Day 1: Acclimatizing to Bangkok

All things considered, Bangkok is a pretty easy introduction into this part of the world (I was going to say third world, but I don't think it qualifies anymore). It is clean, modern, and English seems to be the unofficial second language (as far as you can expect, anyways). It is not the full-frontal assault that I experienced while arriving in Dehli last year (an amazing place and I loved it, but you definitely feel the culture shock when you arrive).

We began our day exploring the environs around the backpacker ghetto that is Khao San Road, got rained on (again), then had lunch at a street-vendor stall - it was an amazing lunch, and only cost $1.50 for both of us!

After a 3 hour siesta, we headed out to wander around Siam Square, then went to the Suan Luam Night Bizzare. It was OK but seemed very touristy. They had a big stage and some group singing Thai pop songs and the beer gardens in front were populated by tourists.

In both places, we tried looking for an umbrella, but to no avail; store here are incredibly specialized: one selling shoes, another shirts, another cell phones. One sold windows and another curtains, but no umbrellas.

After that, we headed back to Khao San Road. What a gong show! Last night and this morning, it was quite subdued. In the afternoon, it became a little more busy, but nothing prepared us for the sea of humanity that it became in the evening.

We made it!

So our flights went quite well; no real problems, just a very long travel day (28 hours). I must say, Korean Air is amazingly punctual; on both flights, one 12 hours and one six, they departed and arrived at the gate to within a couple minutes of the scheduled times; they must be the Germans of Asia.

One of the first things I noticed arriving at the airport was that I was noticeable taller than the general population. The airport itself was amazing - I haven't been to Chicago and LAX only once a long time ago, but I think it's one of the biggest airports I've been to.

Seconds within being dropped off by our cab from the airport at 2AM, we got a bit lost, and spent a fair bit of time wandering around a bit in the torrential downpour that is the monsoon. Carole's umbrella was outside her backpack and it got trashed during transport, but luckily I still had mine. Note to self: must find replacement umbrella... how hard can it be in the Capital City of Shopping that is Bangkok?

However, we did manage to find our hotel, and crashed shortly afterwards.

The Adventure Continues: Part II

So our flight for Bangkok leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning, just over 13 hours from now - meaning a 3AM wake-up. I'm debating whether we should even bother going to bed, and just go out partying instead, but then again we will be travelling for the next 28 hours - becoming more sensible with age really does suck sometime.

So the plan is to fly into Bangkok, spend a few days there, then head south down the peninsula and take in the islands, beaches and sunshine (we hope - it's still the tail end monsoon season). After that, we're going up to the northern region - Chiang Mai and environs. From there, we're going to wander over to Laos, head down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang (gotta love that name), then over to Vientiane, then somehow make our way down to Angkor Wat (through Laos or Thailand - not sure yet). From there we will meander back to Bangkok for our flight back, perhaps hitting Ko Chang along the way. Of course all this is subject to subsequent whims.

Two months sounds like a long time until you start going through the guidebooks/Internet in detail and realize how much there is to see in any particular place; plus, I'm sure we'll hear of other interesting things once we get there.

Stay Tuned......

Trip Summary

The conclusion of a trip is usually cause for some reflection and analysis. Of course no self-respecting geek can complete a trip like this without making the analysis a numerical exercise and compiling some statistics...

Total Days on Trip: 76

Nights with Friends/Family: 13
Nights in Hotels: 12
Nights in Hostels: 3
Nights in Tent: 46
Nights on Ferry: 2

Distances covered:

Planes: 163 km
Trains: 72 km
Automobiles: 12,370 km
Ferries: 1379 km
Kayak: 127 km
Hiked: 147+ km (at least what was GPS'ed)

Sundry:

Photos Taken: 3360
Best Campsite: Too many to mention
Worst Campsite: Mountain View RV Park, Skagway
Bears Seen in Wild: Lost Count
Moose Seen in Wild: 1

Home at last!

After spending the long weekend in Edmonton visiting my Mom & brother, we made the final leg back to Calgary. It is weird experiencing culture shock returning to your own city, especially if you haven't even left the continent. The bustle and traffic definitely takes some getting used to.

We must be relevant! We're on Google!

Check this out: go to the Google home page.

Type: ron carole travel blog

and viola! Not sure how it found our link, but we've now been catalogued into the mighty Google search engine's database.

Now, if we can only get a Wikipedia entry....

Don't Panic: It's Wikipedia

If you've followed any of the links on this blog, you've perhaps noticed that they almost invariably point to a Wikipedia entry. Why? Because more than anything else, in terms of being an information resource, Wikipedia seems to embody the promise of the Internet.

Back in the good old days, the Internet was about sharing information, but it was difficult to limited user interfaces. Then someone invented the web browser. Then came the hucksters trying to sell shit and cluttering it up. Then came the search engines, which helped sort through this clutter, but they seem to be losing ground daily due to billions of useless links from the same old but trickier hucksters trying to sell the same old shit.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Say you wanted to learn more about Cruise Lines - try Googling that and see how many links you get to sites trying to flog tickets, rather than an article talking about the industry itself. Do the same in Wikipedia - and voila, you have what you need. Even Microsoft's "free" Encarta "On-Line Encyclopedia" is just an excuse to post ads.

It could be called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Planet Earth"; we haven't explored the rest of the galaxy yet, but Wikipedia is rapidly becoming the repository of all human knowledge of what we do know: From Aardvarks to Zebus, Shakespeare to Thermonuclear Weapon Design, from the ubiquitous Butt-Plug to the ever irrelevant Paris Hilton, its all there. And yes, the recipe for the infamous Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is there as well.