Arrived in Bangkok...minus the luggage

2 hours delayed leaving manchester we faced the reality that we might be spending our first night in a hotel at Heathrow airport as we only had half an hour to connect through.  On landing at Heathrow we used every ounce of energy and ran to the Quantas flight...all the while in the back of minds we were conscious that our luggage might not be as speedy as us!

After 10 and a half hours on the plane and a couple of hours sleep we disembarked and had a smooth processing through immigration, then our worst fears were realised when our names were seen on a sign...and it wasn't for a taxi into town.  Instead we filled in the forms to try and retrieve our luggage from the commercial and not so quick hub that is Heathrow.  We left Bangkok airport and got an express bus into the centre of town with the hoards of backpackers also heading for the infamous Khao San Road area.  The journey was a good one, allowing us to appreciate the scale of this spralling city.

Arriving into Bangkok we walked the short distance to our Guesthouse, which we had pre booked to ensure we were close enough to the hustle and bustle, but far enough away to have some piece and quiet.  As we walked down one of the back streets we found the picturesque Sam Sen Sam Place and checked in.  A quick review of the map on Ben's part and armed with the camara and a keen sense to explore we hit the streets heading back to the Khao San Road, hoping to stock up on necessities for our night without the luggage.

The smells  from the street stalls and the noise from the frenetic bars and markets was overwhelming but entertaining all in one.  We realised soon enough that we were both in an odd sense a freak of nature in this Umpa Lumpa land (as Ben so elegantly put it), and giants in a sea of small people.  Getting clothes was going to be a bit of a challenge, so we decided to stop for our first taste of street food, and had a Pad Thai (pic below).

It was delicious and a bargain at 40 baht (80 pence)!  We then persevered and bought ourselves t-shirts and pants; and visited Thailands number 1 drug store Boots to stock up on toiletries.  After all that hard work we visited a local bar and had our first local beer - Leo beer to quench our thirst.

At 11 ish we headed back to guesthouse for bed.