Sunday, February 15, 2009

We Made It!

Our journey to Bangkok was a long, eventful, yet safe one! We woke at 3:30a to catch our 6am flight to San Francisco. Our layover allowed just enough time for me to realize I managed to loose my credit card before even leaving our STATE (no charges were made, card is cancelled) and to get his and hers blow up pillows for the 14 1/2 hour flight to Hong Kong. Flight started out great - we were wedged between a group of about 25 travelers from San Fran heading to Bangladesh on a humanitary mission to fix cleft lips in children - fun group, shared a few beers and some interesting convos between naps and bad airline movies... however about 13 hours into the flight the pilot hopped on the speaker and annouced that strong tail winds had caused a greater than expected use of fuel and we were not going to make it to Hong Kong with out stopping somewhere to gas up. Needless to say, we made a stop in Taipai, Taiwan - fuled up, changed flight crews, and were back on track leaving just enough time for a fabulous Valentine's celebration over Coca-Cola Lights in the Hong Kong airport.

We managed to make it to our hostel just of Koshan Road (popular backpacker haven in Bangkok) around 1:30am where we threw down our stuff and walked next door for our first Chang beer and green curry - yum! (Wasn't 'til the morning that we realized this restaurant was in the same hostel Brooke stayed in when she was here - fun to feel like you are walking in someone's footsteps! 3am crept up fast and it was time for bed after our 30 hour travel day(s)!

Sunday, Feb. 15 was devoted to a whirlwind jam packed "Bangkok in a Day". It was perfect - managed to see all the "must sees", including the massive "Wat"/temples, the Grand Palace, float along the Choa Phraya River, put a python around our necks (um not sure how the con man managed that one?!), shopping in China Town, a ride on the Sky Train and elbowed through the massive Chatuchak market (8k stalls with everything from live animals, food, clothing, plants, beer stalls, etc.) All before 8pm (our early bedtime on Day 2). :)

Today (Monday, Feb. 16) we hop on a plane to Chiang Mai for our elephant trek - more details to come!

Hope this finds you well - we are having an amazing time!!

p.s. We are TRYING to add pics, but the computer is insanely slow, so it's not been easy - stay tuned!

4 comments:

Jim Warren said...

It all sounds GREAT. Thanks for the posting. Keep 'em coming! -- Dad

Jeremy, Julie, Eva and Kate said...

How fabulous! Can't wait to hear about the elephant trek:)

Stephanie Allen said...

How fun! Hope to see some pics soon! :)

Steph Tydeman said...

Sounds like you are having fun. It makes me miss thailand soooo much! Keep posting... I love to hear the stories. We are you staying in Chang Mai?