From Oct 2001 to Mar 2002, we visited Thailand, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao. Bangkok was our base, our point of arrival and departure and the place where we obtained onward tickets and visas and rested in between one portion of the trip and the next. Here are some of our adventures and thoughts during this time.
Oct 17, 2001: Departure from Victoria/flight
We flew our favourite airline, EVA. It is a Taiwan based airline with 4 classes: first, business, evergreen deluxe and economy. We booked Evergreen Deluxe. This $500 upgrade is worth every cent! The flight from Vancouver to Taipei was 14hr, and travel time from “door-to-door” was 30hr. The extra comfort of Evergreen Deluxe was worth every cent of the $500 upgrade. The seats are wider with a leg rest; the service is better; and each person has an individual entertainment system - you can select from a set of movies which you watch on a personal screen embedded in the headrest of the person in front of you.
Oct 19, 2001: Arrival in Bangkok
Bangkok is a city of more than 10 million. It is overwhelming, stimulating, exciting, polluted, and exotic all at the same time. It’s a great place for organizing other parts of your trip. It's a good choice as a "first time" entry into Southeast Asia. The infrastructure works well, ATMs are available, lots of English is spoken, good medical care is available, and you can buy virtually anything you can imagine - legal or not. There are the usual scams and scam artists, but they're fairly innocuous. Overall the Thai people are friendly and helpful. They want you to enjoy your stay and they will help you find as many ways as possible to leave as much money as possible in their country!