thailand..................day one......

the night before we left for Thailand..i had pulled my back............so thankfully when we got to amsterdam the flight on China airways was not full so they gave us an extra seat to enable me to stretch it out...so grateful....stuart was ever the gentleman and sacrificed his comfort for me ..thank you....during the flight i felt waves of emotion come over me every so often...a mixture of i cant believe we are going to the land that will become apart of our lives forever...and being surrounded with 80% men on the plane alot of who were going to Thailand for other reasons.......when we landed and arrived in immigration the queues were endless and the first greeting was the heat mixed with the smell of food......i was glad for my trusty handheld fan...stuart mocked..but i noticed many an envious glance as people tried to make their own fans.............always be prepared.............

eventually we got through and were met with out private transfer.........how grateful was i to see and air con Mercedes when those next to me were getting into a hot tin mini bus...i may have cried if that was me......especially when you leave and irish winter and land in 35 degrees C.............off we went being whizzed in and out of the Bangkok traffic....instantly noticing the unique driving skills of the motoring community ....indicators are just to make a fancy light show...nothing else......
when we pulled up to our first hotel.we were surround by bell boys all around the car and greeted with multiple bows and smiles...what a welcome...all the tiredness fell away and we were blown away with their welcome.......the hotel was amazing ....we went to the restaurant for a complimentary drink ..stuart chose coffee....unwise when u want to sleep soon i pondered....i thought i would try the thai iced tea..thinking that would be refreshing...........i was wrong.......it was thick condensed milk with tea mixed in..not what i was expecting...stuarts coffee looked good.......

we slept for a few hours....and then went to meet our tour adviser...who was very sweet..........when we had gone through everything..we asked her to translate into thai the address for the social worker at the adoption centre we were to meet the next day..........she was very puzzled as to why we wanted to go there...i think it was a first for her....but she went a step further and phoned the office instead making sure all the arrangements where in place...............




,that night we went to the two night markets in bangkok..it was a riot of all our senses the sights, sounds, smells., poverty standing alongside wealth ....so much to take in ............we quickly learned to keep our eyes on the pavement while weaving through the crowds as they were all shapes.......there felt just too much to take in with a jet lagged head......after a couple of hours we took a taxi back to our hotel..............



even the taxi rides are a cultural experience...with things written on ceilings incense burning.......multiple gods lined up along the dash........its a wonder the are room for passengers.......

as our first day draws to a close.....i am so glad we came here first before coming to collect our baby..........as i think all at once would have been alot to deal with................