Heathrow- Bangkok

Hi everyone, lots to say on our first blog entry. Will begin... at the beginning. Flight was fine, no delays, not the best nights sleep we've ever had but the food was tasty!! Got a taxi from the airport (a bright pink one, much to Jade's delight!) to Khaosan Road (the main road in Bangkok where everyone stays) and our first hostel. Room very simple, as expected but clean and tidy. We quickly deposited our backpacks as already they were tiring us out (no stamina, I know) and went out to explore. Khaosan road is absolutely mental!! There are people, tuk tuks, taxis and food vendors EVERYWHERE!! (Last night there was even an elephant roaming the streets). We wandered round for a while before buying some pad thai (fried noodles) from one of the street vendors, very tasty. We then booked our daytrips for the next day and headed off to bed in preparation for our 7am start.

Second day saw an early rise (boo) but an extremely fun filled day. We got on a minibus to the floating market (about an hour and a half away), a real look into Thai life. You sit on a long canoe type boat and sail through canals around a market. We had two old Thai women rowing ours. Along the way we encountered some serious traffic jams, one resulting in all surrounding boats being stuck for a few minutes. We then had the opportunity to get off of the boat and explore the market on foot. We tried what was advertised as 'a traditional Thai breakfast', no idea what was in it... it was coconutty with sweetcorn. Not a brilliant description I'm afraid. But it was tasty. We also tried some Thai fruit, none of which we knew the names of but they were yummy too. After the floating market we headed to the river Kwai where the death railway is (built by prisoners of war in WWII). We then headed for the tiger temple, another few hours away. The pictures speak for themselves, it is hard to describe what it is like to be sat next to such a huge and potentially dangerous animal. They are chained up and you get taken one by one to each one to have a photo. There are also other wild animals roaming free including wildebeast and warthogs (one nicknamed Pumba). The entire day was amazing but we were both exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel at about 6.30.However, this did not stop us from heading out to celebrate St Patricks day. We began with a few (strong) cocktails before heading to the Irish bar. It was packed so we ventured upstairs where it was a little quieter. Here we saw a live band (all Thai) performing some traditional Irish songs. It was very amusing and they were really entertaining. We went for a walk after having a little dance to Oasis, and bought some sweetcorn in a cup (which for some reason EVERYONE out here eats) and a pancake with banana and chocolate which was going down nicely until Ben dropped it!!! Not happy. After the trauma of losing a very delicious dish to the streets of Bangkok, we stumbled into a club which turned out to be a gay bar. We left. Quickly. Made our way to another club where we were given glow sticks for free (buying them in England costs about a pound a go) and proceeded to dance dance dance. After this we bought a phone card and called home. Nice to speak to the Mums!!

Today (our 3rd day) began with breakfast at out hostel and then a very exciting (and death defying) tuk tuk ride around Bangkok. We went to the Temple of the lucky Buddah first and then the beautiful Grand Palace. Again, the photos will speak for themselves, but both temples are absolutely stunning. It is difficult to comprehend the amount of time and effort that would have gone into creating such decorative buildings. We are currently at the MBK shopping mall which is HHHUUUUUUGGGGEEEE. Heading off to Chiang Mai tonight on the night train (will be an experience). Will keep you all posted and will get the pics up ASAP. Love you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx