Landed in Bangkok, Thailand

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Carinna and I have been planning this trip since late November. Between numerous quotes on hotels, hostels, airline tickets, etc., we felt quite prepared when the day arrived for our departure on our 16 day journey. I had done something I had never done before - carry my bags on board so nothing was checked. Let me just say, this is the way to travel. So nice to be able to skip the baggage claim and walk right off the plane with everything already in your hands (not to mention, if we ever were stuck anywhere, there would be no loss).

We landed in Bangkok approximately at 10:40 p.m. There is just a one hour time difference our bodies had to adjust to so nothing horrible. We flew KLM - a Dutch airline and a huge Boeing 747 - so quite nice for our 3.5 hour flight. I would highly recommend this airline to anyone who has a chance to take it, staff was friendly and there was also an interactive video player that allowed all passengers to view movies, listen to music, play games, even take language lessons.

We booked all of our hotels before arriving in Thailand, and in Bangkok, we stayed in Sunflower Place - a rather nice hostel with really friendly and helpful staff. The downside: located in a sketchy area. Upon first arriving down the dark alley with some various gentleman clubs, we had some doubts. But truthfully, was not that bad, and Anan, the night desk clerk, was almost a fatherly figure and welcomed us warmly.

Upon arrival at our hostel, which was more like a hotel, we fell into bed and were fast asleep in seconds. So truthfully, our adventure did not start until the next day, the first of 2 official full days in Bangkok.

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