Travel

October 24, 2016

Phew...made it to Bangkok. What a long trip! More details later.

Update, 10/25:

It's 5 am here, local time, and I've been awake for a couple of hours. Meditation-inspired focus on my breathing hasn't helped me sleep in the new time zone. I brought some melatonin with me (Emergen-zee) but I can't comment on how well it works because I forgot to take it.

The travel was mostly uneventful, with the flights on time. I was glad I spent the extra miles on business class tickets. The flights were full, but I was reasonably comfortable. The only hitch was in Hong Kong, where I unexpectedly had to pay the departure tax. The various taxes for my ticket had been prepaid, but with the original booking I transited through Seoul instead of Hong Kong, and I paid the Korea departure tax. I had actually asked United about this using their e-mail inquiry service. I received a reply that didn't make much sense to me, and did not follow up.

At the transit desk, I was told the departure tax was US$8, but payable in HK$. I didn't have HK$ (just being in transit in the airport), so paid in US$. I asked for a receipt. I had to wait and get the receipt at the departure gate, as they said they didn't have a printer where I paid the fee. At the gate, I was given a receipt for US$6. When I asked why it wasn't for the $8 I had paid, I was eventually given an exchange receipt that showed my UD$8 became HK$56.8, and told that the fee was HK$50 though my fee receipt shows US$6 and the agent had said the fee was US$8 payable in HK$. Confused? Me, too. I wonder who ended up with the extra HK$6.8? This isn't a big deal, but I do wonder how frequently they do this, and if someone is pocketing a good deal of cash from the same transaction accumulated from many passengers. No, I am not paranoid, and they are not out to get me.

In Bangkok, I went through immigration smoothly and fairly quickly, retrieved my luggage, and found the shuttle to the hotel. The Phoenix Hotel is pretty basic, but clean, and quite convenient to the airport. I had some difficulty getting the AC to work, but 2 hotel employees helped me out, and my room is comfortable.

The outside temperature was 90F, and I was dripping in sweat when I arrived at the hotel. The heat and humidity are going to be a real challenge, especially coming from the cool, crisp autumn in Colorado.

The view from my room at the Phoenix Hotel. They gave me a ground floor room because I have a lot of luggage (I.e. my bike) and there is no lift.

There is a tree right outside my window that is sort of tied together, and has some hanging birds nests that have a wire base.

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