Amy: Wow, it feels like a very long time has passed since I did my last update, I am not sure where to start. I am finally healthy again after more then a month of stomach problems and colds. That feels like a good start. By changing our departure date for Thailand from April 9th to April 30th we had enough time to recover from some travel burn out and for me to get healthy. While we were home we managed to fit in a day of snowboarding at Jasper and benefited from some wonderful hospitality from Patti’s family. So now we are both feeling rejuvenated and excited about our time in Asia.
Getting There:
We had 2 stop-overs on route to Bangkok, first in Denver and then in Los Angeles. It seemed like we had plenty of time to make our connections but our flight from Denver to LA was late and we had to change terminals in LA to catch our flight to Bangkok. This was the closest I have come to missing a flight. After waiting for the airport shuttle and finding our way to the right security check point, we needed assistance from a Thai Airways staff member to by-pass the long line-up at security. We then had to sprint to our gate, which of course was as far away as possible. The plane actually pulled away as soon as we got on it.
After approximately 26 hours of total travel time we arrived in Bangkok at 6:30am local time. We breezed through customs but soon discovered that my bag did not arrive. (not very surprising due to the tight connection in LA). We found our way to our hotel and were pleasantly surprised when they allowed us to check in early. Bangkok is huge but we have been able to make it feel smaller and more manageable by booking our hotel in an area where we can walk to most of the sights. We spent Saturday doing a self guided walking tour, visiting the museum, Grand Palace and a couple of the temples. Sunday we did a ½ day tour from our hotel to visit the floating market about 1½ hours outside the city. It was very touristy but interesting to see. We then checked out the weekend market in Bangkok that is said to have over 200,000 visitors a day. I think they were all there when we were there. There was a steady stream of people which made it difficult to actually look for things to buy. Monday we will do a full day tour that will include a visit to the Tiger Temple. It is hot and humid so I was quite happy when the airline delivered my bag as promised on Saturday afternoon and I finally had a change of clothes.
Food:
The food so far has been very tasty and incredibly cheap. We have been frequenting the street vendors and have had many tasty meals that have typically cost less then 3.00 CAD for both of us. We had our first banana pancake last night (thanks for the tip Nicole) and I am hooked, it was delicious. I can understand why the noodles and rice dishes are so inexpensive but it is amazing to me that things like Coke and Lays chips are cheaper here then in North America. The people are very friendly and we haven’t encountered anyone who didn’t speak at least some English.
Our next tour includes a trip to the Tiger Temple about 250 Km’s outside of Bangkok. We are looking forward to that but Patti will find it difficult to not wrestle with them. Stay tuned for picutures.
FYI: We are not in Myanmar and have not been effected by cyclone that hit that region. We are not scheduled to go to the coast until the end of May.
