Internet

Quickly, 2 minutes left! In Bangkok there are a million internet cafes. You pay with a meter into a box next to the computer. There are also computers for "rent" in your hotel. That's where we get on the internet. Does that answer your questions?

Con Artists

So, apparently they're everywhere, just waiting to come talk to any white people strolling around. We were confronted by a guy yesterday who was really keen on telling us about all the local sights to see and when everything is open and closed, etc. In my tour book, it talks about the things that are typical for con artists to say to tourists, all of which culminate in them trying to get you to buy something for "cheap" that is worth "way more" normally (typically gems - who would buy gems? We know you wouldn't fall for this Theresa...). Of course, Kane and I would never do that crap anyway, even if it were true - we're not idiots.

But it was funny to see how close this guy was to what the book described - he began with casual conversation, asked where we were from and then said he had a relative there (SF), told us about a holiday that didn't appear to be happening, and carried a cell phone (not the norm). Nothing threatening at all about him, and he eventually said good day and went on his way - possibly because Kane was shifting his weight and looking around continuously and we were giving very vague answers to his questions. I was just polite and Kane was disinterested. We had nothing valuable on us and this guy was smaller than both of us and nicely dressed, so we weren't worried about anything physical happening. Funny though, how they do that. I guess it's very common. People are always looking for a good deal and waiting for some guy to come give it to them, then they just get ripped off.

No thanks, man, just seems weird to me. Can't get something for nothing, and I don't even want to try.

Time Difference

The internet can tell you, but we are 15 hours ahead of California time. I have no idea what that means for Germany, Jon, you figure it out.

Banglamphu, Bangkok

It smells funny here. We're in this district that is noted for being popular among backpackers and other travellers. It is loud, crowded, and has a billion street vendors fighting for you attention and money. Not exactly our scene, but at least there is food, other travellers, and a bed to sleep in.

Our hotel is "mid-range" and we booked it in advance so we'd have a few days to relax when we first got here. It cost $70 american a night, and it's crappier than a Motel 6. I don't know why, but I was surprised. Fortunately, I have seen no bugs and no overt filth, so that's good. The beds (yes, we each have a twin bed) are hard as a rock (mom, you'd love it), as are the pillows. We did, however, get a good night's sleep of 10 hours last night, followed by 3 hours of nap after breakfast. We had to catch up - we were awake for 24 hours!

We've walked the strip today: Khao San Road (famous road) and snapped a couple pics. There are fun nick-nacks to buy here, but we have no room in our packs (plus we probably don't need any crap anyway), so oh well.

We have this hotel tonight (Saturday night) and Sunday night, and will go elsewhere (to be determined) on Monday. Thank god this keyboard has the roman alphabet. Yeay for travel!

Taxi

So we get a taxi from the airport. You tell the guy running the thing where you are going, he gives you a price, and you get in the next taxi in line - pretty typical. We paid 450 Baht (about $15), which was expensive from what I heard, but we pretty much didn't care at that point.

Thailand has roads and lanes and traffic laws and signs just like the US, but no one really seems to notice, care, or abide them. There are 3 lanes on the street, but for some reason we are travelling in a 4th lane on the shoulder. We pass within inches of cars around us and squeeze into spots that you didn't think a car could fit. We are driving on the left side of the road, the driver sits on the right side of the car.

I don't know if it's because I was so tired, or because I figured the driver was a "professional", but I didn't really care about the driving. Seinfeld does a routine about taxi drivers, talking about how they drive like lunatics but we all just sit in the back thinking they know what they're doing. That's pretty much how I felt. Anyway, we made it. Traffic, as warned, is ridiculous. Kane said one red light lasted about 10 minutes. And others would cycle green to red repeatedly and we would go nowhere. Like LA, I guess. But with no laws. Don't drive here is the lesson.

Our ride took us 1.5 hours to get to our seedy hotel in Banglamphu - a travellers district of Bangkok. It's nasty here, I don't know why I thought we would like it. We'll move on soon.

Airplane

Ok, we're in Thailand now, but I'm going to start by briefly describing our travels. We left Honolulu airport at 7:15 am on Thursday morning. That means we got to the airport at 5am (courtesy of Diane Varley, who is awesome), having woken up at 4am. A ten hour flight on China Airlines landed us (literall) in Taipai Taiwan, where we had a 2 hour layover and didn't do much. I did, however, feel the need to take a picture of the "smoking rooms" in the Taipai airport, rooms which they also have at the Bangkok airport. I called them cancer rooms and proceeded to photograph them in appropriate mockery. Gross.

We got two meals on the 10 hour flight - and apparently requesting "vegetarian" meals means Indian food. It was ok, but when you start to feel kind of queasy from turbulance, Indian food is not exactly your first choice. Oh well. You get your own personal TV screen and remote, Kane and I watched I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry, Knocked Up, and Ocean's 13. They were all very mediocre but we were happy to have something to pass the time.

Kane does not fit into the seats, but he was not ridiculously uncomfortable. His knees hit the seat in front of us, and he's pretty good at dealing with that.

Next flight was 4 hours from Taipai to Bangkok. One meal and I slept most of the way. We were in the front seats, so Kane actually got an appropriate amount of leg room - yeay! Once we landed in Bangkok, we did the immigration thing (they completely don't look at the form you fill out, by the way), grabbed our luggage, and proceeded to be accosted by a barrage of people with taxis for hire. My book told me to seek out the "metered taxi" desk, and so we did.

Go to next post for Taxi info.

Hawaii, but more conscious

Ok, now it's Wednesday and we've had a good night's sleep. Muuuch better. We got our hotel reservations in Bangkok, we ran errands, we are good to go. Now we just need to work on going to sleep at 8pm and getting to the airport at 5am. Next entry will be from the other side of the world. Post comments if you have questions, or just email me. That is, if anyone actually reads this thing. =)

Hawaii

We made it to Hawaii today. Yesterday was a marathon of packing and last minute purchases - we're exhausted. One day to relax and then a full day of flying on Thursday. Time to rest up...will update again soon.

Plane Tickets!

Today marked the first ticket purchase for our trip, and subsequently made me $1000 poorer (Kane, you owe me $500...I'll put it on your tab). So now it's final, we're going to Thailand! I suppose it will be final when we board that flight, but let's start with baby steps. Expensive baby steps.

We still need to buy our Oakland to Honolulu tickets, but those seem to keep getting cheaper, so we're trying to wait it out for maximum cheapitude - one of the themes of this trip. I bought our Honolulu to Bangkok tickets for November 15th: One stop (Taiwan), 16.5 hours, Ambien sleeping pills. I can't wait!

Getting Ready

Well, we are getting dates planned, shopping around for flights, and steadily supporting REI with our extensive and perhaps ridiculous purchases. Our planned departure date is currently November 13, 2007. We will fly to Hawaii (to break up the flight), then to Thailand (30 days), then to Sydney, tour Aus (unknown days), fly to New Zealand (unknown days), and then back to Aus to find a home and a job for a year or so. We have a lot of work to do before then.

As a note to all friendly bay area dwellers, I will be in and out of the bay for October until we leave, so please contact me to hang out before I go. I will let everyone know about our going away party, tentatively planned for Nov 10.