Guangzhou, China and Our Arrival in Bangkok (Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015)

We really enjoyed our flight from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, China on China Southern Airlines. They were very professional, and made our flight very comfortable with never ending drinks, and a midnight meal as well as breakfast. They offered both western and Chinese style food. 

We arrived in China at 5:40 am for a 3-hour layover. The airport in Guangzhou was very easy to navigate. There were signs very often that directed us to “International Transfers”. There were also representatives with China Southern Airlines directing traffic and making sure that everyone knew where to go, and when we got to the end of the “International Transfer” signs, there was a large electronic board with connecting flights and gate numbers on it. Given the time of day the airport was very quiet with very few travelers.

The Guangzhou, China Airport was very clean and beautiful!

Very modern with nice restrooms and drinking water facilities

There were enough english instructions to make the airport easy to navigate

The flight attendants for China Southern were very professional!

We found our gate number, and looked around, and our gate was right there, so we made ourselves comfortable while we waited and then took off again at 8:50 am for a short three-hour flight.  We landed in Bangkok at 10:50 am. and picked up our luggage, we then followed our Gate-1 directions that had been provided prior to our departure for getting to our hotel transfer. 

There was a representative waiting for us outside of customs who took us to our driver. We drove through the streets of Bangkok at a very rapid pace enjoying the sights of the city, and within about 30 minutes we were at our hotel. The airport transfer was very smooth and comfortable and was included in our tour, even though we arrived three days early.  We thought that was a pretty great deal!

Our hotel is very close to Victory Monument. We chose to come in two day’s early, so we will have a chance to explore Bangkok for two day’s on our own before the actual tour starts. We are hoping that this will give us a chance to get over our jetlag and enjoy seeing Bangkok up close and personal on our own. We want to be able to enjoy every moment of Bangkok.

Our trip (for the most part) is all-inclusive. There are some meals where we are on our own, and a few optional excursions, which are so inexpensive that we couldn’t pass them up. As part of our Gate-1 package, we are staying at the Century Park Hotel, Bangkok, which is a superior class hotel located in Pratunam, a shopping and commercial area in the heart of Bangkok. This hotel provides free WiFi (for Gate-1 travelers) and all of the amenities that you would expect in any nice western style hotel. It is absolutely beautiful, and the staff are extremely helpful. We were greeted at the front desk, and asked to wait in the beautiful lobby for a few minutes while they finished up our room. They served us complimentary punch while we were waiting, and within a few minutes our room was ready. 

We think the punch was compliments of Gate-1 since we were the only ones that seemed to have it.

Our room is beautiful!

The view out our window on the 12th floor

After 13,000 miles and about 20 hours of flying, all Steve and I could think about was getting a shower, but once that was done, we were out and about seeing Bangkok. Our first impression was “WOW”, this is the most bustling city we have ever seen. It’s even crazier than New York City! 

The traffic is really crazy!

But once we got used to it, we loved the charm and convenience of being in this thriving metropolis. It has more traffic, motorcycles and pedestrians than we had ever seen, and the vibe of the town was very exhilarating. 

We enjoyed lunch at a little food court in the middle of the shopping district, and had dinner in a nicer restaurant in the same area. The food is quite different than we are used to, even though we often eat Thai food in the US,  but very good and very cheap.  Our lunch was less then $3 for the both of us. So far the public restrooms we have used are either free or cost 1 or 2 baht (~35 baht to 1 US dollar) and so far they are all western style.  They don't always have paper though, so come prepared.  

The people are all so kind, but very few speak any English at all, so it has been a very fun challenge.

A few street views as we walk around.  Check out the power lines.  They are like this everywhere.

Another view of the crazy busy streets.

Just a couple of blocks from our hotel is a mall called Center-One.  It has food for the locals in the basement, and more touristy options upstairs like Swenson's ice cream, Chester Chicken and Mister Donut, although we saw a lot of Thai's eating these as well.

The mall where we had lunch, although we ate downstairs with the locals.  We had to use a little sign language to get what we wanted because we can't read or speak Thai.

Plastic food replicas in the window of one of the restaurants in the mall make it easy for us english speakers to order, but you also pay more for your food if you eat at a restaurant like this.  We didn't eat here, but it looked like a pretty easy option.  

Another view of the mall from upstairs

My handsome husband risking his life under the power/phone lines!

Victory Monument very near our hotel

A view from the pedestrian walkway by the Victory Monument and the Sky Train

Another view from the pedestrian walkway.  You can see our hotel in the top right corner.  The busy sidewalk on the right is how we get to the mall.

Street vendors on the walkway.  Street vendors are very common.

The evening view from our hotel window as the traffic is picking up.  Notice the apartment buildings right behind the billboards.  Their view is totally blocked by the signs.

A beautiful sunset, and now traffic is really heavy.

There is also a beautiful park right near our hotel.  It is busy day and night with locals out getting their exercise.

After a relaxing stroll through the park, we decided to call it a night as we had been awake many hours at this point!