Amazing Asian Adventures!!: Okay, Okay, Bangkok!!

Sorry, I've been hesitating to write this entry for a few reasons.

1. I miss Cambodia terribly.
2. Getting here SUCKED.
3. I got sick the second we got here.
4. I apparently hate Bangkok.

So, that said, let's get to it. Getting here:

To fly out of Cambodia costs crazy amounts of money. For instance, our flights throughout Southeast Asia for all 3 of us haven't cost any more than $150. The flight out of Siem Reap to Bangkok would have been over $600 for the 3 of us. Ouch. So... few people fly. As a result, the over-land crossing of the border has developed into a fully paved and fairly routine route, offering buses, taxis and private cars for hire to make the trek. We opted for the bus at $10/ea.

7:30am pick up at our hotel turned into an 8am walk over from the next hotel of a man saying, "Bangkok? Move bags here," pointing to a heap of bags in front of the neighbouring hotel. So we joined the mass of people waiting out front of that hotel who apparently were all going to the border. Not all of us were going to Bangkok and not all of us had the same tickets, or tickets from the same company... but here we all stood, under the direction of a small bossy man. At 8:30 we were then told to grab our bags and walk around the corner to the buses which were waiting in the side street. We were ushered into buses and watched anxiously at the bags being shoved into the cargo hold below us until we saw all 3 of our bags loaded on.

So now we're on the bus. And it has "air con"... which is basically just a fan... we weren't sweaty, but we weren't exactly comfortable either. The border is a 3 hr drive from Siem Reap, and apparently we needed to stop for a pee break every hour on the hour until we got there. And of course, in order to use the bathrooms (lol, squat toilets) you had to buy something at each stop. At the last stop we were told to get out and show our tickets... based on the tickets we held, we were given small stickers. Ours were red squares. Others had red squares with letters on them, some had numbers.

Now we arrive at the border and have to get out and walk across, going through Cambodian customs first, then a 5 minute walk to the Thai customs, carrying our heavy bags with us, all the time. Once we cleared Thai customs we were gathered by a man on the other side by our stickers. We piled into a tiny bus to be taken to the "Bus stop". This was a restaurant. And we were told the buses wouldn't come for half an hour or more, so to eat. So we did, cause by now it was nearly 1pm. Then, we were collected again onto the tiny buses, but the organization of who was allowed to sit where was confusing, noisy, took ages, and seemed to be made MUCH more difficult than it needed to be. So here we are, in a teensy bus which only seats 13 and a driver and all of our bags piled up on the front seats... for the next 4 hours until we get to Bangkok.

Once in Bangkok, we were dropped on the side of the road with our bags and off the bus went. Omg. So we crammed ourselves into a Tuk Tuk with our huge bags and careened through the city on the wildest ride of our lives. Finally, after many u-turns and zig zag traffic weaving, we arrive at our hotel.

Now, this place is an ACTUAL hotel. Our room is a suite with a kitchen, living room, bedroom with desk, a dressing room and a full bathroom with an actual tub. We are on the 18th floor. The pool (OMG A POOL!!!) is on the 8th floor with the spa, fitness centre, laundry facilities and restaurant!!

I collapse into bed as the rain begins, and we settle in for the night. And in the morning, I get sick.

Like, Montezuma revenge kinda sick. And it lasts for 48 hrs.

And now that that is over, I've ventured out into Bangkok and I hate it. It's loud and full of traffic and people and shouting and whistle blowing and it stinks and it's BUSY and it's shovey and chaotic and scary. I have zero desire to ever come back to Bangkok. Ever. I think Matt has enjoyed his time here (he goes out, obviously while I'm sick and sleeping and junk. No point in us both hanging out in the hotel room) and his alone time. Oh, did I mention that Josh has left us now? He's on his way home and only stayed the one night with us here in Bangkok (ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK AND THE WORLD'S YOUR OYSTER!!! *ahem* Sorry.) and left the next afternoon.