After two and a half years of planning, a year of saving via an array of jobs including pulling pints, waitressing, working at a hedge fund and a synagogue (of all places); a 12 hour flight with an elderly man breathing over me with unfortunate breath only made bearable by Quantas' great movie selection ('The Social Network', 'The Kids are Alright' and 'Eat Pray Love' being my choices), I'm proud to say I've finally made it further east than Greece. Quite a lot further.

The bus journey into Bangkok from the airport gave a view of the city I hadn't really expected, namely lots of skyscrapers. But rocking up at Khao San Road delivered the Bangkok I had expected - busy, bustling, stalls selling clothes and food everywhere with lots of noise. And the occasional whiff of sewage of course, delicious. Khao San Road isn't unlike the strip of Zante in some ways, which sounds kind of horrific but has the advantage of variety in the sense you could enjoy a casual meal and a couple of beers at a table on the side of the street whilst taking in the atmosphere, just as much as you could knock back some buckets in one of the clubs or livelier bars along the road if so inclined.

After a nap and a shower Lauren and I ventured out to explore and try our first pad thai from a street vendor and first Tiger beer (1 quid and 1.20 each, respectively), which both received glowing reviews. So far we're enjoying Bangkok so much we've planned to extend our time here a bit, delaying our trip to the Burma border to see the bridge over the River Kwai by a day or two. We're planning on hitting the famous weekend market tomorrow (dangerous terrority for a girl like me) and then the Grand Palace.

Until the next update, over and out x