The start our around the world vacation: Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok at 11:30pm on Saturday June 7, 2008.

Our flight was smooth and there we no problems. We sat in the back of the plane, the first set of seats that are 2 seaters because of the curvature of the plane. This meant we had some space beside the window and the third seat in front us of to store items. This gave us more leg room and a place to store the pillows and blankets.

The Qantas planes have been slightly upgraded with new seat material, head rests than can turn outward to the left and right, so you can lean on it. The entertainment system has been upgraded with On-demand movie and television stations and more of it.

About an hour or two into our flight dinner was served. There was supposed to be a choice of lamb and chicken. But by the time the food got back to us in the back all that was left was the lamb. But it was very good, lamb and mash potatoes with veggies. Very tasty and the lamb was very soft. After dinner we were served a popsicle of lime and cream and then later a choice of peppermint tea or hot chocolate. Lauren commented how this was so much better than United Airlines. I can’t wait to see what flying on an Airbus A380 on Singapore or Qantas airlines would be like.

Then it was time to watch a movie. At the start of the flight I started watching Vantage Point but got bored of it, so stopped when the food was served. The second movie I watched was the children’s movie The Spiderwick Chronicles. I found it very entertaining and it made and hour and half go by quickly.

By that time it was time for a bit of a rest. Then we were awoken about 2 hours left in the flight with a refreshment meal of pasta.

Our departure from the plane and immigration process was smooth, very quick. It probably took more time to get from the plane to immigration. We arrived in Bangkok’s new airport. It has a very new and industrial look to it.

We also got our baggage very quickly and proceeded out of the terminal, where we were meet by many people there to pick people up. As we exited the terminal and got outside, we spotted a taxi stand. We showed the woman our destination, she wrote up a slip, I took it and gave it to another woman, who then gave it to the taxi driver. He took our bags and loaded it into the car. It was a beat up Toyota Corolla painted yellow on the top half and green the bottom half. When we left the airport and headed out on an empty highway. About 20mins into the ride the taxi drive said 65 baht, 65 baht – toll. I was a bit skeptical, but I did remember reading on the sign at the taxi stand that the fare would also include a 50baht surcharge plus all toll costs. So we gave him 100baht and did get back 35 baht. In total our trip cost 257 baht, which is under 8 dollars.

Our check in at the hotel was smooth and we officially arrived in Bangkok at about 12:40am on Sunday the 8^th of June.

The next day we explored a bit of Bangkok. More on that on the next blog entry.