So I'm finally here in Thailand, after three days of traveling! Slight culture shock...biggest difference I've noticed so far is how cheap transportation is compared to London. In London, a cab ride from the airport was 70 pounds. Here, it's around $10. And the distance is the same. Crazy! So this is how I got here...
On Monday March 5th I flew from Atlanta to London at 10:30pm. I got really lucky and didn't have anyone sitting next to me, so I popped a couple Drammamine and passed out. Landed at Heathrow at around noon on Tuesday, March 6th. Made the mistake of deciding to take a cab - 70 pounds later, I was at the Hyatt Regency Churchill. Great location, right on Oxford Circus. Dropped my stuff off and headed out to explore. Luchily, the first store I came to was Primark. Primark is definitely an experience; its so cheap in comparrison to the rest of London "fashion." The clothes are super cute, just extremely cheaply made. But you get what you pay for, and I can't resist s Primark shopping spree. Of course, part of the experience is fighting the enormous crowds that are ALWAYS there. Mainly bitchy high school girls hoping that this mini skirt will make someone love them so that they hate themselves a little less.
Sidenote: Most of those reading this are probably used to my language being...crass, to say the least. As I do not want my Grandmother to disown me just yet, I'll try (at least in this blog) to act like a lady and "show my class." I know, I just got a little less interesting.
After Primark I headed to Sainsbury's. While Sainsbury's is not my favorite British grocery store (they do not ask me if I have a Super Dividend card) I love British groceries enough that I'll take it. Salt and vinegar snack a jacks were a must, as were cheap fruits and tuna and sweetcorn pasta. I think grocery stores are an amazing way to understand a foreign country (although, foreign is probably a poor choice of words. Nothing is really foreign in a world this connected anymore.) Plus grocery stores are a great way to get an understanding of what the true value of a nation's currency is. If you've left a grocery store and you still don't know what a pound is worth to Brits, just head to McDonalds.
After this, laden down with goodies, I headed back to the hotel for dinner and sleep. I left at 6:45am to get back to Heathrow for my 10:05am flight. Tried to use a bank card to buy tube fare; didn't work. Tried to put a 10 pound note in; didn't work. Walked back upstairs to get change - annoying, but finally caught the tube at Marble Arch. At Picadilly I barely made the 7:33am Heathrow Connect (half the price of the Heathrow Express, but takes 10 minutes longer.) Made it to Heathrow at 8am. Probably would have helped if I'd known what terminal I was flying out of. I'm way too dependant on my iPhone in the states; I would have looked it up and been done with it. As that's not an option overseas where data is $25/MB, I decided to start with terminal 1 and hope I got lucky. That was not the case...
At terminal 1 I was told Jet Airways flies out of terminal 3. In Atlanta, this wouldn't be a big deal. If you end up in the North terminal but you need the South terminal, you can walk 50 feet and you're there. In Heathrow, its way further. I finally got to terminal 3 (via half a mile underground of hampster tubes) and was told I needed to be in terminal 4. At this point, its 8:35am and I really need to be checking in for my flight. I head underground again to find terminal 4. Only to discover I have to take a train. And yes, I just missed one, the next one will be in 15 minutes. Awesome. And check in for international flights closes an hour before departure.
I finally make it to terminal 4 and the very nice lady at the check in desk tells me I barely made it in time, but I did make it. She also gives me three middle seats to myself so I can sleep. I owe her big time.
The flight was uneventful; Jet Airways is actually nicer than I imagined it would be and all the flight attendants are super cute Indian girls. Seriously, it felt like I was in a trailer for a Bollywood movie and they were about to break into song. Popped Drammamine again (could have contributed to the Bollywood thoughts) and slept the entire flight. Landed in Mumbai at midnight local time. Security was a disaster. Flight to Bangkok was uneventful, if a little unconfortable due to the small plane.
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport is really nice. Customs was a breeze and my bag actually showed up (connecting flights always make me nervous with regards to luggage.) Took the express train to Makkasan station and a cab to the Grand Hyatt from there. Again, can't reiterate enough, cabs are sooooo cheap. Then, of course, the Hyatt walked me. The assistant rooms exec actually walked me to the St. Regis. Super nice lady, she worked at the Grand Hyatt in Denver before moving back to Bangkok, her home city. And now, here I am. I made a trip to a Thai grocery store and was actually a little disappointed by all the Western groceries available. Maybe it was just that grocery store, but they had Sara Lee cakes. And Friskies cat food. And Coronetto ice cream cones, which I happily consumed.
As today is the last time for about 3 months that I'll enjoy a nice hotel, I'm taking full advantage. The pool is amazing. The soaking tub is amazing. The mini bar is quite stocked and my room service order is arriving momentarily. Yes, I'll go back to the backpacking lifestyle first thing tomorrow. Tonight, I'm enjoying this cushy bed.
Still trying to work out how to post pictures - Apple doesn't want too much ease of use, that would be crazy. Look for more coming soon!
Yay!!! Not too many typos. Also, yes, you are less interesting for your lack of crass language but I'll let it pass...this time. You're also less interesting because you don't have a sickly/moody/travel weary Meri to make fun of the entire time. But, you'll have that soon enough. Keep blogging! I love you!
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