Saturday, Nov 7 - Bangkok (finally!)

Just before midnight on Saturday, we arrived in Bangkok. Yay! We had last been here 10 years ago, so we were surprised and amazed at the new airport here in Bangkok. It almost made you think that Bangkok suddenly turned completely modern - more like the Jetsons than the Flinstones we were expecting.

A short cab ride to our hotel, will prove that the airport was a Bangkok anomaly.

Saturday, Nov 7 - In Transit

Not much happening today - more of the dreaded plane travel. We had a layover in Japan which is interesting in and of itself. Before entering developing countries, we get to stop in a place even cleaner and more organized than our own country. We changed planes in Narita which traveling on ANA (All Nippon).

It's fun traveling on a Japanese airline - no sushi, but there were still some decent noodle-type dishes to try on the plane. Some of the travel sites recommend trying their free sparkling wine offering - I did, it was decent.

The picture with the cartoons was quite funny. It showed all the diseases you could pick up from doing dumb things in developing countries. There was also a large map that showed you which diseases you could pick up in which places. Of course, Thailand and the Philippines had most of what the world has to offer in this regard.

Friday, Nov 6 - Leaving US

So today is the day it all begins. We've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. We've traveled quite a bit but never with a Kingdom focus. Although we're really not looking forward to over 24 hours in traveling, the anticipation for being there is overwhelming.

The day begins at Sky Harbor (Phoenix airport) as we prepare for the first leg to San Francisco. We were pleasantly surprised that we can check our bags in Phoenix on United and have them transferred to our ANA flight to Bangkok. It's the little things :-)

As much as I'd rather teleport, waiting around in airports provides for some much needed quiet time to reflect on the purpose of the trip.