I'm in Bangkok. Just like it's been Eid for you, in Cambodia it's been a long weekend too. The Water Festival is a celebration held every year when the Mekong gets so filled up with water from the monsoon season that it backs up and pushes the water backwards, resulting in the Tonle Sap, the river running through Phnom Penh, changing directions. Or something like that.

Whatever the reason, the tiny city of Phnom Penh gets absolutely packed, as everyone from all over the country comes to join in the festivities. People from the provinces trek to the city and set up camp in any alleyway, doorway or just about anywhere they can find a square inch of space. The population of the city grows by approximately two million overnight. Now, in Tokyo, London or New York, two million is just the number of people squeezed up against you in your train carriage, but in Phnom Penh, it's a really big number.

Unfortunately — after I wrote this column — the weekend ended in tragedy, when nearly 400 people died in a stampede on a small bridge over the river. It's been described as the biggest national tragedy since the Pol Pot regime. My thoughts are with Phnom Penh and the families of those who died.

I wasn't in the country when it happened — I'd booked a bus ticket to Bangkok, where I was oblivious to the events unfolding.

Bangkok, if you can remember that far back, was where I originally intended to go when I left Dubai. And, in just four days there, I'd already fallen in love. The architecture is stunning and I'm thinking mainly of Wat Phra Kaeo, a temple next to the Grand Palace, when I say that.

It has made me realise that I should have been born a Thai princess but, alas, I am just a British journalist. If you think the jewellery displayed in the windows of Deira's gold souq is ornate, you have seen nothing.

This wat glitters like a fairy castle with a million pieces of coloured glass and fragments of mother of pearl. The effect in the sunlight is as beautiful as I can imagine.

Aside from the traditional bling, Bangkok has incredible shopping opportunities. I'm not much of a shopper but it has taken an iron will to not sell all my possessions and trade them in for all the wonderful tat that is on sale in Siam Square and Chatuchak weekend market. I have sold a couple of books in order to buy rings. But, I don't need to tell the residents of the UAE about where to go shopping. I know you all know about Bangkok because I saw half of Dubai in MBK mall.

One thing I hadn't been prepared for was quite how fashionable Bangkok would be. London is supposed to be a fashion capital and most of the time I don't feel like I don't belong there, even when my hair is a mess and I'm wearing worn-out pumps (which is pretty much all the time). But in Bangkok, it is loud, neon and packed full of little boutiques that are, in turn, packed full of the best dressed teenagers I have ever seen. I kicked myself for walking out of my hotel dressed in my smelly backpacker-esque get-up. But then I remembered that after two and a half months of living in a developing country, I only have those kinds of clothes now.

In memory of those who died in Phnom Penh on November 22.