Advertisement
Published: March 2nd 2009
I have safely arrived in South East Asia!
After a total travel time of about 24 hours, I landed in Bangkok at 5:45am! I navigated through the airport and fell for a taxi scam! Nothing major though, I just paid double what I should have. It came down to me not being able to find where the proper taxis where and my "taxi"driver telling me a convincing story that they don't allow metered taxis at the airport anymore and that that it was a holiday so I would need to wait 3 hours for the bus. I later discovered the "holiday" was just Saturday and that metered taxis where just elsewhere. The driver did take me directly to the hotel though for our agreed upon price.
When attempting to check in 5 hours early to the hotel, I met a couple from my tour group (from Finland). So I instead of sitting in the lobby for 5 hours with my bags, I jumped in a taxi with them and headed to "JJ Market" which is a super big market with tons of stuff (including small puppies). I then took part in my first official thai meal. We went to a local farmers market and got cheap tasty plates. We were the only "westerners" there. Food was super tasty but the heat and jet lag prevented me from eating more than 5 bites. I then split from my Finish friends to check-in at the hotel and take a quick power nap before our official group meeting. These initial 8 hours were a little overwhelming as I felt I didn't do enough research to successfully (and enjoyably) navigate solo. Bangkok is huge, loud, hot, and just alot going on.
Our tour group assembled that evening and it was quickly apparent that our group was going to be great. We have a younger group compared to average - I had heard stories of some groups having 60-80 years olds on them. There's 13 of us. Two other Canadians (both from Toronto), three Germans (two of them are engaged), the Finnish couple, one from Denmark, three from UK (one from Ireland), and one from the Netherlands. A wide range of careers but we do have two doctors on the trip! So should any health issues come up, we have some in-house help. The group is mainly female - only 4 males. Two of which are coupled with others in the group, thus leaving myself and the other solo male as roomies. He's one of the doctors and we get along great. After meeting with the group, I felt much better about the upcoming adventure.
We ventured to Kho Shan Rd (the backpackers mecca) and there was TONNES going on. I'd say primarily for the young and those who like to party. Many signs advertising "strong cocktails." We called it an early night so we could sleep, which I was grateful for as I felt I'd been up for 5 days already! We were due to depart at 7am for Cambodia the next day.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.344s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.2863s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mike
non-member comment
there's only so much you can plan!
I thought I'd get caught up on all of your adventures. It's good for you to know some, but not totally what to expect. It'll put hair on your back :) I send much love and some chilly Canadian air to you my friend! (it's rained a lot though, so just a touch of snow left).