Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seat belts as we are about to enter Asia. First stop Bangkok Thailand, home of the lady boy and pesky tuk tuk drivers.

The flight to Bangkok from the U.S. was interesting to say the least, firstly as the check in staff had boarded the plane just before take off in order to get us to sign immigration forms that stated we would cover costs for being deported if we weren't allowed into Thailand! Now as this was a result of them neglecting to cover off certain details with us when we booked the flight and checked in we were none too happy, but faced with either been taken off the plane or sign the forms we opted for signing the forms, or so they thought. We actually squiggled some lines that bared no resemblance to our signatures and with passport and driving licence as proof if questioned these forms would hold no strength, meaning the airline would have to stand the cost and not us.

The second reason this flight was that bit different was because we had the worst turbulence we have ever experienced, the seatbelt signs were not off for more than 30 minutes in total across a 20 hour flight! Not for the best. Anyhow with all that over, a lack of sleep and shaken up like a cocktail we landed in Bangkok airport ready to face the possibility of deportation!?!

Just before the immigration desk you have to pass one at a time through a barrier that has a thermal camera scanning you, this somehow checks you for Swine flu. Once through here we arrived at the Immigration desk to be greeted or not in this case, by a women wearing a mask who never spoke to us, not a word. She just took our passports stamped them with a 30 day visa and gave them back, no pleasantries or questions, not even eye contact to check our pictures. She was clearly trying to avoid any contact with anyone that may have a sniff of the flu coming from another country and was too tired in he small hours to care why we were there!

Much relieved we had passed with no issues we found our way into the main bit of the airport to get comfy for the next few hours until dawn and work out where we wanted to get to and how to get there.

At day break we took a shuttle bus that was popular with backpackers and cheap, which took us to the main backpacker/guesthouse area. Everyone got off at the same stop and before long we were hounded by tuk tuk drivers and accommodation touts, as such a few of us who had never met or spoke grouped together and set off in one direction. Once out of the way and introduced we got to the bit we wanted to be in and started checking rooms prices and places for somewhere to stay. He group lessened as people either found the budget they wanted or just accepted defeat at walking any further. We settled on a quieter place just off the main bustle and not to bad for its price, before dumping our stuff and straight for a cold beer.

Our investigation of the area over the first couple of days was just that, not doing much other than get our bearings and adjust to yet another culture which was a leap from anything we were used to seeing before. We found a regular eating spot at a street stall at the bottom of our road which served amazing meals at anytime of the day or night, these places would be shut down in England by health and safety but serve some of the best food you have ever tasted! If you imagine a fruit and veg stall at the market, a butchers stall using ice instead of fridges, a miss match of garden umbrellas and furniture to sit on and eat that is what it looks like.

A couple of days later we went in search of some temples which isn't hard if you want any old temple as Bangkok is home to some 400 plus temples, but we were specific in our choices and wanted to see Wat Po, the oldest and largest temple and home to the 'Reclining Buddha' and Wat Traimit home of the 'Gold Buddha'. As these were quite a distance we needed transport, so we opted for the local option that I the river boat! These things are cheap, load and unload in seconds and get you close to more or less anything you would want to see in Bangkok.

So off we went to the jetty and when our boat came we had less than 10 seconds to get on, amongst the others getting off which actually works pretty orderly. When it comes to getting off you just have to be at the back waiting then when the boat hit's the side jump off and shift out of the way.

After first finding the train station for prices around Thailand we got to the Temple of the Golden Buddha, The Golden Buddha is so special as it was covered in stucco (a plaster of types) to conceal the fact is was gold during the war with Burma. The outer of the Temple was decorated with gold, dragons, Buddha's of varying types and other intricate details making it quite a sight. The Temple was very busy and we soon realised why, there was a Monk sat below the 3m tall 5.5 tonne solid Gold Buddha blessing people with water and tying something around their wrists.

Having asked the lady in there if we were allowed to approach the Monk we did so but had to be kneeling, with the added simple head and hand bow gesture we just had to let him do his stuff then. He says the Blessing while flicking you with water from what looks like a mini witch brush because of the hard bristles, he then summonsed us to go to him one at a time where he tied a piece of white rope string around our right wrist. The string had a knot already in it which sits directly opposite the bottom knot that holds it on your wrist, the different Wats have different coloured string and different knots so depending where you go depends what you get. After which you can leave having been blessed for safe travel, among other things and the string tied to your wrist harnesses the blessing to you from the Buddha, because it was done in front of the Buddha in the Wat. For it to work correctly though you should leave this tied on your wrist until it falls off naturally.

Our second stop along the river boat route was to a much bigger Wat to see the 'Reclining Buddha', this is an absolutely massive thing. In order to be allowed in you must remove your shoes and hats as at all Wat's and for ladies covered shoulders. Because this is such a big tourist attraction they have been sensible and made sure they have several Hawaiian style shirts at the entrance for anyone who forgot to cover up. This way they are no offended and have to refuse entry and you are not upset that you cant go in, but this is rare to have this organisation at a Wat.

The Reclining Buddha is 46m long, 15m high and is said to illustrate the passing of Buddha into final Nirvana. It has was moulded out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf, mother of pearl inlay ornaments the eyes and feet, with the feet displaying 108 different characteristics of Buddha. The best picture to demonstrate its size is of Carina and Norman at the end of it, which makes them look like ants in comparison.

From here but within the same grounds we explored the rest of the Wat area which houses four Pagodas all in different colours which represent various kings birthdays on different days of the week. There is a smaller Wat and Buddha just behind these which we went into and Carina forgit that you (a women especially) cant sit with your feet in front of you pointing at a Buddha, as such a guy heading directly for her waving a feather duster at her feet was a clear indicator to move them quickly! Luckily it hadn't caused enough offence for us to be evicted. Various other its and bobs were around the grounds but nothing of much more interest. So we went back to the jetty and caught the super packed river boat back to our guesthouse area.

It was taking us some time to adjust in Asia as we had now been in Bangkok 5 days and other than visiting the Wats had done little else other than sleep eat and window shop, we hadn't bought anything or gone far as it is difficult to know who to trust. Here is an example of what we mean, the Tuk Tuk drivers have a habit of telling you they will take you anywhere in Bangkok for 10 Baht which is 20 pence, clearly not a realistic figure if you have any sense. They will then take you to a silk shop or tourist office on route to your destination, which they will get commission for if you buy and if you don't the price rockets to get you where you wanted to go to start with. We had not done this, but bored of being harassed David's reply when they asked "where are you going" as walking down the street was, "to the moon and back". Now after the initial confused look on their face as they attempted to work out where that was they would burst into enthusiasm and say "10 baht anywhere you go"!!!!!! MMmmmmm, LIAR!!!
Oh and our personal favourite quote from a guy as we walked down the street past a tailor shop was 'Special raining price for you sir!'. Bearing in mind it rains for about ten minutes then cracks the flags with sun again, they will try anything.

So having asked a million and one questions and some help from friends who had been here we booked an overnight bus to Chiang Mai, a some what less hassled place and somewhere we hoped to do a bit more than we had in Bangkok. We hoped than n our travels we could speak with people who had done Bangkok and get some tips as we would be passing back through on our way to other places, so could do the bits we missed then.

Now at the time this blog was wrote we had already done Chiang Mai and believe us this one will make some of you GREEN with envy, it's a corker!