Thursday, November 11, 2010

Another Winter, Another Adventure

Well, I wasn't planning on using this on my Thailand trip but I have much to mention and facebook won't be enough. Not sure how often I'll have access to a computer but we'll find out.

So, it all started in Anchorage Sunday night as I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. There I met up with my two travel companions, Kevin and Kori, Kevin would be taking different flights our arrival times were within an hour of one another, a day and a half later. Though not the plan I had to check my bag in since my climbing gear had taken up substantial space and weight in my single bag to Thailand. This would be about all the planning I did for this trip. With the addition of a carry-on holding a few vital item, ipod, camera, toothbrush and a few documents I watch my bag go behind the check-in counter with the high hopes I might see it again in about 7,000 miles from here, though actual traveled distance would be more twice that. The flights went well, other than being insanely uncomfortable, I was able to sleep on and off during all the flights. Our layovers were rather short in the states, both in Salt Lake and Los Angles, which worried me for our bags, Kori had checked her backpack as well. Due to headwinds over the pacific and a slightly delayed departure from LA, we arrived in Tokyo at the same time our flight was scheduled to depart, this made for a mad scramble through a security check along with the rest of the passengers from our 747 (there was a lot of us). Apparently, the Japanese being a polite people, held the plane(s) for the hundreds of people who just arrived. As we quickly boarded and left the gate I had serious doubts of seeing my climbing gear during this climbing trip.

After 25 hours of flying, and oddly not much more than that in travel time we arrived at 1230am in bangkok on Tuesday morning. Without our bags. A quick trip through customs (the paperwork was handed out and completed on the plane) and without a single question, just a photograph, we were permitted to remain in Thailand for 30 days (my trip is for 35 days, I'll figure that out later). Speaking to a Delta agent in rough English (both of us, I was tired) I had to explain I didn't have an address to have our bags sent to, again, not much pre-planning was done. I got a phone number to call when got a place. After heading through security for the final time and about to figure out a taxi and money exchange, low and behold we run into Kevin, who had been there for only about half an hour waiting for us. Reunited we get money and taxi and head for the only place known who will welcome vagabonds like us, Khao San Road, a backpackers Mecca. After quite the taxi ride across Bangkok and getting our first taste of Thai driving, we were dropped off on a corner in we don't know where Bangkok, at 230 in the morning and given opposing directions to a hotel we found in a guidebook. Not encumbered by our climbing gear packs, we start to wonder down dimly lit streets where about half the shops are closed and the rest are serving alcohol to people who appear to have started drinking sometime around when we left Alaska. After circling a few blocksnot finding our hotel or one I feel like checking in at at three in the morning, we do finally recognize one from the guidebook and take our chances. 200 baht a piece later (about $6) we have a room with air-conditioning. A small room where the toliet literally doubles as the shower, the shower was on the wall above the toliet, and this was not the bode, I would learn about that later. Being hungry and thirsty and discovering the heat and muggyness of Thailand, we head out for some bottled water and a bite. I stayed in the room figure out where we were and plan for the next day Kori and Kevin quickly return with both. The food portion consisted of rice and veggies and some funky chicken bits on a stick, well, at least something like chicken. Original plan was not to partake in street food right away but no sense in delaying the inevitable I dove in. We then all went to sleep. For about four hours... Jet lag does funny things. We all rose with the sun and decided to find slightly better accommodations and get our bearing. Our MIA bags would not be making it to Bangkok until about midnight that day and we had time to let the airlines know where we were.

After getting our bearings and some daylight, we with the help of a local tourism info "station" we locate a suitable hotel, book airline tickets to Krabi, and two nights lodging in Krabi. This guy was amazingly helpful, we named our price and where we wanted to be and he made it happen. We checked in to the hotel which was just off a main road surrounded by shops and cheap apartments and we seemed to be the only ones there. The hotel itself was emmaculate. Gated, super clean, with a guard, which I guess made me feel better, and very quite which we found odd since two other hotels than we looked at were sold out, maybe just at our price. We dropped our stuff, I called Delta, which trying to give an address to someone whom English is not there first language and for where the address is a fair bit different than ours, I again had my doubts we would see our climbing gear on this climbing trip.

Having mentioned its hot and muggy here, I will also mention Kori and I have been wearing the same attire since Sunday in Anchorage. The plane rides would have been enough but since we're here and have nothing to change into I suspect my clothes will start to sprout anytime now. We make our way to the markets of Khao San road and after some haggling we come out with something clean, flipflops and another try at market food. After several hours of seeing the market and convincing tuk tuk drivers I like to walk and maybe later I'll see the sights of Bangkok we mosey back to the hotel where we go on a epic jet-lag sleep catchup bout. Though this did not happen right away, Kevin wondered back to the tourism guy to start thinking about his trip after Kori and I head back, Kevin would not return for about three hours. We would later discover he really wanted to ride in a tuk tuk, so did, and ended up way out of town and just kind of left. Much walking, a train ride to the end of the line, then another tuk tuk ride and finally some help from a South African he gets back to the hotel. Then we started our solid 12 sleep catch-up. The next morning we found our bags waiting for us in the lobby, which was a good thing since our flight to Krabi was that early afternoon.

Thai Airways is quite nice and for about $100 we made it to Krabi where no one really knew of our resort we were staying at. Its a little out of town and well within the jungle. After more baht than it probably should have cost we arrive to a very nice set of family run bungaloos. Again no one else is here, we've been told this is the busy season but apparently just not here. We'll make our way to the climbing areas tomorrow via taxi and longboat but before that I'm off to take a elephant ride through the jungle.