Clear skies as we left Vancouver seemed to be a good omen heading towards Bangkok, our final destination. Beijing however had something to say about that. Upon arriving in Beijing after a seemingly fast 11 hour flight, we proceeded to kill some time in the airport. This was difficult as we had no Yen and very little idea as to what to do. Our flight gate was announced an hour after our arrival and as it would later prove, gate "E51" would likely be burned into our memory for the rest of our lives. Initially the flight was on time, set to depart at 7:30. Then the thunderstorm arrived. 7:30 became 8:00 and gate "E51" turned into "E18", which we had no problem with as it was a comfortable place to wait with long benchlike, padded seating. Then 8:00 became 9:55 which was super fun, and we were instructed to go back to gate "E51" where we would board our plane. Little did we know this would not be the last time we had to change gates, nor would it be the last time the flight was delayed. Our 9:55 swiftly became 11:30, upon which we were instructed to go back to gate "E18" and soon after became 2:10 AM. Stephen and I couldn't help but find the humour in the situation, after all we were a bit stir-crazy, having looked at asian advertisements for the past 6 hours or so. We weren't the only ones who felt a little short changed by the whole ordeal. On our last switchover to good old gate "E51" This European guy (Steve's pretty sure he was German) Was flipping his lid and screaming at the gate hostess who was still in the act of making the announcement! As we headed towards the gate we heard him scream "It's not possible!" But we both knew it was possible, as we are now writting this blog from inside an internet cafe, sweating our bags off, right next to Khaosan Road, in Bangkok.
PS
"Eating Pad Thai on Khaosan Road"
OMG! my poor babies! well im super glad u are there and seem to be safe. you guys were giving me a hard attack cuase i hadnt hear nething and i know there is a internet cafe in every hostle, coffe shop and bar in bangkok!!! any signs or civil unrest? or is it pretty much just the crazy city thats keepin you on your toes?
ReplyDeletehere are my 3 pieces of advice:
1) if you dont want what they are offering say: "Mai Ow Kap" it means I don't want it. its pronnounced "my owe (like when you get hurt) kap (the male possesive in the language)... my owe also works. but adding the kap is polite and may work better.
2) bargaining is about half and you gotta make it seem like u can get it better somewhere else and u arent really that hell bent on getting what ur bargaining for. if they say 600 bhat, say 300. if they give u the old "OMG NO! hahah" then just shrug and say, "alright ill just get it somewhere else on the street" walk away. they will run after you, and if they dont, you dont wanna buy from them neway. and DONT ever pull out all ur cash, make them think u have only a little to spend and they will make a deal. seeing your money will only make them harder to bargain with.
3) if you EVER take a tuk tuk (the litle taxi like things) tell the driver "no stops". often a driver will say he has to make a quick stop and go somewhere that you may buy stuff from to kill time and they get a cut. so say "we wanna go to ___ and NO STOPS" if they argue, tehre are 100 other tuk tuks or taxis you can take, they will get the idea.
OK enough of my blabbering, HAVE AN AMAZING TIME! and remeber, the more out of place u seem the better as this an experience. LIVE IT :)
love you both and make sure you post often!
xoxox Jus