So the Adventure Begins

It is always with great relief that the taxi arrives. After the taxi failed to arrive for our Korean trip, we now allow plenty of time just in case we have to revert to plan B and catch the train. As a result we arrived at the airport almost three hours before departure. The new Qantas kiosk check-in was most impressive but we weren't sure what to do with our bicycles and had to seek help. Good thing we did as Georgia's name was not spelt correctly on her ticket so the whole check-in was done by a very helpful Qantas person.

Once through we headed to our "favourite" cafe for a morning coffee. Got to love having a preferred cafe at an international airport! Boarding was seamless and easy and we had four seats together near the front of economy. Takeoff was delayed a little due to a faulty cargo door but we were soon on our way. We all gorged on movies on the nine hour flight and it passed quickly.

On landing we took advantage of our seat allocation and headed straight to the second immigration area where there were no queues and were through very quickly. Couldn't say the same about the bikes which were unloaded about an hour after we landed. We had booked a maxi taxi pick up through 12GoAsia. Always nice to have someone waiting with a sign with your name on it.

The reputed heavy Bangkok traffic wasn't too bad. Very slow in some parts but we moved quickly along the expressways. About an hour and a quarter later we were parked outside a wat whilst the driver tried to find the exact location on Google maps. In the end he rang the Loy La Long hotel who gave him precise directions to find his way through the wat to the tiny sign that indicted the hotel location.

After unloading the bikes and dumping our bags we headed out to find a street stall that was reputed to make excellent kwae tao noodles on Yarowat Road in the middle of Chinatown. And they were as good as the review! For 50 baht each (around $2.50) we had a plate of tasty meat, vegetables and silky noodles. Jonno was still hungry so we wandered on and found a busy stall cooking up pad Thai. So that was course two. More wandering and I found some coconut ice cream. The street was getting really busy so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

Whilst the kids showered, Simon and I adjourned to the little terrace to enjoy a cup of tea overlooking the Chao Praya River.

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