Travel Story «Thailand - Journey to Bangkok»

Thailand | 0 Comments 03 March 2006 - Last Update 05 March 2006

Please be aware that this website is currently under construction, and because the constructors are either sunbathing or sleeping there may be a slight delay in updating the information (90% of the time) We (Aisling/the Ace, Emily, Grainne & Lorna) set off from Dublin airport on Monday afternoon. We were waved off by our families (Emily being an honorary Carroll for the day, as her parents had already wished her goodbye), who in my opinion (Grainne) seemed more relieved than anything else, to finally be rid of us. The excitement started before we even made into into the departures lounge, with Aisling/the Ace unable to locate her passport. When we finally made into the security area we all set off the alarm (except Lorna), Emily was actually whisked away for an individual search! Unfortunately despite the very real suspicions they couldn't hold her and we made our way to the plane. Johnny O'Connor (Irish International Rugby Player) escorted us the UK, he may not realise this, and after a very smooth flight we arrived in Heathrow. After we asked the third person for directions we finally made it to the right terminal. We were a little fatigued by the experience so far, Johnny's attentions (he looked at Lorna!)& the long-haul flight (45mins), so we didn't queue for better seats, thus when we were seated on the flight to Thailand we didn't have much leg room and were forced to seat together. The flight to Thailand was uneventful and the entertainment choices were plentiful and generally well enjoyed, though Aisling did NOT enjoy Elizabethtown. All except Aisling/the Ace watched North Country, very good and emotionally charged. The flight took just under 11 hours and there was alot of sleeping and some turbulence. When we finally stepped off the flight there were so many thoughts running through our minds, "Christ it's hot", "Are they going to let us into the country?" and most importantly "Was that Kate Moss who just tripped on the escalator?". Yes it was, and I think we all recognised the immeadiate jealously that Kate felt toward us. Not only did she not speak to us, but she looked at us with envy, our hair was greasy and we smelled, while she looked like she had just walked out of heaven. Essentially she and her entourage wanted to be us. After the "Kate" incident we got through customs and went to collect our bags. All very straight forward, but we were all somewhat dazed by the heat and the fact the flight socks were cutting off the circulation from the knees down.  Finally we made it outside for our first impressions of Asia - HOT and very industrialised. Once we got into the taxi our driver with tried to give us the fundementals of saying hello, thank you etc in Thai. Since we are all educated people, one would assume that learning three or four simple phrases would not be completely beyond our collective grasp, 30 mins in the taxi with all four of us trying to say thank you while the taxi lady laughed at us, proved fruitless. Thai is a tonal language and pretending that you are speaking in a chinese accent does not make it any easier. Our hotel was a haven in a business distric of Bangkok, and according to the lonely planet guide this area, Sukhimvit, is notorious for the attractions it poses to sex tourists. But that was before we even arrived, and us flashing incredibly white skin and towering over everyone has made little difference to it's charms. The number of young beautiful women latched on to older not necessarily good looking western men (some with wedding rings, but I don't think they were married to the natives) is overwhelming. To be honest it's hard to know whether the men are taking advantage of these girls or whether it's the men who are being manipulated, however it could be that nobody at all is being taken advantage of. Anywho, our hotel, while well air conditoned , in a central district, as well as clean with all the amenties required however our rooms were basic and not "superior" as trailfinders led us to believe. But the best thing, the most glorious thing, was the pool (and the poolside bar, which we never utilised actually), so after a quick dip in the pool, which emptied, according to Emily the minute she got in the water. We headed out to soak up the culture, the atmoshpere, the real Bangkok and some beers as well as soon as they could be located. We were too tired for any protracted culinary expeditions, so we settled on the nearest, cleanest establishment we could see. We ordered Pizza and tentatively some local cusine. All very nice, but not enough to keep us awake. Day one of our trip ended in sleep at 11.30pm. 


Grainne

(PS this took ages to write so I'm not entirely sure that the logs will continue to be so descriptive and detailed. Please excuse the spelling errors, last night was a late one.)