I got one of those 'free nights' through my Hilton Honors and we used it for our final night in Bangkok. Yes, yes, I do think it's funny to stay in the 'Bangkok Hilton' (this is an old joke referring to the prison there.) We thought we might enjoy staying in a nice place on our last night and we were pleased with our choice.
Rhiannon wasn't feeling well by the time we got there - and we got there late due to "holiday traffic"
. I was starving but since Rhiannon was sick and didn't want to eat I didn't want to venture far. So I ate the ridiculously expensive buffet and did not do it justice. But I'm grateful that there was food to be had.
We took a taxi to the airport but honestly I feel like we got screwed every time we got in a taxi. The tuk-tuk drivers overprice for us, the 'ferengi', but once you agree on a price they take you where you wanted to go, posthaste, and charge what they said. Taxi drivers are mostly manipulative slime balls. Just an observation.
One thing about traffic in Thailand is that the traffic lights have an led countdown timer that tells you how long before the color of the light will change - at every color. So it turns green, you know how much longer it will be green. Same for yellow (3 seconds) and same for red. I included a picture of one of these, below.
There are some general observations about Eva Air the Taiwanese airline and Asian travelers that I'll take this opportunity to make
.
When they start boarding, a guy (or gal) stands near the doorway to the jetway with a signboard indicating what zone is boarding. This is simple and effective (a picture is included below). But even more interestingly, the people all three airlines that I boarded with - once they say you can board, they rush on just like they were getting on the subway with the doors about to close. You literally race down the jetway ... the whole boarding process of an entire aircraft probably takes at most ten minutes. Nobody fools around blocking the aisles - it's a mad rush! This is actually very pleasant.
A couple of other unique things about Eva Air - or maybe the particular aircraft, I don't know - is that the back three rows have a seat on each side removed. This means that instead of three-three-three configuration it is two-three-two for those last three rows, allowing ample room for people to line up for the bathroom and for the food/beverage carts to maneuver around them. I was on a middle section aisle and it was very nice to have that elbow room and not worry about the cart knocking your funny bone.
And last but noteworthy is that the overhead bins have mirrors mounted at the back so you can easily see what's up there / when it is empty. Simple and innovative. Two thumbs up for Eva Air - their (inexplicable) "Hello Kitty" theme notwithstanding.
Bangkok Hilton. No, really. The Hilton.
Saturday, January 03, 2015
Bangkok, Thailand
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