Daily log: 2. 17. 2005

So after 30 hours of traveling numerous planes, we’ve finally made it to Bangkok! It's 1:30am here, which means I believe it is around 12:30 in the afternoon on the day before. It’s crazy to think of being in a completely different date zone.

The flights were not as tiring as I would have imagined, despite their length. The flight I took from Dallas to San Francisco was about 4 hours. Then once I arrived at the airport, there was a 2 hour layover. Upon arriving to SF I had yet to meet up with Jim and Arsen, so I just hung around in the terminal and talked with a Marine named Jerry until they arrived. The flight from San Fran to Tokyo was just one minute short of ten hours. I slept most of the flight, which is all I could have asked for. I think I would go completely mad if I was awake the whole flight. We had to connect with another flight once in Tokyo, so we were rushing against time to buzz through the security checkpoints and make our way to the gate we were departing from. It seemed like the flights would never end but none of us had the audacity to complain, because we were headed to Thailand, ‘The land of smiles.’

Our last flight from Tokyo to Bangkok was only about 6 hours long. It was a very packed flight, and everyone was alive with conversation. The excitement to reach Thailand was full throttle and all I could do was twiddle my thumbs in my seat until we landed.

We landed around 11:30 at night. The second I stepped off the plane I felt a wave of heat and humidity. This is a much different feeling than the chilly February air I’m used to. Everyone in the airport greeted us with smiles and open arms. It was so nice to finally be at our destination!!

After we cleared customs and hailed a taxi, we made it to our hotel. The hotel is a nice building nestled in the middle of smaller buildings which appear to be apartments of some sort. All that I want to do now is crash in my bed, and use the 12 hour time difference as an excuse to sleep for the next 5 days!

Talk to you tomorrow!!!

- Jamie