Today was the start of a 3 week holiday to Thailand. We took the train to Schiphol Airport and checked in for our flight to Bangkok. We were flying with Eva Airways in the Evergreen Class. This means Economy service, but Business Class seats (much more leg space!), so it was a very comfortable flight.

At 05.05 local time we landed at Bangkok Airport. We took a taxi to our hotel Le Meridien, which we had booked in advance over the Internet (got an 88% discount!). There are actually 2 Le Meridien hotels next to another. We stayed in the (much cheaper) Le Meridien President Hotel. The other one is the Le Royal Meridien Bangkok, which we used to go to for their beautiful swimming pool on the 37th floor. We checked in but as our room were not ready yet, we had to wait half an hour. So we had a coffee and waited for half an hour.

After freshening up, we started to explore the city of Bangkok. We saw Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, WTC and the Hard Rock Cafe; the usual restaurants to make you feel at home........ What hits you the most when you step outside the hotel are the hot air (30 Celsius), the humidity (90%?) and the noise. Then when you walk around the corner you see all the food stands on the side of the road. It's an overwhelming mix of different food, herbs and oils. The first time it almost makes you choke, but it grows on you. Now it's one of the most vivid memories, I wish we had them here....

We also found a tailor to make some clothes for us: 2 suits for Michel and 2 dresses for Inge. Diner was in a Thai restaurant. We were looking for one as it takes about 3 fittings to make a good suit. So it's better to search for one on the first day.

You can also watch the video of Bangkok in high, medium or low quality.