The Journey

 10/13/15 6:00 am

Phew, Molly and I finally made it to Thailand after over a day of airline travel. But before I get into the journey here let me talk about the time we spent in Chicago. We traveled to Chicago from Cincinnati via Megabus, which cost us $5 each. Once we got to Chicago we met up with Molly's sister Megan, who hosted us for the weekend, and went to one of our favorite spots in Lincoln Park, the Devil Dawgs on North Sheffield Ave for some delicious Chicago style hot dogs. The next day we spent the morning watching some of the 40,000 people running the  Chicago Marathon and walking by North Avenue beach on lake Michigan. 

Crossing over the bridge to the Lake Front Trail in Lincoln Park

 I spent the afternoon watching my beloved Cleveland Browns beat the Ravens in overtime at a Browns bar called McGee’s. Can’t believe that they didn’t blow that one. Football is one thing I will miss a lot when I am in Thailand (my Sundays will probably be a lot happier though). We went Lou Malnati’s for dinner, which by my judgement has the best deep dish in Chicago. Yum! We spent the rest of the night resting and preparing to make the long journey.

The first flight from Chicago to LAX went off without a hitch. It was a Virgin America flight. They have a musical safety demonstration and cool ambient lighting, but were not quite as impressive as their reputation lead me to believe they would be. Like most American airlines they charged for every added convenience you might consider. This attitude was a stark contrast to how EVA Air approached their customers. Our 14 hour flight from LAX to Taipei and the subsequent flight to Bangkok were both run by EVA. The entertainment system on the long flight was the best I have seen, with many options and a very responsive touch screen. They were extremely accommodating: giving out eye masks and slippers to those who wanted them, and having extra staff direct customers around airports once landing. Furthermore, the food was superb. Dinner on the long flight consisted off a salmon slaw, fruit, chicken with potatoes, and a cheesecake type desert. Breakfast was served about an hour before landing. It was equally good. They even fed us and had free personal entertainment screens on the short 4 hour flight from Taipei to Bangkok. Also, every meal came with a beverage of your choice. You could have a glass of wine, a beer, guava juice, or some whisky on the rocks and it was all complimentary. I would highly recommend EVA for anyone flying to Asia.

The 14 hour flight was tough to endure; my original plan was to stay up the whole flight but I couldn't do it. I ended up sleeping about 6 hours, so it will be a struggle to stay up until tonight but if I do my clock will be on the Thai schedule. I watched two movies on the plane. First I watched inside out with Molly. It was a cute, funny, and sometimes heart wrenching watch. SPOILER alert: when bing bong sacrificed himself to get Joy out of the abyss I almost shed a tear. After that I watched the Entourage movie. It was pretty similar to the show so I liked it. I tried to start a third movie but fell asleep almost immediately.

In the lounge area of our hostel

                     
 After landing in Bangkok at around 4:00 am local time we took a taxi from the airport to our hostel, HI Mid Bangkok, near Victory Monument. Bangkok is a much more sprawling city than I imagined. It seems to just go on and on. This is my first time staying in a hostel, you can't beat the under $10 a night rate. The only drawback of staying in a dorm is that if you get in at 5:00 am you can't turn a light on and unpack because everyone else is asleep. But the lounge area is nice so that's where we'll be until people start to wake up. Then we can go get situated and finally start to see this amazing place.

Today we will be getting one last vaccination, the Japanese Encephalitis shot, and then exploring the local area. The JE shot is over $300 at home and is only $16 here. It will be interesting to see what the hospitals in Bangkok are like. The city itself is a huge but inviting place. The people here a very friendly. I can’t wait to go explore!