Our first day in Bangkok and we decided to go for a wander and see what we could find. I think the intention was to follow a tour of the old markets from a map in a lonely planet guide, but after about 5 minutes out of the taxi, where we were was anybody's guess. Even some of the locals couldn't read the street names on our map!

We came across this street after emerging from the shaded, but no less busy or hot, alleyways below. The sights and smells of the markets is something I just can't describe but the buzz of the place kept us walking and (mostly) smiling for over 4 miles. On each side of the bridge there were men selling tickets for the boxing fights.

It was amazing what we got done on this first day in Thailand - 4 miles of markets and many temples (some Chinese ones too). The pollution took its toll the next morning as after using my inhaler, actually felt dizzy. I wonder how shallowly I had been breathing that night. Still nothing was going to stop us, apart from the odd scooter trying to get through the alleys (or a healthy dose of monsoon rain as we discovered later).