One month and counting

It's hard to believe, but I'll be in Bangkok one month from today. I leave Seattle on the 4th, but will be arriving slightly past midnight on the 5th. I'm so excited! Bangkok is a place I have always dreamed of visiting. Thai food is tied only with sushi as my #1 favorite type of food. I love spicy!

I passed through Bangkok and spent one night at the airport hotel last April when I was traveling to Nepal. I remember it being very humid, so I hope I can handle it for two weeks.

I booked my trip in January after obtaining a large contract for design work. And I really got a bargain! I only spent $1550 for my round trip airfare, hotel for 12 days (in a 3-star, no less) and six excursions. Heck, I spent more than that on airfare alone when I went to Nepal last year (and I even bought my ticket 10 months in advance).

I'm staying at the Silom City Inn on Silom Road. I splurged a little on a deluxe room so I'll have WiFi right in the room.

Itinerary:

• 4/5 arrive in Bangkok
• 4/6 City Tour by Tuk Tuk
• 4/7 Floating Market & River Kwai Bridge, Tiger Temple
• 4/8 Royal Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha Tour
  
• 4/9 Ayuttaya World Heritage Tour
  
• 4/10 The Amazing Temple Tour
  
• 4/11 Day Trip to Safari World
• 4/12 meet-up for dinner at the Seafood Market Restaurant
• 4/13 meet-up for Songkran Festival & water fight
• 4/14-4/15 no plans, but hoping to get to a beach or do something with new friends from meet-up that may be sticking around
• 4/16 - Thai cooking class in a.m. at Bai Pai

Ok, maybe I am, but I like to be prepared and not wait until the last minute to do things. I just ordered my Bhat currency and traveler's checks for my trip. I wanted to get it done now while I had the money and so I wouldn't forget (it takes about three days for ordering foreign currency).

Tomorrow I plan to get some passport pictures taken so I have one for my visa. I don't want to repeat my mistake like I did in Nepal. I didn't know about the photo requirement, so even though I was first in line to go through immigrations in Kathmandu, I ended up at the end of the long line until I had my picture taken for way too much money.

I'm still undecided about whether to just take my small Nikon CoolPix camera or to also take my larger Canon XTi. Since I'm bringing my laptop (so I can blog), I'm not sure I want to carry all the extra stuff. Of course, I plan to check a bag this time, so that means I have less to carry than I did for my Nepal trip (I only took a large hiking backpack on that trip and carried everything). I'm hoping my hotel room is reasonably secure...I don't want to have to put my laptop in a safe when I'm not in the room. I need opinions, so if anyone reads this, please advise.

As always, I have my folder of paperwork (e-ticket, excursion coupons, etc.). I also bought health insurance this time, just in case. $60 for 12 days and piece of mind sounds reasonable to me. I've also bought new clothes to wear over there (like I need an excuse to shop...teehee).