Bangkok – We’ve Arrived
This is my first time in an Asian city. When the plane touched down I kind of felt like I had finally arrived at my destination. Prior to this I was in Mexico City almost by accident. I initially went there to vacation and decompress before a family cruise I was supposed to take from Florida. I’m from NH and it was end of December so Michelle and I figured we’d escape the cold and go somewhere we’ve never been before. The cruise ended up getting postponed for a year, so we extended our stay in CDMX.
While we were there, we looked at various flight options to Bangkok and it probably comes as no surprise that there’s no such thing as a direct flight from Mexico City to Bangkok. Even if there was, I’m not sure I’d be able to physically handle it. So we decided to use Europe as a halfway hop. Just to break up the 30 hours of travel and that’s how we landed in Spain (Madrid, specifically). It happened to have affordable direct flights from Mexico City and Bangkok.
We hung out in Alicante, Spain for a few weeks during shoulder season. The weather was cool and it wasn’t over run with crowds of tourists yet. The vibe was touristy but somewhat laid back. Most places didn’t require reservations yet and you can just kind of walk in almost anywhere. But after that we popped over to Bangkok on redeye flight.
Arriving in Bangkok for the first time
It felt more exciting to land here than some of the other places. I’ve been thinking about this trip for a while but also didn’t know exactly what to expect or how insane the weather would feel. My first impression of Bangkok airport (BKK) is that it’s one of the most neatly organized airports for arrivals. It was a breeze to arrive, it was a breeze to figure out where to go and it was dead simple to figure out how to connect to other areas by bus, taxi, ride share or our transport of choice – the airport rail link train. Funny how I’ve been in a bunch of airports in my own country and Bangkok airport feels more intuitive.
Getting Around
When you go to step onto the Airport Rail Link there’s security keeping it orderly, which I appreciated. We rode into the center of the city & transferred to the subway the (MRT) which also was very easy for 2 tired travelers to navigate. Michelle and I use public transit often when we travel — when you’ve used a few mass transit systems, they all have similarities. But again Bangkok shines here for its simplicity and effective use of design (as well as English as a language option).
We take the MRT to the Sukhumvit area which is the tourist heart of Bangkok. Immediately when we step out onto the sidewalk I’m bombarded by men trying to sell me “Rolexes” one after another, I can smell the air quality immediately, it’s 95° Fahrenheit & full on humid, there’s mopeds, traffic and tuk-tuks everywhere and I love it. We drag our bags past the chaos and around the corner. Past the many restaurants, bars and massage shops, I couldn’t be more exhausted and more excited. We check into the hotel and plan our first day in the most foreign part of the world we’ve ever seen.
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