Who says you can't travel all the way to Bangkok for just five days? Trip report by mr/ms_go.
Nov 26th, 2008, 06:22 AM
#21
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<b>Getting there and back</b>
We purchased upgradeable (H) economy tickets on United via Narita and used miles to upgrade to business class. All upgrades were confirmed at the time of purchase. There were numerous schedule changes and changes of gauge over the past year. I had to watch those seat assignments like a hawk (read: daily). But, all went off without a hitch. We had some of the better upper deck seats on all four flights. They weren’t the new business seats, but I didn’t expect them yet on this route. Everything worked on our seats (not a given with United’s old seats). Service was good on all flights, excellent ex-Chicago (yes, Chicago!). Food was better on the outbound flights. The last flight was a few minutes late, otherwise all were on time or early. I did a lot of sleeping and resting and eating and not much else while en-route. The time went faster than I thought.
Mr_go looked at me like I had two heads when I suggested just before leaving the house that he throw one of the leftover bags of Halloween candy in his backpack for the flight attendants (I bought 10 big bags of the good stuff and only used two). Little did he know...he’d become the hero of United 881, receiving compliments from flight attendants on both decks and very frequent drink refills.
Ironically, I found out after that fact that, while we were spending our three-hour layover on the return in the Narita Red Carpet Club, my brother was just down the hall in the Northwest World Club. It’s a small world...
We purchased upgradeable (H) economy tickets on United via Narita and used miles to upgrade to business class. All upgrades were confirmed at the time of purchase. There were numerous schedule changes and changes of gauge over the past year. I had to watch those seat assignments like a hawk (read: daily). But, all went off without a hitch. We had some of the better upper deck seats on all four flights. They weren’t the new business seats, but I didn’t expect them yet on this route. Everything worked on our seats (not a given with United’s old seats). Service was good on all flights, excellent ex-Chicago (yes, Chicago!). Food was better on the outbound flights. The last flight was a few minutes late, otherwise all were on time or early. I did a lot of sleeping and resting and eating and not much else while en-route. The time went faster than I thought.
Mr_go looked at me like I had two heads when I suggested just before leaving the house that he throw one of the leftover bags of Halloween candy in his backpack for the flight attendants (I bought 10 big bags of the good stuff and only used two). Little did he know...he’d become the hero of United 881, receiving compliments from flight attendants on both decks and very frequent drink refills.
Ironically, I found out after that fact that, while we were spending our three-hour layover on the return in the Narita Red Carpet Club, my brother was just down the hall in the Northwest World Club. It’s a small world...
Nov 26th, 2008, 06:45 AM
#22
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Thanks for your great report.
I loved this line "We’ve rarely felt so far removed from our home, and yet so completely “at home” at the same time."
Isn't that feeling travel as it's best??
I loved this line "We’ve rarely felt so far removed from our home, and yet so completely “at home” at the same time."
Isn't that feeling travel as it's best??
Nov 26th, 2008, 06:47 AM
#23
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<b>Some final thoughts</b>
<b>Any regrets?</b> We knew about Loy Krathong in advance of booking and tried to make that work, but I was unable to confirm air upgrades at booking for the days right after it. Didn’t want to go there...so we reluctantly planned around a departure early that morning.
<b>Jetlag.</b> Yeah. More for mr_go while we were there. More for me once I got home. We expected it. We didn’t let it get in the way.
<b>Is it crazy to do this short of a trip?</b> It's probably not for everyone, but for us, absolutely not! Our philosophy is: when you get your opportunity, go for it!
<b>Was this enough time for a first visit to Bangkok?</b> Probably not (IMHO)--and that's just from a purely sightseeing perspective, not considering shopping possibilities, etc. We left with various things still on the list. I should note that while we did a lot, we also didn't try to overschedule our time. Aside from the days out with Tong, we generally weren't in a hurry to get out in the morning. And, we took a few hours here and there to enjoy the resort and pool. It was really nice to settle into one hotel for six nights and not have to pack up and move frequently.
<b>Will we go back?</b> Of course. Of course, we barely scratched the surface. DD is extremely jealous (as if she hasn’t had many great travel opportunities already in her 15 years and is already booked for three international trips next year). Actually, we think she really would have liked this trip...and we kept saying so at various points during the trip. When? We don’t know, but hopefully sometime in the not too distant future.
I think that's all for now. I'm sure we'll think of other things and will add them later. I still have many photos I haven't even looked at, so I'll try to add to the gallery over the next few weeks. Mr_go is working on the more detailed, chronological report, which we'll post on our our site (and provide a link) when ready.
For now, happy Thanksgiving to those in the US and thanks, again, to all for helping us plan a great trip.
<b>Any regrets?</b> We knew about Loy Krathong in advance of booking and tried to make that work, but I was unable to confirm air upgrades at booking for the days right after it. Didn’t want to go there...so we reluctantly planned around a departure early that morning.
<b>Jetlag.</b> Yeah. More for mr_go while we were there. More for me once I got home. We expected it. We didn’t let it get in the way.
<b>Is it crazy to do this short of a trip?</b> It's probably not for everyone, but for us, absolutely not! Our philosophy is: when you get your opportunity, go for it!
<b>Was this enough time for a first visit to Bangkok?</b> Probably not (IMHO)--and that's just from a purely sightseeing perspective, not considering shopping possibilities, etc. We left with various things still on the list. I should note that while we did a lot, we also didn't try to overschedule our time. Aside from the days out with Tong, we generally weren't in a hurry to get out in the morning. And, we took a few hours here and there to enjoy the resort and pool. It was really nice to settle into one hotel for six nights and not have to pack up and move frequently.
<b>Will we go back?</b> Of course. Of course, we barely scratched the surface. DD is extremely jealous (as if she hasn’t had many great travel opportunities already in her 15 years and is already booked for three international trips next year). Actually, we think she really would have liked this trip...and we kept saying so at various points during the trip. When? We don’t know, but hopefully sometime in the not too distant future.
I think that's all for now. I'm sure we'll think of other things and will add them later. I still have many photos I haven't even looked at, so I'll try to add to the gallery over the next few weeks. Mr_go is working on the more detailed, chronological report, which we'll post on our our site (and provide a link) when ready.
For now, happy Thanksgiving to those in the US and thanks, again, to all for helping us plan a great trip.
Nov 26th, 2008, 08:32 AM
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We are so happy to hear that your time with Tong was so wonderful! DW will be back in bkk this summer to spend a few days with her again!
Your monkeys and peanut bag story was great! We had the same thing happen on our first trip to thailand. We were in the middle of nowhere feeding peanuts to wild monkeys, and one old wise monkey came up behind me and ripped the bag open and made off with half of the peanuts!
Your monkeys and peanut bag story was great! We had the same thing happen on our first trip to thailand. We were in the middle of nowhere feeding peanuts to wild monkeys, and one old wise monkey came up behind me and ripped the bag open and made off with half of the peanuts!
Nov 26th, 2008, 06:16 PM
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Wonderful report! Thank you!
As someone who has done one week trips to Asia a number of times, I understand the pluses and minuses and I still did every one of them I could.
I wish you many happy returns to Bangkok.
As someone who has done one week trips to Asia a number of times, I understand the pluses and minuses and I still did every one of them I could.
I wish you many happy returns to Bangkok.
Nov 26th, 2008, 06:46 PM
#33
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Thanks, everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I still have big gaps in the photo album, which I'll try to correct. It's a big project to go through the 1,500 (no, not a typo) photos we took in five days. We have a few videos, too, which I'll need to post on a different site.
jaspertl--yes, this is the same bobthenavigator. He's mr_go's father.
jaspertl--yes, this is the same bobthenavigator. He's mr_go's father.
Jan 6th, 2009, 06:08 AM
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<b>UPDATE:</b>
For those who enjoy highly detailed trip reports with photos...We have (finally) posted the complete and chronological version of our Bangkok trip report to our website:
http://www.onelittleworld.com/bangkok_1.html
We hope this version gives you a more complete mental picture of our little anniversary adventure. And there's even a picture of Tong kissing Bam-Bam the Bear!
Thanks again to all who contributed their sound advice and wise counsel to our planning.
For those who enjoy highly detailed trip reports with photos...We have (finally) posted the complete and chronological version of our Bangkok trip report to our website:
http://www.onelittleworld.com/bangkok_1.html
We hope this version gives you a more complete mental picture of our little anniversary adventure. And there's even a picture of Tong kissing Bam-Bam the Bear!
Thanks again to all who contributed their sound advice and wise counsel to our planning.
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