So far so good!
I made it to Taipei airport. It's not as nice as I expected. More or less like LAX. It smells like cigarette smoke even though there are designated smoking rooms in the far reaches. There's not much to eat here but there is plenty of duty free merchandise with many attractive well-dressed sales people to answer any questions. Only since all the stuff is priced in Taiwan currency it's hard to tell if anything is a good buy. However, since a bottle of water is $3 US, I didn't bother doing the math - as if I have any way to carry anything anyway.
The flight from SFO was long - 13 hours. China Airlines had good service and a clean plane but no frills to speak of. I had a decent vegetarian meal, but the cold dry recirculated air gave me a sore throat by the end of the trip. After leaving SFO at midnight Thursday, we arrived in Taiwan at sunrise Friday and a 3 hour layover before taking off for Bangkok.
I met a few nice folks in the Taipei airport during the layover - all of them from the Bay Area. All had been to Bangkok before and one guy, Ian, promised to split a cab with me from the airport to Khao San Road where were were both staying. Very helpful to have a partner in that journey.
The flight to Bangkok was about 3 1/2 hours and in a much nicer plane with better movies.
The trip to Khao San was uneventful. The awful traffic and crazy drivers I had heard of were nothing compared to those of Lima drivers. Piece of cake.
The room I pre-paid is just OK. Not as nice as the hotel in Lima I stayed at for about the same price. I think I can do better if I shop around.
It was great to finally get a shower and relax for the first time in many weeks. I found Ian again and we had some tasty and spicy food, walked around a bit, and met a local who helped us with our Thai.
Time to crash!!
I made it to Taipei airport. It's not as nice as I expected. More or less like LAX. It smells like cigarette smoke even though there are designated smoking rooms in the far reaches. There's not much to eat here but there is plenty of duty free merchandise with many attractive well-dressed sales people to answer any questions. Only since all the stuff is priced in Taiwan currency it's hard to tell if anything is a good buy. However, since a bottle of water is $3 US, I didn't bother doing the math - as if I have any way to carry anything anyway.
The flight from SFO was long - 13 hours. China Airlines had good service and a clean plane but no frills to speak of. I had a decent vegetarian meal, but the cold dry recirculated air gave me a sore throat by the end of the trip. After leaving SFO at midnight Thursday, we arrived in Taiwan at sunrise Friday and a 3 hour layover before taking off for Bangkok.
I met a few nice folks in the Taipei airport during the layover - all of them from the Bay Area. All had been to Bangkok before and one guy, Ian, promised to split a cab with me from the airport to Khao San Road where were were both staying. Very helpful to have a partner in that journey.
The flight to Bangkok was about 3 1/2 hours and in a much nicer plane with better movies.
The trip to Khao San was uneventful. The awful traffic and crazy drivers I had heard of were nothing compared to those of Lima drivers. Piece of cake.
The room I pre-paid is just OK. Not as nice as the hotel in Lima I stayed at for about the same price. I think I can do better if I shop around.
It was great to finally get a shower and relax for the first time in many weeks. I found Ian again and we had some tasty and spicy food, walked around a bit, and met a local who helped us with our Thai.
Time to crash!!
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