Winter Vacation 2010: Day 2

8.2.10

Today was a pure travel day. It started and ended on airplanes. The flight from Addis to Bangkok was minimally eventful. When you order a kosher meal, they come about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after take off, to tell you know that they are putting your dinner in the oven and then they come with a tray of sides and then, only after they have served all the other passengers their meals, they bring you your main meal, which by now is so hot that you can’t even think of eating it until they are coming around to clear the trays. Just imagine this twice – on the 8 hour flight (maybe less since we had a tailwind and landed 50 minutes early). They served us the same meal (chicken and rice) for “dinner”  at 2:30am and “breakfast” four hours later. Neither of us touched breakfast. Also, I was thankful that Yo switched seats with me and let me sleep by the window for the second half of the flight.

When we landed in Bangkok, we went to customs, only to be sent back to Health Inspection, where they certified that we were clear of Yellow Fever. Ironically, that was one of the vaccines that we did not get but that I had asked about. We got approved and went back to Customs and then to baggage claim. We got our bags and went to find out how to cross Bangkok to the other airport (domestic). We took the airport shuttle to the bus terminal, where we took the 554 to Don Meung. This was alike a 1 1/2 hour tour of the outskirts of Bangkok and gave us a good taste of the city without having to engage it. I kept dozing off. When we got to the DM, we got off the bus, crossed the pedestrian Overpass and tried to find the domestic terminal. The DM airport was (until sometime in the last 2 – 8 years) used as the international airport before they built a bigger and better one. Now, they only use the domestic terminal, which is about a mile from the overpass. The bathrooms, after we got in, were like a mini –Eden, even without paper towels. We freshened up and then got fruit smoothies, ‘The Chiang Mai’ with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Yum. And then we sat. Apparently, you can only check in 2 hours before your flight and we had 4 hours. So we sat, read, I started Dan Brown’s new book ‘The Lost Symbol,’ and began to teach Yo how to crochet. On the flight from DM to Chiang Mai, I fell asleep before take-off. At one point, I woke up and the plane was humming. I looked out the window and I saw an amazing sunset on the horizon. It was a deep rainbow. I told Yo to quickly take a photo before we moved. I heard the engines starting to rev and thought we were about to go down the runway. But then Yo gave me a weird look and I saw the dots of lights below. Oops. It must have been a good nap because I was out and missed the take-off. Then I got tea. It was the first time I had green tea in flight.

After landing, there were dark purple orchids lining the passageway from the plane. We got our bags, secured a cab and went to the hostel. The first two we tried were full but now were are in the ‘SAME SAME’ hostel with plenty of internet cafés in the area, still within the Old City but not the center, so it’s a bit quieter. We’ll be here at least 2 nights, then we’ll play it by ear. Maybe a trek; maybe something else. Had a great shower (great to be clean, not a great shower) because you could sit on the toilet while you shampood. Sent a quick email and went to bed.  Tomorrow’s plan: walking temple tour.