From Christchurch to Bangkok: No Ordinary Travel Experience

Things started off well, I felt organized and readyhadn't. He spent 20 minutes talking with some
to jump on that plane. This was the first stage ofrandom guy who had offered him a "special" tour
my month long trip through 6 different countries.deal exclusive to him and nobody else. Luckily I
It was my first time out of Australasia and I wasbailed him out before he'd signed off his life
very excited at the prospect of encounteringsavings. That was our first taste of Thai people
new sights, sounds, tastes and cultures.trying to sell us stuff, there was a lot more to
The flight from Christchurch to Auckland was nicecome and boy were they persistent.
and smooth even though the pilot had warned ofWe found a taxi rank and eventually explained to
some turbulence, I sat next to a nice old ladythe driver where we wanted to go. I still can't
who had been to Thailand before and she gooddecide whether I found the next 30 minutes of
things to so about it. It was all going perfectly tomy life exhilarating or bloody scary but we hurtled
script until I arrived at Auckland airport to find mydown a bumpy highway at well over 140kph.
flight to Bangkok was delayed by three hours.There were no seat belts but thankfully the
The airline gave us a lunch voucher asamazing sights kept my mind occupied.
compensation so it wasn't all bad.Bangkok is crazy, it felt like the exact opposite of
I sat right in the back corner of the plane butNew Zealand. It's so hot, crowded, messy and
didn't find it too uncomfortable, there was a lot tohumid. There's so much to take in, from Sony
keep you busy and the time flew by (pardon thebillboards to market side stalls, people hanging off
pun) with all the movies, TV shows and games atmotorcycles and random roadside shrines.
your disposal. I got a little cramp but when you sitThe taxi driver took the liberty of a few extra
in the back of the plane with the cheapest ticketslaps before we got to the hotel, it's annoying
that's to be expected. I enjoyed having a windowbecause you know he's not really "lost" but
seat, which allowed me to take in some greatthere's not much you can do and it's only a few
views, especially over the Australian outback.extra cents. It had clearly been raining a lot, with
Coming into Bangkok was amazing, they werewater everywhere along the roads and through
having a huge storm and it was hard to seethe hotel car park.
anything at first but then BANG! A huge bolt ofAfter checking in, the manager tells us that we
lightening and everything lit up like it was thecan't have our rooms because the storm has
middle of a summer's day. The illuminated cloudsflooded them, it's 3am, we've been traveling for
and city lights were truly spectacular.hours and we've got no room! Aargh! They set us
Bangkok, Thailand, let the fun begin! It didn't takeup in the lounge with a complementary croissant,
very long, we arrived at 2am local time and I wasyippee! Not the best first impression of Thai
expecting a torrid time through customs. Much tohospitality.
my surprise, security was at a minimum, afterIronically if our plane had been on time we may
getting our passports checked we basically justhave got flooded while in the room, sleeping! The
strutted through the rest of the airport like westaff tried to make us feel better by putting on a
owned the place, I swear the customs securitymovie to pass the time, whoops, they couldn't
guy was asleep at his camera, crazy but hilariouswork out how to use the machine, nice try guys.
at the same time.At this point I marveled at how I was in such a
We then moved on to the main part of thegood mood, I'd had no sleep but perhaps the
airport. I'd been rehearsing my techniques ofthought of the adventures to come were keeping
brushing off people determined to sell my stuffme awake and in good spirits.
but my dad (who I was traveling with) obviously