After 28 hours in transit, I have arrived in Bangkok and I am sweating. The first stop was Anchorage, Alaska where I was greeted with specimens of the local fauna -- black bears, brown bears, white bears and otters -- all stuffed and on display in natural settings within glass cases throughout the terminal.
Next stop was Taipei where I had a four hour layover (always check the fine print of the tickets prior to takeoff) and was greeted by a musty basement smell. I followed yellow lighted signs and a woman with swollen feet and strappy heels down endless dimly lit corridors to the B wing. The B wing which looked strikingly similar to the A wing making me suspect that I had walked a rather large circle to come to my destination. But at least I had the woman in heels for company.
Taipei airport had the usual duty free shops and one annoying tourist who sat behind me in the cafe and handed out unsolicited travel advice, like stuffing your passport with a $5 bill to avoid search in customs, to a group of eager americans. I had the pleasure of being seated in front of this gentleman on the plane ride to bangkok where he got a hold of a deck of cards and shuffled and dealt and rapped them on the tray table for the majority of the four hour flight.
I arrived in Bangkok, overtipped the cab driver and got downgraded to a room with a single bed and a fan within the first hour. But I have gotten in a good shower, walked a few blocks away from my hotel then made my way back to my hotel and found an Internet cafe that plays new age thai music, which blends nicely with the buzzing mopeds outside. There are no windows or doors in this place. It's like a garage with four computers and a desk and a nice breeze.
This is like no city I've ever been to. There are stray dogs, street vendors and 7-11s everywhere. I'm off to eat some food and find out where I am on the map so I can make my way to the nearest air conditioned mall. New Jersey is not so far away after all.
