The road to Bangkok (not the Hope / Crosby version)

Wed Jan 6 – Thr Jan 7

Our start of our second leg was much less dramatic than the first one. Australia and New Zealand was wonderful, but it also served as a trial run on our gear and planning. You can tell from my first blog, I was much less prepared than I wanted to be and things were frantic until the last minute. We certainly thank Rita’s sister Marilyn, and friend Kathy, for their calming presence and getting us to the airport just in time. On this leg, Rita’s sister Janice dropped us off. We’ve traveled with Janice before and I think she’s entertained by watching us scramble J Janice has been a great help in preparing for both trips, staying with us to help with those inevitable last minute things… making photocopies, taking off-site backups, even sewing monograms on our travel towels.

Our travel to Bangkok would be interesting – with several segments, using my frequent flyer miles. From Minneapolis to Vancouver was about 4.5 hours… add another 11 hours from Vancouver to Seoul… then the final leg to Bangkok was about 5.5 hours. We were delayed out of Seoul, but we made our connection to Bangkok. Overall travel time was more than 24 hours in airports and planes. Being in Business Class (on miles) made a huge difference, lots of room to stretch and nap. Korean Air served an amazing 7 course meal on the way to Seoul. I especially enjoyed sipping on a glass of Port and Cognac while watching the on-demand movies.

Arriving in Bangkok was uneventful. A taxi to our hotel just after midnight, we had a good night sleep. The Royal was in the Old City area. It was a bit run-down, but at less than $30 it was clean and convenient. I couldn’t believe the size of the huge breakfast buffet, which was included. Pad Thai and pancakes actually go pretty well together.

Our newest adventure beginning… watch for Rita’s updates soon!

Jeff