I'm writing from a room in a fabulous guest house we've found just off the Khao San Rd. It has just opened for business today.

We moved from a hotel near Nana after my boyfriend, Tim blocked the loo so badly with paper we couldn't flush it and dare not tell the owners in case they charged us. (There was a sign on the wall warning of a 1000 baht fine for putting loo roll down the toilet, when will he learn??).

We have just been completely conned into paying double for our India and Laos Visas. We went to a travel agent attached to the hotel in Nana - big mistake. We paid 800 Baht each for the Indian stamp and 400 for Laos. We have to wait 8 days to get our passports back.

I just found out they are doing them on the Khao San for 400 Baht and apparently it just takes a few days for them to organise. It isn't a lot of money, but we've got 4 months of our trip left and funds are starting to get really low.

I didn't plan the trip well at all when it comes to money. I just gathered as much as I possibly could and went for it. We're having a ball and it can be done on a shoestring, but anyone planning to do a trip - make sure you take into account essentials like toiletries, batteries etc when planning how much money you'll need. And if you like to party I'd try for a separate alcohol budget - one night going large in Bangkok can cost you a month's accommodation.

We decided to check out the Nana area around Sukhumvit Rd before heading to Khao San because we were curious to see the back-packerless side of Bangkok.

There's a fabulous Arab quarter in the area which is full of middle eastern shops, restaurants and cafes where scores of old men sit outside smoking hookah pipes. It doesn't feel like you are in Thailand at all.

Having made our escape from Nana we headed to the Khao San. It's such a sharp contrast to Nana. There are back-packers everywhere - many on crutches or with bandages that must have just come back to the city after the tsunami.

There's fast food - as far as I've seen so far none of it Thai - burgers, pizza, falafel, even a Burger King at the top of the street. Two for one drink signs outside bars, tuk tuk drivers driving everyone nowhere except for mental, all the things that would normally horrify me on holiday. Yet somehow they don't here. It's almost as if all this belongs here.

It's nowhere near as mad as I expected. It's certainly colourful with its bars and banners and traders of fake everything. But despite all the hustle and bustle of a zillion back-packers and street traders, it's got a really chilled vibe about it.

Perhaps it's because it used to be a holy area that housed shops selling wares for monks, who knows, but there's something about this travellers trap that is very, very right.

Many people I've spoken to have told me they hate this place - too many backpackers - not the 'real Thailand', etc etc.

But this is real Thailand - it's just a part of Thailand that caters for back-packers. And I think it does a damn good job. After all, we were stung for our visas in the so called 'real' part of the city.

I'm not sure whether my account would be different were I here on a short holiday - perhaps I feel comfortable because I've been on the road four months and it's nice sometimes to have a bit of familiarity (Burger King is taking things a tad too far, but it was FABULOUS to find Boots (sorry!!)).

I much prefer it to where we were on Sukhumvit - most of the tourists we saw there were overweight 60 + men. I'm sorry to have to say they were often in the company of girls that look so young they must be going home and changing back into their school uniforms afterwards.

In our hotel in Nana there was a sign up saying that if guests did not ensure that their 'Thai lady friends' left ID at reception they would take no responsibility for theft from the rooms.

If I have to be with a thousand other tourists, I’d much rather they were back packers than paedophiles and dirty old men.

The best thing to do if you haven't been already, is come and make your own mind up. A few people I've met along the way have refused to come here full stop. It's impossible to know unless you've experienced it. I expected it to be hell and here I am stoutly defending it.