Thailand and Beyond

After feeling like a never ending flight, we finally arrived in Bangkok 6 hours ahead of our body clocks! back to the Khao san road area for me and a new experience for nat, not much has changed here since last year. A thousand sights, smells and sounds seem a bit over whelming around every corner. Back to the central guesthouse where i stayed last year - very basic but fairly clean and very cheap. And finally Nat got her first taste of the Pat Thai noodles, that she'd been eagerly awaiting..she wasn't disappointed!
Since arriving we have spent the last few days getting over our jet lag, and exploring a few areas of Bangkok. Acclimatising to the intense humid heat hasn't been fun, making us very lathargic. Bangkok is a strange city, with the rich and poor living side by side. It is strange to see a massive "Wat" (buddist temple) painted with gold and decorated with jewels, next to a small wooden shack of a building.
We visited the Grand palace, even though it was crowded with many other tourists, the buildings and the grounds were still very impressive. A Tuk Tuk ride was inevitable, and although we got dragged to a suit shop on the way round, we managed to see a huge 45ft standing buddha, and a so called lucky buddha, who would give us luck in love, work, life...and pretty much everything...apparently! I treated Nat to a dinner cruise down the Chao Phraya river for her birthday. Abit of a luxury, and a stark contrast to how we will be living for the rest of the journey! It was lovely to get out on the river and see some of Bangkok at night.
we've experienced the joys of Khao San road and the various shopping opportunities...finding it hard to resist!
Not wanting to bore everyone with too much writing here...hope you enjoy the pictures!