Our plane left on time,not full so we had a bit of space to stretch our legs during the 5 hour flight. Unfortunately just as we were landing the pilot lost visibility and after another attempt and circling the airport we flew to bangkok to refuel and await permission to land which was another 5 hours. still as the first plane in we got through immigration and customs to find our transfer waiting. on our way to the hotel we passed some lakes,a giant golden stupa by the people's square. of course like most cities it is not designed for cars so we crawled along in traffic,even passing a rolls royce. thankfully our room was ready so were able to have a nap before meeting our new tour members. at least we'll know one already,Bennett who we met in iran last year. it was his suggestion to do this tour.
After check in we dozed and bathed before meeting up with everyone . On this trip it is mainly canadians and australians so we can look forward to a bit of friendly banter. We walked to a local restaurant for a typical burmese meal. The streets are quite wide and have a variety of food stalls but we have been advised to avoid them. Our return walk although at 9 o'clock was through deserted streets with a few wild dogs chasing each other. An early start tomorrow so a relatively early night.