Pre-Flight
So much stuff to think about and plan, people to see, things to buy! Must have been one of the most stressful times of my life. Thankfully it all seemed to go off without a hitch (apart from my car breaking down the day before I was due to go back to Devon.) Luckily I got it fixed and was having a meal with my family before I knew it. I then had the nightmare train journey back to London.

March 1st (Sunday) - Day 1 - Bangkok
Woke up with a stinking hang over from meeting Stu and CK the night before. Once I finally woke up we had to clean the flat from top to bottom, which did not help having a roast dinner at Sarahs parents with a load of wine! The trip to the airport was fine and checked in on time. Flight left exactly on time and that never happens, which meant we arrived in to Bangkok 30 mins early.
I still cannot describe how I felt at Heathrow. I was really excited, but really nervous, really happy but really sad to be leaving. . So to get over that I had a quick pint (Sarah had her normal diet coke lol) and we boarded the plane. No upgrade :( despite Eve's BF Steve emailing the pilot and the guy from STA putting that we were honey mooning in our trip notes.
The flight was standard, horrid food and horrid neighbours. The guy beside we would not stop moving the the lady in front put her seat right back all night.

March 2nd (Monday) - Day 2 - Bangkok
Upon arrival into Bangkok I had my normal pre-immigration nerves but all went fine with out a hitch. We then went to find a taxi. I got distracted by the taxi/limo service which quoted me 1300BHT. Being really tired I worked it out wrong to be 7.50. The fact of the matter was it was 26!! It was only half way into Bangkok that I worked it out. To make matters worse the limo driver had no idea where she was going and we got lost. First impressions was that everything seemed so American...
Our motto has become "its only x pounds". Thing is we are saying it way too much... Once we finally reached our hotel we checked in and got to our room. Not a terrible room for 5 pound a night! Better than most English bargain hotels!! We had to tip the bell boy 5 times more than the norm as we did not have anything smaller on us. The views from our 22nd story room were amazing. I have uploaded some pics. The whole of Bangkok stretched out before you in an incredible sprawling mass.
After a few minutes to unpack and enjoy the aircon we went out for a walk. Firstly went round the block and then to the river, where we found the largest flower market you will ever see! After our walk we went and sat on the hotel roof bar. 24 stories high we had more awesome views of Bangkok. After a good few cocktails the jet lag set in and we headed off to bed.

March 3rd (Tuesday) - Day 3 - Bangkok
Set the alarm for 9 but got up at half past :) and went for the hotel breakfast. SG loved it but it was very plan mass produced food. Had chicken sausages (which tasted more of dog) and bread.
After that we jumped into a taxi and did the 20 minute journey to the shopping district (under 2 pound it cost!!). It was a massive shopping centre which puts Westfield to shame. 7 floors of "crap" and each floor had over 100 stalls or shops. Did not buy a thing because I have no room in my back pack. We stayed to get some lunch . The 7th floor was so American on a floor. McDonalds, dunking donuts, Dairy queen etc. Managed to find a Thia place. We ordered and the waiter made it sound like we did not order enough. Fact of the matter was it was loads and we came away stuffed.
I need to interject at this point. 2 observations are the smells of this city and the heat differences. The smells of the city are interesting. One minute you are smelling flowers, then food, next sewage. One extreme to another but would not trade it for anything. Then the heat, one minute your burning up in 35 degree heat, the next you walk into a mall and you freeze. There is no happy medium.
After the first mall we walked around Siam Square then onto another mall where we sat by some fountains before deciding to jump on a sky train and head up to the victory monument. We then felt so hot we could not think, so went back to a mall to cool down before deciding to go sit in a park. We got the sky train down to the park and spent a good 3 hours there feeding fish, saw a large lizard in the water then went for a walk around the park. We sat down again only moments later to find a trillion people come from no where to start doing aerobics. We laughed at that and then found a pub. An irish bar is all we could find but it was cheap!! We then got the metro to Sukhumvit where we wondered around for ages looking for dinner. We ended up in som ex-pat bar but even so it was really cheap. We then got the metro back to the end of the line. We then needed a taxi from the station to our hotel. We ended up arguing with an unmetered taxi before jumping in a "tuk-tuk"

March 4th (Wednesday) - Day 4 - Bangkok
Bit of a lazy day before joining our tour. We got up for breakfast and went for a walk. Firstly to see some monks making pottery (which did not exist) and then onto the golden mount (wat Saket). It is a temple on the top of a hill. Took us ages to climb the one million tiny little steps. The top offered some great views. We then moved onto the city parapet which was nothing more than a run down park and a run down building so we quickly moved on, walking past the democracy monument and another Wat. We headed for the park outside the grand palace but it had been turned into a car park. After Sarah got poo'ed on by a piegon we tried to enter the grand palace but sarah was under dressed and we could not be bothered to wait for the free clothes. After going to another little park we went back to the hotel to chill for a bit. Not the most successful monrning but was good to walk about and see places.
We met our tour group at half 6. Jess (the leader - not the guide!) took us through the T and C's before we went out for dinner with the group. We went to the street where most of "the beach" was filmed and had the worlds spiciest meal which came out all wrong for the others. After a few beers we headed back as we had an early start the next day.

March 5th (Thursday) - Day 5 - Bangkok
We got up early and got a quick breakfast. We then walked to the river and went on a long boat tour of the river and canels though Bangkok. We had to go through a lock first which was really exciting. The canals where really wide and were hung over by all the buildings which were built in the water to get extra space. We stopped to feed some cat fish which is meant to be good luck. After the boat we went to Wat Po. They have a large laying budder that is over 46 meters long and 15 metres tall, all covered in gold leaves. We wondered around the rest of Wat Po and also visited the temple. 4 of us then went onto the grand palace stopping off for lunch on the way. The food comes out as it is cooked and I had ordered the pork, but they gave me Lisa's Squid. Then 5 minutes later my pork came out and i did not even realise to that point i was eating squid (still think it was dog!!)
We wondered around the grand palace for an hour, grabbed some food for dinner and headed to the station. We boarded the 6pm train to Chang Mai. We were in 2nd class with bunk beds all along the carriage. They were folded away so we sat down had dinner then the beer started flowing. We talked for a few hours before playing some cards. We made friends with some Germans who got on at a later stop but then we were sent to bed at 10 as most people were already asleep and we were keeping them up.