to
APRIL 19, 2003
We arrived in Bangkok at 5:00 am. The flight attendant woke us up at 3:00 am and started with coffee, juice, and then breakfast. Normally I would think 3:00 am is a little early to eat breakfast, but our bodies were in New Zealand time which meant 8:00 am.
Our flight left from Auckland and we stopped in Brisbane, Australia. Now I can say I have been to Australia though it was only in the airport lobby for 45 minutes. We had to get off the plane, even though it was the same plane that we were on before.
Now we are in a country with a language barrier. Most of the people in the tourism business seem to speak English. We got through customs without a problem. There was a tourist office there that flagged us down. They are there for people that need help getting rooms, or if they want to book tours. The woman told us how to get a taxi and then we booked a river canal trip for tomorrow. I didn't have any of their currency so I went to the money exchange and Laurie went to the ATM. I forgot to ask her if they had English on the screens. I am assuming so since she got money. The exchange rate is 42.67. Which means I get 42.67 bahts (dollars) for each dollar. I gave them a travelers check for $50 US and received $2110 bahts. It was the first time I have ever seen or had a $1000 bill or a $500 bill.
We got outside and the first thing that hit me was the heat and humidity. It was only 6:00 am and it was about 85 degrees. I guess this is considered the hottest month and is their summer. I read that they only have three seasons. One is summer--March-May, then rainy--June-Oct and then winter--Nov.-February.
While we were waiting for the taxis, I noticed a bunch of people pushing the taxis up to the taxi stand. My first thought was they couldn't get them going. My next thought was (1) they were saving gas, (2) that they shut them off because of the heat and the exhaust would make it unbearable in the taxi area.
We got the taxi. The woman at the tour office wrote on a slip of paper in Thai we were going so we could just hand it to the taxi driver. She told us how much it would cost, 250 baht, which sounds scary at first, but then I realized it is only $6.00. The taxi driver asked if we wanted the freeway. We just shrugged our shoulders. We didn't know. I guess he asked because we would have to pay the toll which we found out when we got to the first toll booth.
The taxi driver dropped us off at our hotel, Viengtai Hotel. This is one that Emma and Sharon, the two English girls we met in TeAnau, New Zealand. The place was quite nice especially since we were paying only $25.00 US for the room. We had a refrigerator, showers, towels, toiletries in the room and breakfast is included. So I would say we got a good deal. We didn't have to walk down some hallway to a shared bathroom/shower like we did in New Zealand. There was also a pool.
At the hotel we saw a sign that if you were leaving on the 15th (today) to leave before noon because the roads will be blocked. The reason for this is the Songkran Festival which the Thai New Year. Songkran is a Sanshirt word meaning to rise, shift, or move and it refers to the solar calendar where it refers to the significant movement of the sun into the sign of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. It is considered a family and religious holiday and they give three days to allow people to go to their hometowns for the festival. It is suppose to be a time for family reunions to show care and love, to honor their elders, and for Buddhists to make merit.
Since we were at the hotel by 7:00 am and were able to get into our room, we decided to nap before we headed out into the streets.
