After many hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Bangkok last night.  The trip started off Monday night; we all arrived at Westtown at 7pm for departure to the airport. The original plan was to sleep in the airport until our 6am flight, but the flight was cancelled, so we all stayed in a hotel room.  Our flight was then delayed, but we finally departed Philadelphia at 9:45am.  Our plane landed in Tokyo late, and we were so close to missing our connecting flight. We all ran through the airport for what seemed like miles (even though it was probably only 20 terminals), and we ran to check in. We had no time to get food before the flight, so I spent the first hour of the flight starving. We were then served food and I was happy. Falling asleep on the 13 hour plane ride seemed like it was going to be easy, but the uncomfortable seats and constant daylight made it difficult.  I am not looking forward to the 13 hour plane ride back. We arrived in Tokyo, got some drinks for the plane, and boarded our final plane. It was weird to be in a store and not recognize any of the brands or foods. When we arrived in Bangkok, it was night. Stepping off of the plane, the humidity engulfed us and was probably and indicator of how it is going be for the next two weeks.  We went through the passport check and had 2 vans waiting for us to take us to the Lub D Silom hostel.

We drove through Bangkok to get to the hostel, and it was amazing to look out the windows. It was midnight on a Wednesday night, and there were hundreds of people outside shopping and talking in the streets. I noticed that the streets are crowded, and there are a lot of 7-elevens.  We got to the hostel and settled into our rooms. Natalie, Lynn, and I are staying in the girls dormitory, and there are about 7 other women in the room. They were all asleep, and we changed and went to get food with the group.

We walked down the street for awhile to get to the main stretch of people. There were hundreds of people in little booths cleaning up after selling stuff all day. There are so many things to buy, from bracelets and jewelry, to pirated DVDs and shirts with celebrities on them. We went to McDonald’s, and everyone sat and ate together. I guess that wasn’t the right thing to do, I should have tried authentic Thai food, but I was hungry for a cheeseburger and wanted a McFlurry. I paid in Baht, so maybe that counts for something? We walked back to the hostel, and there were a good number of people variously scattered sleeping on the streets. The one that struck me most was a little boy sleeping on the concrete alone.

We showered (finally!!!) and went to sleep. Right now it is 10am on Thursday, February 24th. Wei-Hao is taking us to the temple for a tour, and I’m pretty excited to experience daytime Bangkok.