But, sure enough, after an indeterminately long span of
uncomfortable flight, things finally smoothed out, and we made it to Bangkok’s
Suvarnabhumi International Airport around midnight. The baggage claim was
shockingly brief; we waited a total of about 3 minutes and we had our bags (I
was worried that they would be lost, with all the snorkeling gear, since I
never like to check a bag, for reasons that aren’t even clear to me, since it’s
so much easier to travel without schlepping a bag around through the airport).
Then, we had passport control – also quick. Finally was customs, which I was
again surprised to see was a complete non-event. Not only is there no
paperwork, but you just walk through a line called “Nothing to Declare” and
they don’t even scan your bag. Apparently, your word is good enough. Though, I
imagine that perhaps this is sufficient to deter things like drug smuggling,
when the penalty for such action is life in prison or death.
Getting a taxi was also simple, with the standard line-up
that you’d find in any airport. The first incident of me not being prepared
came when we climbed in the taxi. “Oriental Residence, Bangkok,” I said. And
the taxi driver had no idea what this was, or where this was. I had assumed
that it would be a well-known fact where a large, new, tourist hotel would be
located in the heart of downtown. But I guess there are more taxis, and fewer
guests of this new hotel than would be required to make such an assumption
valid. We resorted to “Close to U.S. Embassy,” which was true, but we were not
sure how sufficient that would be, in terms of proximity. It turned out, this
was the adjacent building, so we were fine. Taxi from airport cost us less than
300 BHT. The exchange rate is about 30 BHT/dollar, so this was about a $10 ride
for the 15 miles from the airport. Some things are very reasonable. Most
things, in fact, are. But then, you encounter something strangely overpriced
(such as sunblock, described later). I guess the rule of thumb is, “If it could
be for anyone, including the locals, it will be inexpensive. If it is for
tourists only, expect to get fleeced.”
We were greeted at the hotel by a friendly, young staff, and
a beautiful lobby, and shown to our room. The room is a suite, and there was a
large marble bathtub, plus a separate spacious shower. We didn’t really need
the suite, but thought it would be interesting to stay in the two different
styles of rooms in this hotel. Since we are going to be here twice – for 3 days
at the start, and 2 days at the end of our trip, we booked the suite first, and
then we’ll return to the non-suite, which appeared to be a more traditional
style room. This suite had a rather European feel to it.
There
was papaya in the room, which we ate. Not long after, we were asleep in the giant
bed, with giant, comfortable pillows. I woke up almost every hour the entire
night, due to the time shift, but it was still a very comfortable and
satisfying sleep, and I didn’t find myself sleepless at all.
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