Getting There

Hello everyone! It's been quite an experience so far, so now that I have a few moments, I'd love to tell you all about it.

First thing's first- the flight to get to Bangkok, Thailand...

Our flight left at 5:55 am on the 31st- turns out, my list of fun things to do on New years eve does not include sitting on a plane.. On a bright side, I was able to see my Samantha Mcgaffee while in the Denver Airport (one of our layovers). After seeing Samantha, however, we learned that our flight was going to be delayed. Immediately both Ari and myself became incredibly nervous, as we only had a 1.5 hour layover in Tokyo between flights. Our 12 hour flight to Tokyo ended up being delayed a total of two hours, which added to more sitting around and reading in the Denver airport. Now, I haven't ever flown a long flight like this before, and I actually really enjoyed it. Each seat had it's own individual television where you could pick from a variety of movies and television shows to watch, as well as music.... let's just say I loved Despicable Me Two, Princess Bride, and Glee. They even provided us with ice cream, which for those that now and understand me, I was absolutely thrilled! Once we arrived in Tokyo, we learned that we did in fact miss our flight (30 of us missed it actually), and were told that we would have to go through immigration, get our checked bags, and report to a shuttle bus, who would take us on an hour drive to another Tokyo airport to fly with a different airline. Special shout out to United Airlines for this fun experience.... However, it ended up okay, however, because we were able to see a bit of Tokyo... How many people can say they've spent time in Tokyo, Japan? 

After finally leaving Tokyo, we went on an eight hour flight to Bangkok... Let me remind you, that with the time difference (12 hours), we arrived at 5:00 am on the second of January... Our flight to Udon Thani was scheduled for the third at seven am (whoopsie- my bad) and so we had the day to spend in Bangkok once we found a hotel..

With the help of Ari's host-mom, we found a hotel that was cheap... $20.00 cheap actually. After showering and actually making ourselves look decent, we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport to get on the Bangkok version of the light rail. We took that to the end of the line, and then had to get a taxi to get further. 

THIS IS WHEN THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING EVER HAPPENED TO ME.

I waved down a cab for the first time ever in my life... I was actually proud of myself! I asked him to take us to the Grand Palace in Chinatown; he looks at me like I'm stupid, tells me no, and drives away...... let's just say it was awkward, and Ari had to flag down the next couple. 

We ended up getting a Tuk Tuk (which is 3 wheeled taxi thingy) to the Siam mall.. it's a 3 part mall and is HUGE. The prices, however, were about the same as the US, and you all know how cheap I am... so I didn't have anything. Ari and I actually had Subway for our first Thai meal.... sorry to all those I promised to eat cool food for.... I did have Gelato on a stick though! I think that's pretty neat...

After the mall, Ari and I finally got a taxi to take us to China town, but once we arrived, another Tuk Tuk driver convinced us that we needed to see a few more sites first, so we went with him to some specialty silk producers and a temple. We learned afterwards that Tuk Tuk drivers get gas coupons from certain stores if they bring tourists to them.... thanks Tuk Tuk driver... After arriving back at the grand palace, we took pictures and stuff (didn't actually pay to get in, so we just stood outside). By this time, it was about four, and we were tired, so we took a Tuk Tuk and the light rail back to our hotel... and passed out by 8pm. 


AT 7 AM WE FLEW OUT OF BANGKOK AND FINALLY ARRIVED IN UDON THANI!!!!!

After four days of traveling, we finally made it to Udon Thani where our host moms were ready to great us. I was actually dropped off quickly, as Arunrat had to go to work. I showered, unpacked my things in my new room, and read a book and a half.... surprise surprise. it is unbelievable how relaxed and beautiful the environment is here... Half of my new house is simply outside. They don't really have screens and everything is wide open. I read outside for most of the day actually- Hope you all aren't freezing back home!

Tonight, we are meeting Ari for dinner- I'll keep you posted on how the food experience goes for me!

XOXO kenzkeg