One More Time

So I've been in Bhutan for about a day now, but the place I stayed last night didn't have interwebs. As a result, I've got a few things to post from the last two days that I had written, but didn't have any way to put up here. And yes, there will be pictures.

The flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok proceeded much in the same way as the previous one, with more good movies and bad food. I found it interesting that all the announcements over the intercom on the plane were given in English first. I expected this on my Air Canada flight, but it was a little surprising now that I was on a Cathay Pacific plane.

Just like the previous flight, where it got interesting was the landing. As we dropped below the clouds, I could see farms, roads, power lines, and scattered industry. Once again, very similar to what you would find back home. The one thing I noticed that was different was that all of the lots were thin and long. This was true of the farms, the industrial sites, as well as the housing developments that started appearing as we got closer to the city. I'm not sure why they choose to build things this way, but it was like that everywhere I looked.

I also noticed that there were a ton of rice paddies. At least, I assume they were rice paddies. I'm not sure what else they grow here that requires the fields to be flooded. As I looked out at the seemingly never-ending fields, I wondered to myself exactly how they managed to keep the fields flooded like that, as it's pretty hot most of the time in Thailand.

Suvarnabhumi Airport was interesting. There was, like in Hong Kong, everything you would expect, with a local twist, but there were also huge murals with slogans like "Long Live Their Royal Majesties." I found out later that the royal family of Thailand are held in pretty high regard, and it is actually illegal to speak badly about them, so I guess just to be double safe, people show exactly how much love they have for them.

Before leaving I had to go through the Thai version of Customs, Passport Control. Once I had answered a bunch of questions there and had my picture taken, I tried to figure out exactly how I was supposed to get to the hotel.

I walked around looking for a sign of some kind for a while, and picked up a bottle of water at one of the stores for 10 Baht, which works out to something like 30 cents. Not bad. Unfortunately, it would be the last time I won because of the exchange rate while I was in Thailand.

Eventually I located the kiosk for the shuttle service to the Novotel, and went outside to the marked area to wait for the shuttle to show up. As I stepped outside, I realized why the water in those rice paddies doesn't evaporate. The air in Thailand couldn't hold any more water if it tried. It was the most humid place I have ever been. The kind of humid where after walking for 2 minutes at a leisurely pace, you need to change your shirt because it is drenched in sweat.

The shuttle showed up within a few minutes and took us to the hotel. As we approached, I realized that their website's claim that they had the biggest lobby in the entire world had to be true. All glass on the front, and rising 5 stories up, you could easily fit my entire high school inside of it twice over. There was nothing overtop of the lobby but the roof. On either side, there were rooms, which were connected by bridges at the front and back on every floor. Not exactly an efficient use of space. But hey, the airport is in the middle of nowhere.

I checked in and made my way to the elevator, where I was greeted by a man who bowed slightly while making a praying gesture toward me and asked what floor I was going to. I told him my room number, and he called an elevator for me and wheeled my bag in. Not bad. Maybe I was getting my money's worth here.

I got to my room and after figuring out that I had to put my keycard in this slot to get the lights to work, was equally impressed with it. Big floor-to-ceiling windows, a swanky bathroom, and a comfortable-looking bed greeted me. I promptly threw my bags on the bed, took a shower, ordered room service, and fell asleep.

23 hours after I had woken up in my bed back home, I had arrived. Well, I had at least arrived somewhere where I could rest without waking up with crippling neck pain.