prurient interest in seeing a woman shoot ping-pong balls out of her vagina, that slight interest pales by comparison with the enormous fascination I have in not experiencing a gigantic inflated bill and a beefy bloke preventing my access to the street.

I think I will play it a little by ear, but at this stage I am not intending to go into any kind of show. The guide book isn't super clear about night markets either; there is one on Patpong, but it may or may not suck. I think tonight I will wander down to Patpong and see what happens in the way of food; unless someone manages to severely beguile me, I ain't going into any shows. I mean, I'm here on my own, FFS. I appreciate the guide book may play up the danger as part of its prissy right-on dismissal of such things, but I am super cautious and I do feel it would be better to do such a thing with a group. I will plan to go walk down Soi Cowboy another night (maybe tomorrow) but on a similar not-intending-to-go-in anywhere plan.

Just possibly I will stay in a hostel when I'm here at the end of my stay and just possibly I will find a group to go with. On the other hand, I'm so fricking nervous about flying into Singapore - both the 7kg budget airline baggage issue and the massively stringent customs - that I kind of want the peace, quiet and 'not been within fifty metres of someone who might have been using illegal drugs' reassurance of a clean hotel when I'm packing to go to Singapore.

Not that either of those would be the place to do it anyway, I wouldn't mind a night out with a few beers and maybe some live music, but the licensing laws here seem almost as strict as those in London (I exaggerate of course, few things could be as dull as London, the city that goes to bed at 11pm prompt, or maybe stays up til midnight if it feels naughty, but still) and frankly I am not sure I'd want to be remotely (five pint say) drunk here. (Unless I get a taxi, I'd worry about crossing most of the roads, for a start.) I am wondering if there's somewhere I could walk to from the night market where a beer or two might be an option.

Fuck it, can't find anything in the guide book. I am sorely tempted to take my phone out with me, but I won't. Let's go have a look at Patpong and then see if I can find any normal bars and if I can't I can come back here and probably make an early night of it and if not I can pick up my phone and go back out.

2032 OK, out we go. Slightly worried about my guts, but I think I'm OK. Anyway.

0000 Just got back to hotel. Have booked a Spanish lesson for 10am which should help me get up.

Oddly depressing night. Walked up and down Patpong 1 and 2. Tawdry market in gewgaws, much touting for girlie shows which I felt a bit sad about resisting, but as per earlier waffle I ain't chancing it solo.

Ended up in a restaurant/bar place on street north of Silom Road, with a Japanese restaurant which might have been called HokkaiDo opposite with a huge animated mechanical crab on the wall. Had four 330ml bottles of Chang at an astounding 6.4%. As I ordered my third the waiter, no doubt just trying to make pleasant chat, said he'd be drunk after two. Very quiet but I deliberately chose somewhere like that, since anywhere more fun-looking seemed to run the risk of getting saddled with an enormous bill. Some tempting-ish open-to-street bars on Patpong 2 but far too many single Thai-looking women sat at tables on their own; nothing ruins a beer like having an expensive prostitute come join you at the table.

Quite frankly felt like a bit of a loser all night, like there's a party going on and I'm not joining in, but I think in reality I can't blame myself for being cautious. Tomorrow night I might go over to the major backpacker tourist kind of area (not noted for overt sexual stuff) and try to chill a bit more. I think I will book in at this hotel for the one night prior to my onward flight to Singapore so I can repack in relative comfort prior to braving AirAsia's gouging and Singapore's customs, and if (as I expect) I am back in Bangkok for more than one night prior to flying out I will maybe try out a hostel and see if I can find a buddy or buddies to make it safe to visit the shit round here. I am getting almost stupidly bothered about it, on my deathbed I don't think I will be wishing I'd seen some crappy sex show in Bangkok, but all the same it is annoying to feel I'm missing out. The fact I am missing out because I'm here on my own makes me feel lonely, although putting that to one side I generally feel fine. Maybe I should have stayed in a hostel, but after the draining flight out and while trying to get used to a new country/city I do otherwise feel it was smart to splurge slightly on nice accommodation.

Tomorrow night I think I need to work on my onward plans, I think this is peak tourist season so don't want to be booking accommodation etc the night before I arrive. Tomorrow night may be pushing it even so, but I'm not doing it tonight so it will have to do.

Oh, the beer was only 80 a bottle, made it 360 with tip. Missed having my phone with me but I sat there and felt drunkenly sad and mused over shit. Not too bad a night really, except I felt I was missing out.

Oh, no real food stalls in Patpong streets, were some generally in the streets and maybe I should have eaten there, but I felt too edgy to be inclined to do so. Perhaps another night. Not eaten tonight as a result but I did at least eat earlier and I feel OK. Actually while at bar did have odd twinge in guts as if I might be ill, as I did while here before going out, but I think I am more-or-less OK.

So maybe I'm a sad git, but if any of my friends has or would have the balls or lack of sense (choose your spin) to go to the bars off Patpong on their own, kudos. I didn't. I know Chubbard went (probably not here, probably off Soi Cowboy, both point is the same) with a group of work colleagues, doubtless he would claim to have gone if he'd been on his own, but talk is cheap. He's also twice my size (25% on the height, 75% on the stomach), which must help.

0102 Bed. I am not really pissed (I reckon those four bottles of strong beer are about equivalent to four pints) and I should feel fine tomorrow (I actually feel quite OK now, really) and at least I will be out and about by 1130ish 'guaranteed'.

Bangkok, Tuesday night

1808 On open-air terrace on 64th floor of err some tower :-) on Silom Road a 10 min walk from hotel, think bar is called Sirocco. It is very misty but the view is nevertheless very impressive. Twilight setting in, I luckily decided to leave flat about the right time - didn't shower or shave after seeing in guidebook 6pm about right. Having what I fear will be an ultra-expensive Singha (will probably have a second, I have about 120 quid on me and Chubbard said about $10 a beer, which is doablee - service so attentive and in your face didn't really get chance to check price)

1816 Taken odd photo but you can't get close enough to edge to rest camera for the 1/8s it wants to expose. I am sure there are professional photos of the view on the web and it's about being here. Weather slightly muggy but not too bad; dunno if the height helps cool it a bit. Basically no breeze though.

1821 Getting another beer; I asked, it's THB 377. Which is eye-watering (more than seven quid) but obviously they have a reason they can get away with charging that. Being a flashpacker ;-) I can afford one more instead of having to nurse the one excessively. Getting the most out of the accompanying pistacios and olives. Getting pretty dark now, the view is if anything even better. Definitely worth it.

1830 View is very cool. On walk over here I realised they drive on the left.

1839 Still finishing beer but asked for bill. 1000-246 including service 10% and tax 7%, so took all but the odd 4 change offered, ie cost me 750.

1846 Waiting for lift down. Oddly tempted to try for the 20th floor bad at hotel before bed. That makes a lot of beers today ;-)

Place might actually be called The Dome. Not clear. On 64th floor anyway.

Adverts for The Hangover part 2 in lobby. :-)

1910 Just got back to room. Feel much more relaxed now I did that walk back after dark and loads of people about (admittedly it is early). Not gone to bar on top floor here, might do that another night, no need to push beers and sleep too much, especially since I might manage to occupy myself an hour or two before bed anyway. Did wonder if I got odd micro-spell of feeling dizzy or tired up at that other bar, probably imagination but given that plus slight worry I am going to get ill from that ice and genuine expectation of tiredness, seemed smart to just go back to room.

2141 Sure I wrote some more but it's gone missing. It wasn't that fascinating. Anyway, I am finally going to bed.

Bangkok, Tuesday

0925 On City line train from airport to Phaya Thai. The express service next train is apparently not til 1030; I asked at ticket office. The signs indicate this and also simultaneously that it runs every half hour from 6am. Meh. This is only slightly slower, is running so gets me in earlier and is cheaper.

Immigration queue was very slow at end. Guy behind me kept saying 'for fuck's sake' and things of that ilk. But no problem, even if they have stapled the immigration card into my passport and I had to fold it.

Airport wifi free for an hour but you have to ask for username and password at a desk so didn't bother. So the earlier blog entry is sat in outbox.

Withdrew some cash. First ATM wanted to charge fee of 150 THB, so said no. Second wanted to charge fee of 180. Meh. Went back to first one and increased size of withdrawal slightly to dilute the fee.

Went to bog to stash cash/passport securely before venturing into city, as well as for the obvious reason. No problem, except I thought water level in the one free cubicle suggested an overfilling or blockage, so didn't use it despite cleaner woman gesturing me in. The other one was the same, so evidently that's normal.

Train very clean, not sure if air conditioned but tolerable. [When I got off at Phaya Thai, was evident that it was air conditioned, just not as fiercely as the Skytrain.]

1107 At hotel. Checked in. Thank fuck. Navigated Skytrain successfully. The air conditioning on it temporarily revived me. GPS didn't work, as it happens I walked the right way, but my map had the hotel in wrong place. Was losing the plot, ranting to myself in street, sweating like a bastard into my thick long-sleeved shirt and jacket and lugging the case (even 7kg is something). Fortunately some helpful chap told me unsolicited (on seeing me peruse crappy Google Maps printout) which road I was on - I knew that much - and was able to point at the hotel for me when I asked if he knew it.

Air conditioning on, avoiding the bottled water in the room lest it be a mini-bar style trap [it does say 'with compliments' on the labels, but I have trust issues with hotels] but am boiling up some tap water in a weird kettle type device (I hope). Plan is to have a shower, cool down metaphorically and literally and then go out and buy water, a razor, food and one or more cold beers, not necessarily in that order. Patpong (sp) night market is just down the street, I walked past it on way here. I am not making any plans for the rest of the day yet. If I can stay awake til 8 or 9 will be happy; proper tourism starts tomorrow. Some v tempting street food smells as I cursed my way along the road, may or may not chance them later.

Hotel is slightly slightly overly formal for my tastes, but for about twenty quid a night i can afford it. Room is big, slightly old-fashioned but it has air conditioning and a shower and free wifi and I am very happy now.

They wanted a credit card for deposit (presumably against damage; room is paid for in advance), but I paid THB1000 cash instead. Hope I get it back but I didn't have a credit card handy (all in my bag) and I'd rather not risk a credit card being used fradulently if I can avoid it. Sure it would be fine but it's a bigger deal when I'm away from home.

1137 Showered. Feel much better. Unpacking a bit. Incidentally room not as cheap as I just said; works out about £33/night, but that is still not bad - a private room in a hostel in Tbilisi would have cost about the same, and been nowhere near as nice.

1229 Just about ready to go out again. Not really sure where I'm going, this is complete serendipity with food, beer and basic shopping as the goal, not an attempt to see worthwhile tourist stuff. I am sure the feeling of not being a sweaty bastard will last all of five minutes, but there you go...

Oh, the boiled (I hope - certainly it emitted a little steam) water tastes pretty foul even after chilling it in the room fridge.

1250 Just walked west (I think) along Silom Road. At Lee Cafe having green chicken curry and lemon tea. Been propositioned by a custom tailor who insisted on giving me his card and numerous tuk tuk and taxi drivers. Bit freaked out. Lemon tea is full of ice, what do I do? This is a pseudo-restaurant. Fuck. Not sure. I'm going to risk it this time.

Saw couple of places with beer but one wanted 100 THB for a small beer, the other 150. It's about 50 to the pound. I don't expect to pay pennies, but I resent paying London prices.

Am walking as slowly as I can - which is extremely uncomfortable in itself, for me - and I am not working up a huge sweat. Weather forecast says heavy rain shower so have brought jacket out in day pack. Have camera, wallet and phone shoved in trouser pockets which probably looks uber-muggable and is a touch uncomfortable but what can you do?

Food here, looks good anyway.

1305 Yes, was pretty good. I doubtless ate it wrong but who cares? Just hope I don't regret that lemon tea.

THB 160 (I think), not sure about tip but paying with 1000 so will leave some change. I cut my nails back in London and somehow I have managed to leave several fingers hurting, presumably due to cutting too short. Ah, THB 176 as they added 10%, so will just leave tiny change to make it 180.

1400 Done a bit of a circuit not far from Silom Road. Jewellers up the wazoo. Quite a few restaurants, none of which gave off a bar vibe. I don't want to go trekking off today. So help me, I'm in Jamesons Irish pub on Silom Road. Not quite deserted, but nearly. THB165 for a pint of Chang (joint cheapest with Carlsberg), but because the barman gave me my change in a wallet I felt compelled to leave what I think was 15 in change, making this THB180 a pint for that perfect London pub price. I'm not having a second here, I will wander up past the hotel in the opposite direction.

Feel not just enormously touristy but enormously victimisable. (On the street, not in this pub. At these prices I feel victimised in here. :-) ) I'm sure this is mostly just because I'm not used to the place yet. I am also hoping I will get used to the heat.

Imagine I can feel stirrings in my guts after consuming that iced lemon tea. I don't think it comes on that quick. :-) I fucking hate my imagination.

To give this bar its due, it is at least air conditioned. They do also have Hoegaarden on tap, though I dread to think what it must cost.

1415 Feeling a bit tired, trying to spin this beer out.

I think this place has the largest time difference from home than anywhere else I've been, at 7 hours.

1430 Don't know if the 2/3 pint I've consumed is doing it or it's just coincidence but I keep wanting to close my eyes. I think I'll hang on here as long as I can then see if I can get a coffee, then go to a shop for water and if possible a razor and back to the hotel. If I end up going to bed at 4pm it's still better than midday.

I could probably have got a (perhaps overpriced) coffee in some of the places I walked past earlier, but I'm not going back at this stage. If I can see somewhere suitably interesting I will go there, otherwise I think I passed a Starbucks on Silom Road earlier when trying to find the hotel.

1448 Nearly finished this beer. Tempted to not even bother with the coffee, but if it keeps me awake just an extra hour it might make all the difference between waking up so early tomorrow I go back to sleep all afternoon and waking up relatively refreshed at a time I could actually get up. Sitting here in this bar feels amazingly un-Bangkok-y, I could be in London. Not a problem as such, as I said today is not about doing proper touristy stuff but about trying to get over the time zone and lack of sleep issues.

1452 OK, I can't drag this out any more. Let's go.

Outside it says Heineken, Tiger, Carlsberg and Chang are 105 THB during happy hour 4-7pm. I really can't see myself bothering, but FWIW. (Doesn't say if that's for a pint, but I would assume so.) Yawning badly.

1508 At "Silom Village Restaurant", where it is 110/140/230 for Singha. I think it is on the edge of a shopping mall kind of place. Having a coffee for 70 plus tip probably. Figured this can't be any more naff or expensive than the Starbucks I passed earlier (but didn't check prices).

This place is basically outside with fans, but it's OK sitting here. I stopped off in a small 7-Eleven on way here to buy a bottle of water (about THB 13 for cheapest 1.5 litre could find) and a disposable razor (pack two, THB 25). I would have preferred to buy a semi-decent razor, but it was basically either that own-brand pack of two disposables or an extra 10 THB for a pack of two Gillette disposables, and I didn't see the point - it's not as if either had a guard on the blade, or anything like that. Just have to be careful when shaving I guess.

I might hope to do a bit of laundry back at hotel just to stop it building up, if I can stay awake long enough. I may even splurge on a beer here before I go. (Oh, at the 7-Eleven there was a sign saying alcohol sold between xxx-1400 and 1700-xxx, and the section was shut off, so I couldn't have bought one to take away even if I'd wanted to, which I didn't anyway, just an observation. I was toying with getting a big bottle of diet coke to shove in the fridge, but they didn't have anything over 500ml AFAICS.)

I am no connosieur but the coffee is not bad.

Couple of Indian restaurants on this road, may check them out at some point. Not dined hugely today but I did kind of eat a modest amount during the flights and don't see any point going nuts; I also want to minimise uncertainty as to where it came from if I do get ill. (Main suspects would be the iced tea or the 'boiled' water in the hotel.)

Major roads here can be intimidating to cross but it is doable, so better than the worst roads in Georgia. I use a human shield wherever possible. Rules of the road seem to be that if you're on a moped anything goes; you can ride on the pavement, turn across it, go whenever you like at a junction. To be fair I haven't really had any near misses yet, they seem to adopt an "I have right of way but will go slowly" style of driving when crossing pavements or entrances to little car park type bits off the main road.

Need to read guide book tonight or more likely tomorrow and see what there is to be seen and where I can/should go. Chubbard also made a couple of recommendations which I need to check with guide book. Need to see if I can trust taxis off the street here...

I probably shouldn't have another beer - and I despise the Bridget Jones' Diary quality of all this - but it's hardly as if two is a major binge. Also since I haven't paid for the coffee yet any rounding or other pseudo-tip wankery should be diluted by the large combined bill. ;-)

It is sort of cool to be here but I don't have anything like that jaunty feeling I had earlier (was it today or yesterday?). I am not too worried, I put it down to tiredness and the related fact I am deliberately not exerting myself to see or do 'cool stuff', just taking it easy and seeing the bit round the hotel as a matter of convenience while I work through the tiredness/jet lag.

I am shamelessly (though starting to feel a little shame) speaking English to people here, without even the little phrases I tried to use in Georgia. Most people do seem to speak at least (very) basic English, but this is Bangkok. Still, tourism here is presumably an order of magnitude at least more developed than in Georgia, so I would guess just about anywhere I go will be similar. Time will tell, I guess. Bernadetta said Thailand didn't really interest her, having been once, as there was no 'challenge'. (I doubtless paraphrase and mangle her words.) Wonder if I will agree with her. Or if I will feel lack of challenge means it isn't worth coming back.

1534 Fuck it, getting a draught Singha. I didn't specify a size and she didn't ask, it looks smallish but may be a half litre.

Oh, no sign of that heavy rain shower yet. Though the sky is overcast and as far as I can recall has been all day.

1555 Nearly finished beer. Might get another coffee before go back to hotel. I don't feel too tired and the later I go to bed the better (within reason) and while it's not exactly fascinating sitting here there is something strangely decadent about passing my first afternoon in Bangkok in such a prosaic, if relatively relaxing, manner, instead of haring off to see some temple or what have you.

Might also help me acclimatise, you never know. Hands feel very sticky at the moment.

1601 Yeah, getting a coffee. I would guess by time I drink it and pay will be 1630. Hotel is probably 5 mins away. Another shower and a bit of laundry will probably take me to 5pm, and then I can maybe do a bit of web surfing (*not* going to try to do any of the study I have gone on about, I'm tired, that is a reasonable excuse for today) if I don't feel super tired. If I sleep ten hours starting at 5pm I'd be up at 3am, which would suck a bit. I might manage more than ten hours, you never know. But if I could hold on til 7pm-ish I just might be in with a chance of getting up when I wake up. Meh, I always struggle. Just have to see how it goes.

(Must say the various mornings recently when I have needed to be up at arse o'clock I have - I think - actually woken up on my own a few minutes before the alarm. There may be some subtle brain-deception going on here, of course. Still, it *feels* a little better than be hoiked out of a deep sleep by the alarm.)

Just got bill. 211.86 - beer was 110, two coffees at 70 each, plus 10% service charge and 7% tax. So taken all the change. Bit odd that 7% tax not explicit on earlier bill for food, anyway. Just over four quid for two coffees and a small-ish beer is not fantastic but not bad, and probably better value than Jameson's on the beer.

At least sitting here does feel a bit different to sitting having a coffee or a beer in London. The oppressive heat/humidity, for one thing. ;-) (No idea if there's any truth in the heat-humidity comfort distinction, or indeed if it is humid here, but if forced to guess I would say it is. Weather forecast said it was about 32C this afternoon IIRC, so it's plenty hot enough to feel uncomfortable. I am guessing it's humid since it lacks the sauna-like quality I correctly or otherwise associate with low humidity.)

London wasn't sufficiently cold and miserable when I left (modulo the transport difficulties) that I can look on this oppressive heat as a kind of desirable thing. ;-)

Be it second/third/fourth wind or the coffee or alcohol, I have lost the 'eyes want to close' feeling I was getting at Jamesons, but I do still feel sort of tired. No doubt however that whatever the cause the joint contenders for worst moments of today have to be that last bit of the flight in when I dozed fitfully and uncomfortably and the sweaty unpleasantness of not finding the hotel. (The sweaty unpleasantness of getting to the approximate area of the hotel was OK, it felt necessary, directed and successful, and was further ameliorated by the joy of the air conditioning on the Skytrain (not the platforms). I couldn't stop smiling as the air conditioning took its effect on me.)

Have snapped a few rather nondescript and guilty photos as I wandered around today, but nothing particularly special or iconic.

Bear Grylls has been on TV here for last hour or whatever. Don't recognise him as such, but his name came up on a caption.

Just reassuring myself I have paid before I leave. ;-)

1628 OK, let's go.

1638 Back at hotel. Receipt for 1000 THB key deposit shoved under door, as promised.

Ooh, e-mail from the Jet Airways notification service telling me my flight departed Heathrow at 1009!

Should have said earlier in addition to jewellers a plentiful supply of tailors and massage places. Youngish woman sitting outside a shop shouted 'massage' at me as I came back to the hotel. I am going to assume there is nothing 'dodgy' about these places. It would be kind of interesting to have a massage, but the idea of removing most of my clothes in a place where I'd fear for the safety of my belongings is rather distressing. Also the idea of requiring anyone to touch my rather sweaty, rank body doesn't quite seem like cricket. ;-)

To be fair, while I'm hardly feeling fresh as a daisy after being out for just a few hours, with the slightly more practical clothing and walking around slowly I don't feel so awful as I did this morning when looking for the hotel. It is bearable like this, and I am sure I will get used to it. However, unless I acclimatise dramatically, I don't think I will be taking the advice of the guide book to do a cycling tour round the city.

I am really not feeling that tired and half wondering if I should try to 'do something' tonight. Let's not push it. I think if I feel up for it one of the two 'must do' high-up bars (recommended by Chubbard, also my kind of thing anyway and saw in guide book) is just down the road from here. That would be expensive enough I wouldn't want to stay long, so if it is walkable maybe I will try heading over that way after dark. Failing that hotel has a bar on 20th (top) floor (my room is on 8th) and if I'm allowed in that might be an acceptably low-effort-but-something-rather-than-nothing alternative to just going to bed.

1708 Done laundry; apart from badly-cut-induced pain in one finger on right hand when squeezing, positively a luxurious experience with the large sink with own integrated plug and a small enough quantity of clothes to just hang over the shower rail to dry.

1726 OK, going to go out and try to go to Sky Bar, which I probably walked past earlier. Can't believe I will be allowed in, but WTF. Oddly scared so going to send this now so it's not lost if I do get mugged...

London-Bangkok

Mon 0547 Waiting for DLR. TfL website suggests everything is OK right now, except for the Overground. No e-mails from Jet Airways about flight delays either. Fingers crossed.

0606 Fuck me, it's warm on the tube. Might have to take jacket off once I finally get on a train, though worried about pockets bursting open. Still, no reports of problems yet.

0621 Just left Holborn on train to T4. So far so good. Of course if all goes swimmingly I am going to be at Heathrow 3h before the flight and a bit peeved, but really better safe than sorry under these conditions.

0641 On surface stretch of tube now. Distinctly cold when the doors open. But that's OK, as long as we don't hit any delays.

0644 Turnham Green. TfL journey planner says 27 mins from here to T4. Checked the flight status on Jet Airways website (though they are supposed to e-mail me if there is a problem), flight showing OK. Maybe it's too early for them to decide there'll be a delay, but still, all good as far as it goes.

0652 Puttering to Acton Town, now here. Driver just said something about a lot of problems with trees down in the Heathrow area, but we've been given a green signal and "let's see how far we get". Sigh. I suppose I have plenty of time in hand and nothing to do but hope.

TfL website shows good service on Piccadilly, so I might hope there can't be anything too badly wrong.

0655 Being held again at signal. Driver says as fast as they are clearing trees from the tracks another one will go down! I hope this is garbled or exaggerated. (He also says it is slow going to Heathrow.) Still, I guess it will probably be OK. I would have hoped the worst of it would be over now, weather forecast shows wind speeds dropping as we move forward. Nothing I can do about it anyway so try to be phlegmatic, and as I say I do have a fair amount of time to play with.

0701 Train in front of us has a tree fallen in front of it. Driver not making an enormous deal of it, "once it is moved we will be able to go", so I might hope moving it is not a huge task.

0710 Still waiting for people to come and remove that tree so we will be stuck here for "a little while longer".

TfL website shows part suspended for Piccadilly line now.

0714 Sat down, feet were hurting. Not a great seat but at least it is one. I stood earlier as didn't want to separate from my bag or have to struggle let people past.

Driver says train that just went past had people on the front with cutting gear.

0724 Moving but there are a lot of trees down and this train may be reversing at Northfields. I have no idea if that means another train might be an option.

0729 South Ealing. Sheep-like nearly got off to train at opposite platform but that one had announcement saying it was terminating at next station and Heathrow train was on opposite platform (ie mine). Anyway, we've moved on. TfL journey planner says it requires 3 buses + train or 4 buses to get from Northfields (next stop) to Heathrow.

Driver saying he doesn't know what will happen but be prepared to terminate at Northfields.

0757 At Heathrow, got cab with three other people from Northfields.

0817 Airside. Shoved all my stuff in bag and passed security no hassles, hardly any queue. Check in was fine, I got asked if I had a return ticket and said (truthfully) I had an electronic ticket on to Singapore. That seemed OK; good, as I have no printout. No problem bringing bag in cabin and I've unloaded some of the bits from coat pockets now I'm through. I suspect if you allow for the laptop bag is comfortably under 7kg even with 200-300g of liquids I had stashed in my coat pocket for the weigh in.

Had small packet of peanuts (this is really gripping, eh?), will save other packet and Snickers for later; if I can't eat the food on the flight I really don't want to be buying anything in Mumbai even if there is time (due to wanky currency restrictions I can't take any cash I withdraw away with me and use it when I return to India properly; everyone says this isn't enforced, but I don't fancy chancing it) so I might need them then. Did consider buying one or two other snacky items but it's not necessary I think.

0843 At gate 7. I can see the plane through the window, no mention of any delays and judging from the departure boards most flights are OK; one to Paris is cancelled and there is a flight to Newark which is delayed until this afternoon, but generally it looks OK. So with luck it is all OK.

Some guys were talking on the tube and I heard one say he'd be interested in sharing a cab to T4. I went over to talk to him in case there was a rush. Only as we were going through the ticket gates at Northfields did I realise his right arm was missing. He got some cash out and we picked up a youngish Scottish chap (going to T3; we went to T4 first) and an oldish probably American woman on the way out. No taxi rank but we somehow luckily acquired a minicab (possibly booked for someone else) almost straight away. £25 (think we made it 30 with tip), there was a general shortage of change so I ended up paying £9.50ish but not the end of the world, worth it.

0852 TfL website shows massive disruption now; seems odd it should have got worse over last hour or so, given weather doesn't seem that bad and I thought the heavy winds were overnight. Piccadilly still suspended between Acton Town and Rayners Lane, so I would evidently not have had any luck waiting for the tube to start up again.

0936 On plane. Seat fine, as expected. Seemed to take forever to get on; I got called in first group as sat at back, but we sort of ended up queuing through the loading tunnel thing for ages. I got pulled aside presumably at random to go through the under-utilised first class boarding point, which I guess was slightly nice even if it only meant I got a bit ahead in the queue and had plenty of space in overhead locker. Guy sitting next to me asked if he could put his bag on top of mine, which seems very (almost excessively) courteous. Have some blankets and stuff which seem a bit in the way, but sure can dispose of them later if necessary.

Battery at 56% but that's fine, I have a spare (probably two) and I won't need much power during the flight, a little music and that's all.

1127 Watching Futurama on in-flight entertainment. Drinks just come round, wasn't going to have alcohol but couldn't pass up the chance for two free cans of Stella.

1152 Finished beers. Bit more hurried than I'd like but since flight attendant opened both cans before giving them to me (what, am I in the navy here?) and we had a tiny bit of turbulence I felt a bit vulnerable. Still, relatively civilised. Been given a small (but super bulkily gas-packed) packet of 'Chana Chatapata' (and I have hiccups all of a sudden) which is some snack food. No sign of any other food yet, but I have my own reserves ;-) (and that's not evening counting what I carry on my belly) and the flight is yet young.

Totally irrational but found myself wondering how I'd get food in Bangkok. I don't know any restaurants! The brain is a funny thing. Still, I do hope they give us something on the flight, as what with time zones and not having a huge (though I feel OK) amount of sleep last night I am likely to be zonked on arrival. In a way it is a shame I didn't do Tbilisi-Istanbul-Bangkok, the time zone difference would have been that less, but 'twill be OK, and I have four nights in a proper hotel in Bangkok so can chill. (I notice, despite me having paid the entire stay in advance, my room is only guaranteed up to local midnight. Gotta love the hospitality industry eh? Still, fingers crossed there shouldn't be any problem with getting there more or less on time.)

(Also, while I'm not claiming to be super familiar with even UK-style Thai cuisine, or that it's going to be exactly the same in Thailand even in the most touristy restaurants, for once my pickiness seems less of an issue than usual. In my admittedly limited experience there are few UK-style Thai dishes I absolutely wouldn't want to eat, which presumably helps. I don't plan on eating any spiders, of course. ;-) )

A tiny bit of turbulence now and some on takeoff and earlier but nothing stomach-dropping yet, which I did worry might be an issue on takeoff given the London 'storm'.

This is a 777, I believe. First flight I can remember in years where you need a 'double prong' headphone connector. Fortunately I do have an adapter for the plug so I can use my noise-cancelling headphones instead of the supplied ones.

Two guys in front of me sort of having a chat, seems a bit random. Chap sat in front of me says he is going to Bangkok, so he's probably connecting to the same flight as me.

Oh, chucked my blanket and pillow onto a spare seat across aisle. Flight is surprisingly sparse (maybe 70% occupancy), not what I expected from online check in seat choice. I do wonder if a few people will have missed it due to storm transport problems, though suspect not a huge impact. I can see two double seats spare on the central aisle section from here.

Oddly chuffed I managed to get hand baggage only, and also that I am doing a nearly two month trip on about 7.5kg of baggage. Stupid I know, and it's not like I haven't travelled light before, but even if it makes no difference really doing it for two months compared to three weeks, I am stupidly proud of myself. Big difference from the suitcase+small backpack I lugged round Latin America in 2010.

Bloke in front just asked if I was OK for him to recline his seat back. What is this, international courtesy day? I'm not exactly complaining but still, all this politeness about things I don't expect people to even ask about is freaky.

Aha, food seems to be coming. No, the trolley after maybe serving the one or two rows behind me (I am right in the tail) has now run on ahead. Still, I think there will be food. And if it is Indian style of some description I hope it will be edible. (Cue repeat of my observations about Thai food earlier.)

Massive burst of writing here, anyway, back to Futurama - series 7, episodes 11-13 IIRC. On last of the three available episodes, will check films out after.

1213 Looking at in-flight map, our flight path takes us almost over Tbilisi. Not that we are that far on yet.

1231 Food actually not bad. Some bowl of white glop which is probably a pudding but not inclined to go near it. Have managed to drop something on the bottom of my shirt and stain it, but fingers crossed it will come out in the wash.

Am almost stupidly bowled over by the fact we get metal cutlery. Jesus, I could stab someone with this stuff. The horror! Watching Monsters U, which is a perfect in-flight film, I was sort of interested in seeing it when it came out but would never have bothered otherwise.

1311 Must say I feel oddly jaunty. Maybe it's the continued absence of disastrous failure I anticipated this morning. Still, let's not look a gift horse too closely in the mouth.

1421 Monsters University OK, if slightly overbearing message. Going to try The Godfather now, since I have managed never to see it before.

1530 (London)/2232 (Bangkok) Going to switch to Bangkok time on phone, maybe in an hour and a half or when the film finishes I will see if I can doze on the 'act like you are in destination timezone' theory. Probably won't manage it but you never know. Mind you, I guess we'll be landing in Mumbai in about three hours anyway. I guess if anything sleeping on the Mumbai-Bangkok flight is more likely.

0022 Godfather just finished. I don't say I followed every plot element in detail but it did at least make sense. V long but would doubtless repay a future viewing.

We got served some kind of wrap - I chose 'non-veg' and it turned out to be bbq sweetcorn. Not entirely sure how that works. Anyway, while not a huge fan of BBQ sauce it was edible.

Hardly seems worth trying to sleep now when we are estimated to arrive in about an hour; I guess the pre-landing disruption will start in 30 mins or so.

0030 Been given a choc ice as well. Am I just easily impressed these days?

0043 Pre-landing bog trip. Had a look in online guidebook re transport options on arrival; sounds like the high-speed rail link to Phaya Thai and then an interchange for Skytrain (which should take me within walking distance of my hotel) is the way to go. I note here that I tried to precache Google Maps yesterday but it's not permitted for Thailand, presumably due to some licensing issues. I have installed OsmAnd - I'm sorry, OsmAnd~ - and downloaded the Thailand maps. I am not very comfortable with the app and at least in Bangkok the street searches don't appear to work, but to be fair you can't search Google Maps offline anyway. I couldn't search for the hotel address properly but I managed to locate it manually and put a marker on the map in approximately the right place, so subject to not getting my phone stolen in the street I do have that navigational option when I get off the skytrain.

We will see but I think I will need to be just a tiny bit more aware of where I am in relation to the hotel/nearest transport option in Bangkok than in Georgia - I anticipate feeling less safe farting with my mobile in the street. Maybe this won't be the case.

0129 We've landed, waiting to move to final parking place or something like that. It's all good, my flight doesn't go til 0155 local, so I've got about two hours. I think we're early, scheduled arrival was 0030 local and it's only 0001 now. Admittedly we are not off the plane yet. Don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but it is looking like this whole journey to Bangkok is going to work out, despite my fears the weather would fuck it up.

0257 It's 0127 local, just got on the plane. I am in the emergency exit row, in the window seat. Not the super-spacious emergency exit row of a 747 or whatever, but lots of extra leg room and I don't feel remotely trapped. Bus over here from terminal. It's hot out!

Steward briefed me about the door, basically I don't open it unless I'm told to!

Was on gangway getting off about 0025 local. Very thorough security check for transit, the bags seemed to take forever to go through the scanner. Boarding card and a tag we had to put on hand baggage had to be stamped after security and they checked this at the gate. Chap just ahead of me had what looked like a petrol can sized container of Remy Martin XL which he was told he would have to check in and wasn't sure how, though they waved him off somewhere. Bit chaotic with the queue but OK.

Battery at 26%, will probably swap it out once we get airborne.

Plane half empty, maybe another busload will turn up as it did look fairly fully booked on online check in seating plan. If not the guy next to me will be able to move over (I hope he does) and we can have a spare seat between us.

There is inflight entertainment system on this 737-800/900 (that's what safety card says), wasn't too sure if there would be after no such thing on the flight back from Georgia. Not necessary as I have Nook/phone music but still nice. Though I should probably try to sleep if I can.

0320 A second load of people is getting on. Not 100% sure it's OK to have my daypack under the seat in front of me; I think so and the signs just mean don't leave bags in the 'leg space' where people would walk through to get to emergency exit. Guess if cabin crew object it can squish into overhead locker, and I have shoved it right under for now.

OK, bloke next to me just gave a bag to steward so I did the same. Not a big deal and don't want to get turfed out of this seat. ;-)

Oh, as we took off in London the overhead bin in front of me came open. Just one of those things, don't think it was bumpy or anything. A certain amount of hand-reaching-up (while buckled in) from the people in front got it shut which I think felt like a bit of a collective achievement.

0357 Not going to change battery now as I fear it might re-enable the phone (exit airplane mode). We have to fill in immigration form, non Thai residents also have to fill in the departure section. I hope I'm not going to get into strife over not having a paper ticket for flight out (I haven't printed anything, since I will need to do so when I do online checkin). Meh. Probably be OK and I do at least have time to argue.

Listening to music on inflight entertainment but it seems to suffer badly from crosstalk, there is a second soundtrack playing underneath what I'm supposed to be listening to. Might use phone, battery at 23% but music is v power efficient IIRC and I can switch battery on the ground.

Must remember to get the daypack back when get off, not just the main bag.

0410 Filled out immigration card, not too obnoxious.

I am aquiring a nice collection of press-and-seal bags from all these security checks; I don't need any but there are usually a few floating around which I grab. Might as well get something useful out of it...

0435 Surprisingly edible chicken curry just served. Had a glass of orange juice with it. Will probably eat Snickers in a bit, not really hungry but I don't want any shit going through customs with it. (Mind you, I did take it back into the UK but I was fairly confident it was OK then.)

Oh no, the food is in the daypack which is inconveniently stashed. I might ask flight attendant to pass it me once people have finished eating. Or I might just guzzle the contents once we land.

0739 Just landed. Spent last fuck knows how long - minutes, hours? - dozing, feeling shit, dehydrated, weird pains in extremities, couldn't get comfortable. But hey, it's only six hours twenty minutes until I can check into the hotel. Hoping that guzzling Snickers and peanuts when I get off will give me some kind of sugar rush energy boost.

0700???? Just changed phone battery. It has retained airplane mode but also decided it's now 0700. Fuck knows. Don't trust time on watch so will have to wait for some chance to set this later.

0806 In immigration queue. Feel a bit better, whether it's the Snickers or just getting off plane. Try to send this now on free wi-fi before I get pickpocketed or mugged en route to hotel.

Tbilisi-London

1145 At Stelzhen Haus. Wasn't going to drink but temptation on last morning too strong. Having pint of Weihenstephan unfiltered, orange juice, americano and a mixed grill. Very expensive but there you go.

Woke up about 730 with full bladder and bad-dreams-but-not-quite-nightmares about spiders. Went for piss eventually and drowsed until about 1040. Packed OK, though someone sat on top bunk across room with laptop all the time I did it. I thought it was only socially inadequate weirdos like myself who would do that.

Walked over here (with bag of course), bit of a trek but despite the slight pre-flight time worries I do in reality have loads of time. Apart from a pleasingish symmetry with this being the first place I came and now the last, I am not sure I know any closer places to eat where I can get something substantial. I was actually just going to have a plain hamburger and fries here but the waiter's English, while good, somehow didn't inspire me with the confidence I needed to trust that plain would mean plain. More of a concern than usual today of course since I don't have time to get a second decent meal.

Do have couple of Snickers bars and those small bags of peanuts still untouched in my bag. Will save those for the airport and/or on the plane though.

Didn't really feel hungover this morning, which was good.

Didn't charge phone overnight but managed to top it up this morning while packing, so I have two full batteries and one fairly dead one. Should be adequate, though need to be sure I get them all topped up back in London.

Weather sunny and only slightly cool. I am sat at my 'usual' table outside. Hotel California is playing very quietly.

Just checked wallet, I have 60 in notes. If I do get the orange juice and coffee this bill might come in about 50-60. That's OK as the bus is 0.50 and I have change. I have a 100 note stashed away as emergency reserve, though if I am panicking and need to get a taxi (supposed to be about 25) I'd rather not have to rely on the driver being willing or able to change it. Still, I do have plenty of time and I don't expect a problem with the bus and if there is one I *do* have money. Maybe I should break out the 100 note to pay this bill; that way I will have some smaller bills to maybe set one or two aside as souvenirs.

1229 Pretty good. Came with some vegetables so maybe I managed one or two of my five a day. Been to bog, mainly to extract that 100 note. Waitress inside recognised me, which I guess is nice.

I think my original order for coffee and orange juice got lost. Beer nearly finished, flight leaves in exactly four hours. It is half an hour by bus to the airport and the bus runs every half hour. I don't want to be there ultra mega early but equally I'd rather be bored there than panicking. I am tempted to get a coffee and the bill simultaneously.

Yes, just getting those.

Out of the blue occurs to me it would have been nice to go to that puppet theatre thing where the weird clock tower was. Another one for the todo list when I come back.

GEL 45.54 including 10% service charge. Might leave a coin or two if I get any in change. Am paying with that 100.

GEL46 by time they rounded the change. Perhaps stupidly have left 1.50 extra. (They gave me 2xGEL2 coins, but I got some change out of pocket as a rather dumb attempt at resisting the implicit (probably imaginary) coercion to leave a GEL2 tip.) Meh, hardly matters really. But I do feel a bit bad about brushing off the old geezer who came trying to flog me flowers somehow, when viewing it from this perspective. Man I hate tipping, it's so fricking complicated.

The above reminds me that another thing which hasn't gone so well is trying to continue to eat a bit of fresh fruit; apart from the odd banana, glass of orange juice or litre carton of grapefruit juice I haven't done so well there. In part it's the 'need' to wash most fruit after purchase, when I seldom have a bottle of water on me while out and about where fruit is being sold. Maybe in Thailand and India with it being hotter I will be more likely to have water on me most of the time.

Suddenly though about 'Allo 'Allo for no really obvious reason. Was it the big 90s storm the upcoming one is being compared to where Gordon Kaye got hit by a falling tree or something? No matter, thinking of 'Allo 'Allo makes me smile, which is good

1250 Finished coffee. Sort of seems too early to go but no point pushing it. Off.

1304 At bus stop. 37 due in 4 mins with luck.

1309 On bus. Driver having a fag. :-)

Sign at bus stop said 25 degrees C. It is warm in the sun.

1352 At airport. As I observed on arrival you have to go through security (bag scan, metal detector) to get in. They don't provide trays for your loose items, you leave them on a table. Meh. Still, not too rude and not a big deal.

1413 Been to bog. Decided I will check my main bag in, because on top of the wanky 7kg baggage limit the wanky security rules here prohibit scissors (full stop, not the 6cm blade rule the UK has) and - the horror! - NAIL FILES. Obviously I could try it on or throw them away but neither seems a great option, especially when I might be refused on weight grounds anyway. I don't know if my bag will be checked in for me to pick up in Kiev or London; I suspect the former, and I guess I sort of prefer that, as long as we're not late into Kiev. That way there is a slim chance (unlikely) I will be able to take it as cabin baggage on the flight to London if the security rules are less wanky in Kieiv, thereby avoiding the extra delay at the London end. Even if that doesn't happen I'd probably feel safer knowing the bag surfaced in Kiev and was handed in for transit on to London instead of relying on internal routing.

I appreciate bitching about insane security rules is hardly novel but it passes the time. Fuckers.

I am not sure if my razor blades would be prohibited or not, probably.

Rather brusque young woman at the check in desk (probably her non-native English more than anything else) told me I can check in for the Kiev flight in 30 minutes.

I might leave the nail scissors (and the rather redundant bandage cutting ones in the little 'first aid' kit) and the tweezers and the razor behind in future. I suppose I need to check the hand baggage allowance for the flight to Bangkok; if it's so low I can rely on being allowed to fly hand baggage only then maybe I won't bother. (Though I should probably take e.g. the redundant scissors out, so it's slightly less annoying if I do have to throw stuff out to comply with rules in future.) Although if nail files are truly prohibited I might as well just give up.

I'm less comfortable than usual having to check my bag in with this not being a direct flight, that seems to vastly increase the risk of the bag going astray. But as I say, I suspect I will have to pick it up personally in Kiev anyway. I'm sure that will be fun.

1430 Forgot there was free wifi here til phone autoconnected. Bit ropy but better than nothing. Jet Airways have a cabin baggage allowance of 7kg *for first class*. Oddly they don't mention a maximum weight for economy, but I think it's safe to assume 7kg. FFS. Maybe I can weigh my bag after I repack back in London but I don't think I can hit 7kgs. (If not I kind of need to go and purchase checked baggage allowance for that Air Asia flight to Singapore too.) Maybe I will make it, let's see. Not a problem now as such, except that I'm bored.

Oh, now I'm no longer there will say I was at Why Not? hostel in Tbilisi. (Though saying it was behind the Marriott was a bit of a giveaway, if I could only remember why it's not smart to reveal this information *anyway*.)

1434 I think check in is being called for Kiev. Yes, it is.

1442 OK, the bag is checked through all the way to Gatwick. Looking on the bright side, this is one less source of stress is
delays do make the connection in Kiev tight. If you trust the baggage conveyor weighing machine, my bag was 7.3kg but this is with the daypack removed with a few bits and bobs in (and the laptop, though that doesn't count towards the 7kg allowance). So if I do leave the extra pair of shoes behind and see if there's any other fat I can trim maybe there is some chance of getting to 7kg and being allowed to fly hang baggage only even on these super-stingy airlines. I guess leaing the scissors, razor and nail files behind might trim a few grammes off.

Oh, she printed me some boarding passes off anyway. Still, she seemed fairly pleasant this time unlike before.

Anyway, let's go get security over with.

1450 Hmm. Just passport control and now I'm in the area with the gates. Presumably the security check on entering the airport is instead of rather than additional to the usual check to go airside. Is a bar (EFES Beer Port) here but I think I will try to resist its charms.

Gate just called and mentions security check at gate. Let's see what happens. Given I don't intend to go to the bar as long as there's a bog I don't have any major problem if I do get 'stuck' the other side of a security checkpoint at the gate. Let's at least go have a look.

1500 No, the gate is right here and there is the usual security apparatus and it also looks a bit like there might be no bog that side. No one else has gone through yet (the wall is glass) and given boarding isn't till 1630 I am inclined to sit out here until either say 1600 or when I see a big queue building up at the security point.

1529 OK, through security at gate. I was a bit confused, flight is 1630, boarding 1600. A queue was starting to form at security and also a second announcement about going to the gate added, rightly or otherwise, a sense of urgency. No problems at security, I managed not to set off the metal detector.

Disposed of all but a handful of Georgian coins in the charity boxes airside before coming through security. I am such a nice chap. Just kept one or two of each denomination, frankly they will just sit in a drawer somewhere but they are a kind of souvenir and giving most of it away reduces the bulk. The chances of me remembering to bring the coins with me when I come back are virtually nil, so in reality it would just be more junk to store if I'd kept the lot.

Very warm here in the glass-walled gate area with sun beating down.

1602 On bus waiting to go to plane. I could swear the announcer, in English at least, keeps transposing digits of flight and gate numbers. Some enormously fat fuckers on this flight. Not many real porkers, but a few and some moderately chunky ones.

There is a plane 'hooked up' directly to the adjacent gate, so obviously not all flights require a bus link. There are clearly not hundreds of flights, so I am a bit surprised, but doesn't really matter of course.

1619 On plane (Embraer 190, not 737, so it is 2-and-2 seating - which is good). Waited ages on bus, then drive to plane something like 30 seconds. We could have walked it, but safety/security I am sure. Seatmate not a porker, so all good.

1705 Been given microscopic cup of tea and a gas-packed baguette; I see white slop inside the baguette, so will leave it unopened. Had one of the Snickers bars instead, not that I was mega hungry. Tea went down nicely, just a shame it was so small.

1839 (still Tbilisi time) Think we are landing in 30-40 mins. Flight stuffy and too warm, even with my air blower on. Felt sleepy, dozed, not sure if really slept much or not.

1916 (Tbilisi). On bus waiting to be taken to the terminal at Kiev. Weather cool, but quite welcomely so. Think it's 1816 here but will wait until get into terminal before changing time zone, don't want to somehow miss next flight by getting it wrong.

1846 (Kiev). At gate D9 waiting for flight (2005). Security checkpoint for transit passengers as in Warsaw; maybe it's so long since I've been in transit I'd forgotten this, or they didn't do it last time I was in transit. Not exactly fast but faster and less in-your-face than in Warsaw; I didn't set the metal detector off for no reason here. I thought I had more than 2h between flights here but it's actually more like 1h 50.  ebookers email says 2h10, we were due to land 1755 (Kiev time I assume), so looks like we were late in. Not a problem as it happens. Also the email does say 737 for both flights; given the seating plan I'm expecting a 190 on the next flight too. Not that I'm complaining - 2+2 seating is way more civilised than anything involving banks of three, and I may imagine it but the seats seem wider than on a 737.

This is clearly a much larger, busier airport than Tbilisi

Battery at 68%; didn't listen to any music on flight (just had noise cancelling headphones on to reduce noise) and been reading Atlas Shrugged on the Nook, so demands on battery been minimal.

We apparently get 'breakfast' on this next flight. I'm not too fussed; I have my second super-sized Snickers, my unappetising packets of peanuts and I think there's a takeaway pizza with my name on it back in London as well. Something to drink would be nice; I'm not desperate enough to withdraw a chunk of otherwise useless Ukrainian cash just to buy a bottle of water though. (And equally I'm not trusting my credit card at an airport.) I have the extra strong mints I bought at Heathrow on the way out if I do get thirsty.

Wow, free wi-fi here too.

1921 Twat here at gate is playing music out loud on his tablet. Wankstain.

1932 On bus waiting to go out to the plane.

1959 Just got on plane. Waiting on bus for ages. The seating plan was a complete fiction, this is 3+3 seating so joy of joys I get a middle seat as I am in 8B. I had been thinking before that I should have preferred a seat C as in case of precisely this kind of mix up I would be more likely to end up with aisle seat. I might super-optimistically hope because of this 'change' of plane that no one will be in 8A, but that's unlikely I guess. Meh, it's OK. I feel fine, just hope I don't get a porker sat to my left (woman in 8C is OK), at least this should reassure me of my ability to handle middle seat.

OK, there is no one else in this row, so I've moved to window seat on suggestion of woman in 8C. Still prefer my aisle seat but 8B was OK and this is better. I hope we're not going to be significantly late into London, given it's 2002 now and we're due to takeoff at 2005. I think boarding is complete. Let's fucking move, people, there's a 15" deep pan American Hot waiting for me!

2024 Seatbelt sign off. I must have terrible BO, the woman from 8C has moved to 7D, so I have the row to myself. Suspect every bank of 3 has no more than 2 occupants as it was booked based on the 2+2 seating plan, may be wrong. Slightly offended about her moving but not my problem. I don't think I smell that bad; I had a shower yesterday. I may be a bit smoky from last night, but who knows. Anyway, not my problem.

1851 (London). Bit bored.

1912 Just had 'breakfast'. The hot part seemed to consist of rice with some strange yellow sauce; had I know what it was I might have tried it, but on a plane with limited liquid to get taste out of my mouth should it be foul and not feeling particularly hungry anyway I left it. Had a bread roll with butter and a small slab of chocolate cake type thing, and small cups of orange juice and tea.

We're due in at 2135. Fingers crossed.

1925 Woohoo. Long largely inaudible announcement but our forecast arrival time is 2150. Not the end of the world, but takeaway pizza places aren't open all night.

2110 Can see city lights out of window. Some announcement about landing soon. Listening to some music and trying to doze, don't think managed it. Can't see how to make seat recline, which is bit embarassing but no big deal.

2145 Just landed.

2207 Been waiting for baggage reclaim for a few minutes. Still, a screen says next FCC (ie affordable) train is 2247 so fingers crossed I will get that, and if I didn't have to wait to reclaim my bag I'd have got the same train anyway.

2217 Still no reclaim number for our flight. Still, it's well worth it - no one pulled a nail file on me during the flight, and the overhead bins weren't strained by my 8kg baggage. The 2247 recedes into the unlikely future. It's OK, I would guess there'll be another train half an hour or so after that.

2237 On platform 4 (which is excruciatingly poorly signed) with ticket for London Bridge and bags, waiting for 2247.

Tbilisi, Friday

1037 Come into slightly touristy cafe off Freedom Square for breakfast. Alarm went off 930 and felt OKish if slightly desperate for a piss and bit cold. Snoozed on regardless; serves me right because just after 10 couple of new people shown into dormitory. This kind of forced me up but also robbed me of the bonus privacy I would have had to get properly dressed etc. I can handle that, it's the downside of the super-cheap bed. What has freaked me out a little is that there was a modestly sized spider crawling about on my main bag (I'd left it on the floor, not in the locker, since I was in on my own, and had left the laptop out charging). I am not entirely sure but I think I must have blown it off; no sign of the little fucker since, but I am a bit worried it will have got in my bag or something. Not much I can do about it I guess.

Cleaned teeth etc and fucked off out of hostel; could have had breakfast there for free I guess, but not in the mood. (Didn't shower or anything; wasn't intending to anyway, thinking will do that when I go back there late afternoon/early evening to 'pre pack'.) Still no sign of any waiter here actually. I might move to a more visible table and see if that attracts attention. OK, she just came over, getting English menu.

Fuck, this place is a bit pricey. Meh. I have in a limited sense money to burn, since I have maybe 150 GEL which I am not going to change back to sterling and only 24h to spend it. (I intend to get the bus to the airport for 0.50 GEL since I have plenty of time - checkout is 1130 and flight is 16xx, so even if I have lunch first I can afford a bit of time to risk bus problems before grabbing a taxi. But even if I do get a taxi that should be no more than 25GEL.) Not going to piss it away, of course, just a half-joke. We are looking at a few quid for breakfast here I think, nothing in the grand scheme of things. If I were absolutely out to save every last penny I'd have had breakfast at the hostel.

Wearing jumper which is still a little damp from the wash. Weather not really cold but bit overcast. Tis OK.

Having medium acharuli khachapuri at 7.80 and (although this isn't on the menu) a coffee. After this will wander down Kote Afkhaze where there is a post office and it's also on the way to where I hope that fortress is.

"Having" to get back to do the online check in and (the big faff) print off the boarding pass is annoying. I am not absolutely sure I need to do either, especially since I think I sorted out my seats back in London, but the idea of turning up at the airport (where there may well be no printing-capable internet cafe) with just the crappy printout from ebookers showing my confirmation code makes me a little nervous. In reality I suspect that would be fine, but the potential downside is huge. I am sure there will be a handy-ish internet cafe (I don't actually have to go back to the hostel to do it, of course) here in town, I just haven't spotted any (in Latin America they rather force themselves on your attention) and I haven't been massively on the lookout for them.

1127 Medium sized AK absolutely vast; left about a third of it, maybe more. Was OK but could do with about 50% less cheese in my opinion (this is the one with a soft egg yolk and a load of cheese in a sort of bowl formed of the bread). Definitely prefer the plain style or the one with hard-boiled egg I tried a bit of yesterday. Still, at least I tried this one. Coffee very small and could do with a decent-sized drink but will buy a bottle of diet coke or something from a street shop instead of paying restaurant prices for a teeny bottle.

1135 14.10, rounding up to 15. Use bog then off.

1337 Walked over to Davit Agmashenebli since google suggested there was a post office here (the one at bottom of Kote Afkhaze is clearly out of action), and there is. With a slightly pleasing neatness, the postcards are actually of this street - I assume it is more picturesque up the other end. Not entirely sure they will make it as I never saw any stamped attached but I paid my GEL8 for two cards and left them with the woman at counter so we will see.

(There were no postcards in the shop I went in of anything I'd seen or obviously touristy, e.g. freedom square or the fortress.)

Went up to Nariqala Fortress (didn't climb up to the top bit with the cross as I didn't like the overly climby scrambly path) and the statue of Mother Georgia - walked up, got cable car down and then walked over to here along river. Weather sunnier than this morning. Shall now stroll further up here, mainly since it was on postcards, then wend my way back towards the national museum (which shuts at 6; if I make it well and good, if not no huge deal) and sort of keep my eyes open for any internet cafes.

1621 Back at hostel, had shower (white T-shirt was getting a bit rank TBH), back in room giving phone a quick boost charge before go out to find internet cafe. Bound to be one on Rustaveli and if desperate there was one open til 10 or 11pm which advertised printing on street with post office.

Got metro from Mara something, two stops to Liberty Square (as it is translated on the metro, and sometimes elsewhere), could have walked but it can be very hard to cross the major roads here. Went to national museum including soviet occupation museum, moderately interesting.

1653 In internet cafe on Rustaveli. In fucking enormous non-moving queue. I suspect the queue is people having something done with visa applications - they advertise 'visa services' - but even ignoring language issues, since there is one member of staff I can hardly jump the queue to ask about using the intenet and a printer. So I guess I can wait in this queue for an hour or two and hope. What a fucking pile of shit. There are not so many internet cafes around that I really want to risk trying to find another one.

I must say Georgians don't seem big on queueing. The metro is a bit of a free for all, and there's no attempt to let people off before more people start to board.

Just checked guide book. There are exactly two internet cafes mentioned, one on Rustaveli (ie probably this one) and one on the street with the post office Davit Awhatsit (ie probably the one I saw earlier, which is a hike away - I couldn't use that then as obviously online check is somehow fundamentally impossible more than 24h before a flight, it would bring the sky crashing down if you could check in say any time the previous day). So there you go. Still, this place is probably open til 11pm and although I was toying with going to the flea market near the hostel I was told about by Katia yesterday I was not exactly desperate. Basically I'm not going back to the hostel til10 or 11ish so I have time to kill and this will stop me drinking too early.

Battery only at 63% but meh.

1726 Out. Guy at desk spotted me after a bit, he was apologetic, I said I didn't like to interrupt. All v civilised. GEL 2. Naturally the hand baggage allowance is a miniscule 7kg EVEN THOUGH YOU GET 23KG CHECKED BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE *FREE*. So why the flaming fuck can't I take a 9 or 10kg piece of hand baggage into the cabin if I'm not using my checked baggage allowance? I can't even put it down to greed since the checked allowance is free. You are also allowed a laptop on top of the 7kg but even so I will be pushing it. Guess we will just have to wait and see what happens and if I do have to check the bag it's not the end of the world, though it is annoying.

I'm leaving the more casual less rugged second pair of shoes I stupidly decided to bring behind next time. They're not mega heavy but every little helps, or doesn't help as the case may be. I haven't worn them once and I can't imagine doing so really, it was a stupid whim.

Oh, guy said he was entering these people for the US visa lottery, they do it every year. Joked he could help me out if I wanted to downgrade my citizenship. :-)

1811 At Cherry Garden restaurant. Prices outside bear no relation to the ones on the menu inside - it shows skewers of meat for GEL 6, cheapest on the menu was liver at GEL 8. Beer shows outside at GEL 1.5, inside I couldn't see anything under 4. Under other circumstances I might walk but fuck it. Not clear portion is going to be huge but there you go. Having chicken skewer with french fries and bread and a beer. I struggle to find places to eat so will go with this and save Stelzen Haus for an early lunch tomorrow. Also need somewhere peaceful indoors to struggle with unhelpfully formatted electronic guide book to try to find a bar to go to tonight (there is no hyperlinking between the numbered key on the map and the description of the bar, and they are 20-30 screens apart so lots of fun flipping back and forth, especially when you consider the faff involved in zooming the map).

My chair protrudes beautifully into a narrow corridor too.

1858 Food actually very good and with generous quantity of bread and some darkish sauce to put on it feel quite full. Ordered a tea, green (it's in the menu) if she understood. I have picked out a couple of possible bars - Cafe Kala (spellings wrong, from memory) and Sauze - and will wander around trying to locate them and see what they look like (if the rather out of date guidebook is still right; it mentions a place called Rock Club on Rustaveli which has live gigs but I haven't seen it and am sure I would have noticed it) but in order to reduce drunkenness and alcohol consumption and with it generally being a bit early a tea here will stretch things out. If I leave here 730-8 I will probably check out one or both bars (they are not super close but not miles apart, ditto with their distance from this place, insofar as I know where I am anyway) and be in one by 830-9 which isn't too bad. If they both suck or don't exist or I can't find them I might just go back to that place I was at on Rustaveli the night before last (not last night's place with "no toilet"). My alcohol consumption has been a bit high lately but it's not absolutely insane, and the last night here is not a night I intend to start taking corrective measures. Next couple of days should be low-to-zero alcohol (with flying and being back in London) and I can try to do things differently when I get to Bangkok. Am half in the mood to 'evaluate' how things have gone so far against my plans but not doing it right now anyway.

Wow, this *is* green tea.

1937 Finished tea. Let's get bill and go wander. Why does finding a bar here always seem such an effprt? Guide book (and logic) says you are never far from somewhere to have a drink.

GEL27 including 10% service charge rounded up (GEL24 before tip), so will pay exactly. Not too bad if not super cheap. Paying with a 50 note, will get some more small bills for convenience.

2053 At Scarlet Sails Tavern on Khote Afkhazi. Just me at a table and two americans at the bar, one of who is telling a lurid story involving FBI ages. Sign outside advertises live music from 2200, couldn't kill any more time. Let's recap.

Walked over to Cafe Kala, on Erekeli II. Passed (closed) Hangar Bar. Part of Erekeli II is completely unlit, joy.

Anyway, turns out Cafe Kala is on that little strip just off Khote Afkhazi where Stelzen Haus, Friend's House (karaoke bar) and Grace Garden are. Guide book held out some prospect of live jazz but not clear and the place somehow didn't quite appeal tonight. Some people in there but a bit of a restauranty vibe.

Walked over to Sauze (sp) at Dadiani 15. Missed it first time but on checking guide book it is unsigned basement bar. Did find it but it looked slightly intimidating, in a studenty sort of way. Might well have been nice but I'm in a funny last night mood; I doubt I'd strike up conversation with anyone giving the language issues, but frankly I really don't need any of that shit tonight. I just want to have a few beers and ideally a bit of music.

Spotted this place on KA while en route to Sauze. Place is very bar-ish, a kind of pseudo nautical tone but not too in your face. Ordered beer at bar and paid for it (GEL5) there, not sure if that's right protocol. I kind of decided to come here about 2030 but I walked down the stretch with the clubs on down towards the river on and took a few night photos (wouldn't normally have camera out at night but not been back to hostel since 1630 or whenever and didn't leave it behind then) before giving up on killing more time and just coming back here.

I am clearly out too early but especially with flying tomorrow I feel weird and don't want to be out mega light. I suppose the smart thing to do would have been to go back to hostel and had a coffee or two in the common area then come out about 930 or 10. But especially in this last night mood not feeling like it. What if I got asked to go out with some people? I kind of don't want to. What if I *didn't* get asked out? Probably be peeved. What if it was just quiet? Well, that would have been OK I guess.

Also I needed to *find* these bars. So in reality I'd have been heading back to the hostel about 2030 to come out an hour or so later. I guess that would have been OK, but it feels like a bit of a fag to be honest (I mean, if I had a private room in a proper hotel I think I'd be put off trekking back to the hotel to wait for an hour or so).

I do feel I haven't seen much nightlife here. Maybe I've always been out too early, but also until tonight I've always been here (Tbilisi) on 'non-weekend' days (maybe last night could have been OK, Thursday shouldn't be too dead, but one way or another didn't pan out like that). Not a massive regret but still. I haven't seen much nightlife anywhere really, though I guess I spent last weekend in tiny out-of-season Mestia.

Anyway, here's the todo list for next time I come to Georgia:

- paragliding - you can do this several places, I have not pursued it and it's never been waved under my nose as an easy temptation. Would like to do it and not all that scared by the prospect, but somehow I am feeling that doing it at the start of a long holiday could really fuck me over if I break something. If I broke a leg on a two or three week holiday it would suck, of course, but I'd just go back to work with a broken leg. Breaking something now would lose this whole trip.

- glacier at Mestia (Bernadetta saw this, said it was OK but not amazing, but maybe she's blasé, anyway, I would like to see it)

- kharketi? kazbegi? Obviously not a massive deal, these are merely thoughts unlike the 'I could have done this but didn't' of the previous two.

And how have things generally gone? What's gone well:

- Social. It's not been stellar, but it's been OK. Outside Tbilisi I don't think there have been that many opportunities, with the off-peak feeling, and if true that means in many ways I've done better than it seems.

- Drinking. I have been drinking too much (because more than 21 units a week is Bad, mmmkay), but I haven't routinely been drinking loads, in fact I'm not sure from memory I've ever had more than five in one day and one of those would have been at lunch. Frankly I'm not sure I even hit that.

- Spanish study. I've had about one lesson a week and I've done my homework for those lessons. More would be good, but I think this is still pretty good and should at least help maintain my level so I don't slip back, even if I don't move forward as much as if I was back in London.

- Language. I haven't got too badly hung up on having to rely on people speaking English. I've winged it successfully with a few words and tricks like the online dictionary and the good old written Arabic numerals. I think this will be less of a factor in India, Thailand and Singapore anyway.

What's not gone so well:

- Social. I could probably do more low key hanging around in common areas at hostels or what have you and get to know people through casual conversation. I do feel outside Tbilisi there weren't many people around to meet at hostels anyway, though. Doing this low key hanging around would also help with

- Quiet study/non-drinking. I was hoping to not feel obliged to 'do stuff' every night, partly to reduce alcohol consumption, also to avoid getting too run down and perhaps to study up on something like Java or Python. This hasn't really happened. I think in part this and the low-key hanging around suffer from setting a bit too quick a pace; more on this later maybe.

- Drinking. I haven't been tracking my consumption, and as noted above it has been technically excessive. Need to get myself a spreadsheet.

- Not wasting huge chunks of the day in bed. Especially given I *haven't* been out on the piss, I mght have hoped to get up a bit earlier than I often have. Then again, back in London and not out on the piss regularly I still struggled to get up early both during the week and at weekends. So this shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Nevertheless, there's scope for improvement here. I do wonder if a reduced pace might help here, since there'd be fewer days with an 'ohh, fuck, I've got to make arrangements for the next hop' vibe which disinclines me to get up. (Or with a 'fuck, I have to get a train at arse o'clock tomorrow morning, I'm enjoying some sleep today while I can' vibe.)

So, the pace question. Both based on overheard conversation back when I was first in Tbilisi and also actually having spoken to some people at the hostel here this time, other people seem to spend more time than I do in any one place. Maybe this means they don't see as much as me per unit time, maybe they get more depth to compensate. It probably leads to improved social opportunities as it gives more time to get to know people. As noted above, I also wonder if a slower pace would help with some of my other goals.

On the other hand, I booked three nights in Zugdidi and cleared off after two and I think that was smart. Arguably it wasn't quite so clear cut I should have done the same in Mestia when the weather turned, but on the other hand it probably did make sense. I suppose this Georgia trip being a fairly short sub-2-week stint put the pressure on a bit more. I had more time than I needed in Batumi, so I kind of did take a slow pace there. The only other bits were the initial Tbilisi stint, where I naturally wanted to push on to other places in my short stay and I also knew I'd be back here at the end of the trip, and this time when my departure is dictated by the return flight. (I have after all seen four places - five if you count Davit Gareja separately, which I probably should - in 13 days. I wouldn't have liked to have missed any of those out, except that if I'd known what it was like I probably could have sacrified the museum and park at Zugdidi and maybe spent just one night there, or even taken an overnight train and jumped straight on a bus out as soon as I got in. But I couldn't know that up front, and in a way it's nice to have seen the place anyway. I did also have a couple of quietish nights there, really.)

So maybe my natural inclinations aren't too much towards the rushed end of things and it's just this short stay which has been squeezing me. I suppose if I maybe err towards four nights instead of three for initial stays in the main city, and aim for three nights minimum (subject to changing plans as in Zugdidi, or where I'm pretty sure in advance a place is a hole not desirable to spend more than minimum necessary) in other places, that might help. That way if I end up with an extra night somewhere dull I can get a quiet evening (or even quiet whole day) in. I do need to be 'strong' and force myself to do a bit of study rather than just surf the web on such a quiet night though. Even in Thailand I have over three weeks, which should allow that bit of extra breathing room.

My left eye is a bit watery. It has been a bit funny since I walked into that door, though maybe I am imagining a connection where none exists. (It isn't black!)

When I checked in online earlier both flights showed my seats (which I'd checked weeks ago) and oddly enough both flights - both on 737s I think - showed only two seats either side of the aisle. That sounds oddly spacious.

2147 Moderately attractive but sour-faced woman behind bar just asked me to sit at the bar as I got a second beer, because there's live music and they don't like me occupying a table. Kind of fair enough but I was worried sitting at the bar might lead to conversation with a stranger, normally something I would welcome but not in the mood tonight. Also didn't really like the way she asked, but I assume she is Georgian so I guess I should assume non-native speaker intonation rather than malice. Anyways...

Gonna switch battery - this on at 16% - then try to switch back when I leave. That way if I can charge this one overnight I'll hopefully have 100%+60% charge when I leave hostel tomorrow instead of 100%+16%.

Also, the bar is just a tiny bit too high for me to be super comfortable, or the stools a tiny bit too low. Given I understand most height variation is in the leg I wonder if this isn't just me. Anyway, not a big deal.

Poster on wall advertising a bottle of vodka and six cans of Red Bull for GEL60.

Re-reading some Jerome K Jerome. Diary of a pilgrimmage, and now Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. Really amazed how well it's aged, very good stuff.

2218 Place is pretty busy, which is a positively new experience for me in Georgia. Feeling rather uncomfortable at bar, mainly I think because I can't lean comfortably on it to read book on my phone. Band not on yet but maybe soon. Vague plan is to leave here about midnight. Will probably not clean teeth so as to minimise disruption in dormitory of going in to pick up my bathroom stuff from the top of the lockers then go out again. This is probably overly considerate of me. Maybe the others won't be there when I get back. Anyway, the odd night of not cleaning my teeth shouldn't hurt.

2225 Band seem to be making warming up noises.

2236 Nice cover of The Cure's I Will Always Love You to open. I feel hugely better all of a sudden. Band call themselves "1000 Miles Band".

2307 Band having a break. Not bad. Barmaid asked me to move to stool at end of bar, but she did at least smile apologetically.

Seems to be free wifi here too. If they have a bog the place has it all. ;-)

Woohoo. E-mail from ebookers warning off possible storm disruption to flights into southern England this weekend. Not much I can do about it now. I guess I will have to check tomorrow morning, I probably have to fly to Kiev anyway and while it would seriously fuck my plans up to have to spend a night there at least I don't need a visa.

Wow, they have a sit down toilet and everything. It's even clean. Didn't even lose my seat at the bar, which is nice as it is pretty busy in here.

Reading storm e-mail more closely it says Oct 27 and 28, ie not tomorrow (Sat 26th). I don't know if I got my flight London-Bangkok through ebookers or not or if this e-mail is because of Tbilisi-London. So I will probably get into London OK but may have shit at Heathrow on Monday 28th. I suppose in a way that is perhaps better, if I get stranded bigtime at Heathrow I can clear off into familiar London and rearrange my onward flight, and failing that at least if I am delayed on the way out I don't have another flight a day or two after.

Yes, the London-Bangkok flight is through ebookers, so although it doesn't mention which booking caused them to send it I assume this is probably more of a risk for the London-Bangkok flight. That does suck but it's still better than trouble on the Tbilisi-London flight, I will be in familiar territory suffering from any trouble. Territory where I have mobile internet and voice calls on my phone at non-extortionate rates and where I'm fluent in the primary announcement language.

Met Office website has yellow wind warnings for Greater London on Monday 28th (only), so odds on this is not going to affect my flight back but may affect flight out.

0012 Band stopped again. Not sure if will be back on or not.

0015 Does seem to be a bit of an exodus going on. I think I will nurse the dregs of this beer and see if it becomes clearer, but that may be it.

0028 Hmm, not really an exodus. I am not super confident band will come back on though. Were I not flying tomorrow I'd have another beer regardless, as it is I am prepared to stay on if the band are but don't want to if they're not. Think will give it a few more minutes. Band have not packed up their equipment, but that may not signify anything.

Hmm, there is a certain paying off of tabs (I think I am unusual in having paid as I went, but bar staff never waved off payment per beer) and a slight putting on of coats and slightly less rammed feel.

0035 Lead guitarist and drummer sort of noodling about but far from clear. I am tempted to go for a slash and leave, under the circumstances. Fuck it, doing "Easy" now (Commodores), might be encore but gettingone more. If lose seat having a slash can stand. Can leave beer if no more music.

0109 Band stayed on. 'Last song' was Don't Look Back In Anger. Rocking. A brilliantly smoky boozy night. Most of crowd probably local. Another song now but thinkwe are nearly done.

0131 Back at hostel. Left bar 0115, Queen's Friends Will Be Friends playing. Am almost perfectly slightly drunk. Had I not been flying tomorrow (today) would have stuck on, and had it been Latin America might have hoped to strike up a conversation. But also proud of myself for leaving on a high under the circumstances. May feel a little rough tomorrow but probably be OK, alarm at 10 is still an easy eight hours sleep if I can get off.