Departure & arrival

There is snow on the petals of my Eric rose when I leave London and a slushy Silvester Road on my four-month round-the-world trip on 23rd January 2013...

...and Frangipani around the pool of my first hotel in Bangkok. The Federal is a throwback to the Seventies when Vietnam vets made it their base for trips out of the war zone. The decor hasn't changed much and neither have the vets I meet around the pool and at breakfast, revisiting the Bangkok delights of their youth. My room overlooks the pool and when I go down for an early morning swim one grizzled old timer is already sitting poolside with a beer and a pack of cigarettes. But I do feel safe in this place, the room is clean with air-con and wi-fi, and the staff couldn't be nicer. 

My street, Sukhumvit Soi 11, is surrounded by high-rise hotels and apartment blocks but at ground level it's lined with cooking stalls, these VW camper-vans converted into bars. There's a woman buying a drink on the far side of this one, which looks exactly like the caravette our family had when we were kids. There are also bars to suit every nationality, from the Old German Beer House to Mulligans. Hey ho...