Sawasdee Bangkok!

After a long and tedious battle against time and effort in transit to Bangkok, whew! we finally arrived.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport is huge! My vision is getting blurry, my tummy is empty and my vertebrae, oh no, is starting to feel like losing its grab. Despite of all the discomforts, the airport is quite soothing the negativities away. Fast walkalators, smoking rooms are like approximately 100 meters apart, multi-language translation for directions, foreign exchange counters, smiling locals and most importantly, lenient immigration officers.

First stop was of course to get charged in a smoking room. There. A little chit chat of this and that and what to do or where to go or how, then crashed the flame and moved on to our next stop. The foreign exchange counter. The rate there is quite a little lower than those banks in the city proper so we changed few of our dollars just enough to pay our taxi ride to our hotel and a sumptuous dinner afterwards.

Then to the Immigration counter to stamp us in. Wow they are efficient. The counters are well labeled and since the airport is gigantic, they also serve numerous immigration counters. Cool. What amazes me the most is that the Immigration officers are not hmmm, not like what we have in the Philippines where one has to pass a needle hole interrogation as if you're visiting someone in prison abroad. Presented our pre-filled immigration form (fill it in flight to save time) and of course passports, a quick pose before a webcam and huala! Sawasdee!

In traipsing Suvarnabhumi Airport, there is actually no need for you to ask for where. You're safe still so long as you keep your common sense. Hehe. The airport is tourist friendly, you'll just have to be sure on what is to be done step by step. So there, we're already cleared.

Prolly looking first timers that we were, a ground airport crew approached us and led us to their Tourist Information Counter and handed us free maps and after a few exchange of pleasantries, we were offered a 4 hour tour for only 23USD. The tour is more like a do-it-yourself for we get to choose which place we want to see or do in 4 hours time. Like for only 500php, we find it fairly cheap, especially because it is an exclusive tour with a driver and a tour guide. Of course there has to be an official receipt and proper identification of that crew.

Next thing to choose is which mode of transportation to take to our hotel room. 'Twas past 9pm already, considering the comfort and traffic condition plus the Baht we have on hand, we took the taxi. Buses and skytrains? They come cheaper I bet but there is no chance that they'd take us direct to our hotel plus the hassle of changing and transporting from here to there, so taxi it is. It took us about less than an hour to reach our hotel and less than 500 Baht (50TB surcharge plus toll fees and meters). It just got dark in Bangkok yet the traffic was smooth. Bangkok is well lighted and the highways are really wide. Way far not congested and crowded like Manila. Lol. I wasn't able to feel the distance really for I was busy awing with the system that they have. Impressive I must admit.