I'm trying to will this nasal/throat infection away. It's robbing me of excitement and I'm not concentrating. Today, we nearly missed the plane to Chiang Mai. I misread the departure time from BKK, seeing instead the arrival time at Chiang Mai. So we blissfully set off for a 1115 departure, however on the way to the airport I casually looked at the times and saw the plane was to leave at 1000. We just got there with a lot of assistance from ground staff.

My friend from university days in the 70's, John Mountbatten, lives in Bangkok for 6 months of the year. In fact, John introduced me to south-east Asia a few years ago. On Tuesday night, he took me to a very laid-back tropical restaurant across the road from Penguin House, were Janet and I are staying. It is run by Ek, John explained, who was formerly a no-hoper and quite rebellious. Ek is good-looking and this may explain why B. "adopted" him, taught him English and accountancy, fostered Ek's interest in art and cooking, got him through university with a degree in fine arts and helped finance this great little restaurant. Along the way, Ek picked up awards for painting, including the prestigious King's Award, and developed a talent for hard work. With B and another friend, Ek now has a 12-room hotel in the centre of Bangkok as well as a restaurant and works 16-18-hour days, going between the two. He's only 30 and quite tough, although he looks like a choir boy. In Bangkok, you keep moving or sink to the bottom.

Now, late in the afternoon and before we go to the Blue Diamond for dinner, I'm going to book in next door to the blind masseur. This establishment highly recommends him for travellers' knots and stiff back and sore neck. After all that, it's the night market; travel is 40 B down the main street by tuk-tuk.