We had our longest travel day of the trip today, and that's a good thing. Things have worked out pretty well in terms of not having really long "transfer" days. We've tried to make sure we weren't stuck in buses for 12 hours, and when we have had long transfers, they've been intentional as an experience, a la the overnight train in Vietnam. But sometimes, you just can't avoid a longish day.
We were up early, grabbing breakfast for the 6th time at the Heritage Hotel. I think we were all kind of getting sick of the breakfast there - there have been some good selections, but being face to face with this country's obsession with cocktail weenies (or as the Muddys call them, "little boys", lol) every morning is a bit much. You know cocktail weenies are in the mainstream when you see a sign at Starbucks stating that for 3 Ringett you can add a side of f$¥&ing cocktail weenies to your latte. How bizarre.
By 7:45, we all had our packs on and were hiking down the road to the bus station. Abby remarked that we really haven't had to walk too much with our full packs and day packs on. I reminded her what it was like in Japan when we first arrived - there was a fair amount of grumbling about short walks with the packs between trains and to the hotel. Now? Not a peep - it's just what we do now.
The bus ride was great - I'm not sure why.... Maybe it was because Beth force fed Gravol to everyone - we will never know. The downside of Gravol is of course that everyone gets pretty sleepy/groggy/grumpy - but we fared pretty well. The bus dropped us off at KL Central - a massive, modern train and bus station that was actually pretty confusing. The train would be 140 Ringett, a cab 104 and we'd heard a bus would be 50. Although we had plenty of time to explore options, we were more importantly up against a refuel deadline, so we hopped in a cab for the hour long ride to the airport.
Our flight was slightly delayed, so we ended up boarding around 5pm.
Twins Basel, twins!
Thai immigration was a breeze compared to some of the immigration procedures and lines we'd been through so far - no visa required for Canadians, which always makes things easier. We'd arrived in Don Muang airport in Bangkok, considered as one of the oldest international airports in the world. Bangkok has a newer airport that we will fly out of next week, but this one is now used as a domestic and semi-domestic airport for discount airlines like Air Asia.
When we got through customs and got our bags, the tout pressure began. First, we were approached by "officials" trying to sell us on private taxis to our hotel. Then, when we eventually pushed our way through to the long line for the metered taxi line, we had to deal with a driver that didn't want to use his meter. It took a little firm persuasion, but the little guy eventually turned his meter on.
While in line, we noticed that there was a huge bike ride happening in the city - it was all over the news. It turned out it was a public awareness kind of charity bike ride called "bike for mom", celebrating the Queen's 84th birthday. On the drive, we were amazed at how many images of the Queen were plastered on billboards, buildings and temporary pop up displays. The love (genuine or encouraged) of the Royal Family is huge and ever present in Bangkok.
It wasn't long before we were checked into our hotel - a great layout with lots of space and perfect location - and back out the door in search of dinner. Yes, it was Phad Thai for four and a Chang Classic for one. I'm loving Thailand already.
And since there was a lot of sitting around today (you know where this is going Versly), the girl's butts were sore, so they needed a little asscream.....
We are looking forward to our next four nights in Bangkok. The girls seem to get a charge out of tackling big cicities, and this is one of the bigger ones.
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