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Published: February 2nd 2009
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Flight
Pre flight cheeriness. Well, let's start with the flight. This was the long one in our series of flights, spanning about 11 hours in the air. We had our fingers crossed for the same luck we had with our flight to London (a half empty plane), but no dice; the plane was full. We still had many of the same luxuries though, like movies and blankets, which helped a lot. The biggest plus was that falling asleep was pretty easy this time. With little sleep the night before, and a full day trekking across London, all it took was a few hours and we were both out.
We awoke to daylight again (actually, more like mid afternoon), and a new timezone. Lucky thing about Thailand though is that it's 12 hours ahead of our home back in Canada. It made time change calculations very easy. As for first impressions... it was hot. lol This is Thailand's cool season, meaning averages around 30 degrees Celcius or higher, it seems. Let's just say I'd be a little worried to be here in the hot season! It's also very humid and muggy. You know it's strong when it hits you on the ramp walking from the
Flight 2
Flight plan. plane to the terminal. lol
We grabbed a taxi into the city. Not the cheapest solution, but with all of our equipment, and it being our first time in Bangkok, we figured we would take the simplest and most direct route to our hostel. Well, it seemed that translation issues were arising right off the bat. Even with directions already printed off, things were not smooth. Luckily we had the hostel's phone number, and the cab driver was able to speak to the receptionist himself to get directions.
City impressions? Well, busy and hot. lol Not to generalize, but it was sort of what you'd expect a city in south-east Asia to look like. Lots of cars, buildings and people. Plenty of small shops lining the roads, many with "food" hanging in the windows (aka chicken, duck and pork). Tons of scooters too! Just zipping along weaving in and out of traffic. Being in an enclosed vehicle, you start to worry for the scooter drivers, since if there were a crash, you know they'd be getting the worst of it.
We stayed at the YHA Bangkok Downtown hostel our first two nights. Good location, and good value.
Flight 3
Post flight tiredness. Hillary was more impressed with it than I, but when she reminded me that we were paying $30 CAD a night (total), one really couldn't complain. lol Seriously, our own room and private washroom? Nice. Space saving tip? Shower is nothing more than the whole washroom with a drain in the middle. Sort of annoying though when the floor's wet and all you want to do is brush your teeth. lol
That evening we just relaxed, and explored the area within walking distance of our hostel. Downtown is good for toursists, because most people know a little bit of English. You just need to phrase things using simpler and more common words, and eventually you'll come to the desired result! So we trekked around, and found ourselves a sit down restaurant in a mall. It was more of a general asian restaurant, than a Thai restaurant, but it was a step in the right direction. lol We finished the night with some computer work (we were able to steal some wireless off a neighbour), and turned in for our first night in Bangkok.
Kevin (and Hillary)
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Lub d Bangkok - Silom
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Greetings from Bangkok!
Hello Kevin and Hillary, I enjoyed reading your blog. Yeah, Bangkok is busy and hot (humid and muggy). I visited Delhi last December and found that Bangkok is very tame in comparison. For the weather, India has much wider range, from cold to very hot. Bangkok is consistently hot. Hope you give us a chance to receive you next time you come to Bangkok. We are not far from YHA Bangkok Downtown. Happy trails! Lub d Hosts http://www.lubd.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/32577467@N03/