We landed in Tokyo with < 20 min to spare until our connecting flight. We walked directly from the gate of our plane to 2 gates over to the gate of our connecting flight to Bangkok. I noticed that I was one of the taller people in the airport. I'll need to check this on the way back.

We flew: N of Winnipeg, N of Regina, N of Edmonton, N of Juno, over Anchorage, N of Bristol Bay, over the Bering Sea. At one point the conditions were: -67F, 36,000 ft, 539 MPH ground speed, 42 km/h head wind.

We are about 3 hours out of Chicago. We flew north of Winnipeg and Regina in Canada. Near Regina there is extensive farmland and lots of water. There are hundreds of individual lakes, rivers, and 1 massive river that looked large enough to be a lake.


A couple of hours later we started seeing the Rockies(?) to the west on the horizon. The sun was setting behind them and they were lit up in red. The mountains were very jagged, very well defined. I want to say it looks like teeth, but that is just grasping for a metaphor to describe a really amazing sight.

Monika just pointed out that if we crash into a mountain, all we would need to do would be to find her suitcase. There are enough luna bars, soups, and dehydrated apples to last a month.

As the sun sets some of the lakes are red while others are gray water.

What are all the smoke(?) plumes? I'm not really sure if they are coming from fires or if they are coming from streams and lakes. Geothermal?

back of a taxi. we are taking monikas secret way.not
feeling very fast.we are runnig late.diversey will
better next time.

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We're off. We are trying to walk out the door as I right this. We still aren't sure of where we are going in the islands, but we have a good idea of where we are going to stay in Bangkok. Talk to you soon.

I'm sure everyone is aware of the travel warnings. Ever since the Bali attack in the middle of October, governments around the world have been warning their citizens about traveling to Southeast Asia, especially the heavily tourist resort areas. Phuket in southern Thailand is one of those places. The Thai government has responded by reassuring the world that they are doing everything they can do to make things safe. We're not worried. The chances of anything happening, especially in the limited amount of time that we will be in Phuket are extremely small. Plus, we don't hit the discos much. I'm curious to see the impact that the warnings have had on bookings.

It's 3am, Monika is asleep. We still don't know where exactly were are going when we get to Thailand. We've got a hotel, The Maruay Garden Hotel, booked for when we arrive in Bangkok, but we still don't know what to do with our free week.
Right now the plan is: we arrive in Bangkok late Sunday night. Monday we fly to Phuket, spend the night and go diving on Tuesday. We'll stay Tuesday night in Phuket. Wednesday we'll head to Ko Phi Phi, spend the night there, spend half of Thursday on Ko Phi Phi , take the ferry back to Phuket and then hop a flight back to Bangkok that night. We'll spend the night in Bangkok and then we'll have all day Friday and Saturday to explore Bangkok. Sunday we need to meet our group in Phimai. Most likely we'll take a late bus to Nakhon Ratchasima and then a taxi to Phimai to meet the rest of the group for dinner. Phew. Sounds a bit stressful doesn't it? Add to that the fact that we don't actually have hotels or flights booked. It's amazing how little time we have.

ECE:

We spent today running around taking care of the last couple of errands. Althought there are ATMs and Banks all over Bangkok and Bombay, we decided to take travelers checks anyway. This is where a little bit of research on my part would have been good. If I get money out of an ATM in Bangkok, what exchange rate do I get? Is it better or worse than if I bring a travellers check and get it changed over there? Most (all) of the hotels are going to take credit cards, but from previous experience we know that you can sometimes get a better price when you pay cash. US merchents usually don't make a big deal of credit card fees. They just seem to work it into their overhead. When travelling in some countries (from my limited experience of Belize and India) the fees seem to be a big deal.

The core of our trip is going to be the archelogical dig in Phimai. After our trip to Belize last year, Monika's interest in archeology came to the fore again and she started looking around for a volunteer opportunity. Prefferable something cool. After quite a bit of research she found an organization called EarthWatch . EarthWatch is a top notch organization that promotes projects around the world that try to converse both a country's natural resources and cultural heritage. Basing her decision on timing, the part of the world, and the field conditions, Monika identified the expidition, Origins of Angkor as a good fit. I say "her" because I have to give Monika all of the credit for putting together this whole trip.

We are planning on getting married next year, so we wanted to go to India for shopping, too. There are also a lot of people (Monika's side of the family) in India that we haven't seen for a couple of years and since we were going to be in that part of the world, why not stop by and say hello.

P.S. I had great and wonderful plans about how this web log would be jam packed full of information, witty commentatry, and keen insights into the mind of the travelers. Obvious it's not starting out that way. It feels like I trying to get the cobwebs off my creative side.

The Itinerary

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Getting to Bangkok

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Flight: United Flight 883
Depart: Chicago/O'Hare Terminal 1 - Sat, Nov 30 at 12:45pm
Arrive: Tokyo/Narita Terminal 1 - Sun, Dec 1 at 5pm

Flight: United Flight 875
Depart: Tokyo/Narita Terminal 1 - Sun, Dec 1 at 6:25pm
Arrive: Bangkok Terminal 2 - Sun, Dec 1 at 11:25pm

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Getting to Bombay

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Flight: Cathay Pacific flight 751
Depart: Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) - TERMINAL 2 - Sun, Dec 15 at 5:30pm
Arrive: Bombay, India (BOM) - Terminal Information Unavailable - Sun, Dec 15 at 8:05pm

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Getting Back to Bangkok

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Flight: Cathay Pacific flight 750
Depart: Bombay, India (BOM) - Terminal Information Unavailable - Mon, Dec 30 at 5:05am
Arrive: Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) - TERMINAL 2 - Mon, Dec 30 at 10:30am

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Getting Back To Chicago

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Flight: United Flight 8266 (AKA All Nippon flight NH916)
Depart: Bangkok Terminal 2 - Tue, Dec 31 at 11:40pm
Arrive: Tokyo/Narita Terminal 2 - Wed, Jan 1 at 7:10am

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Flight: United Flight 884
Depart: Tokyo/Narita Terminal 1 - Wed, Jan 1 at 3:10pm
Arrive: Chicago/O'Hare Terminal 5 - Wed, Jan 1 at 11:30am

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