From Delhi to Bangkok!

We woke up around 7am this morning and packed up our belongings for another departure.  We wanted to walk through the market one more time before heading out, so once we were ready to check-out we took a quick jaunt through the shopping area.  Not much was open as it was pretty early in the morning.  We had planned to stop at McDonald's and get some food before leaving Delhi, but it didn't serve breakfast and wouldn't be open until lunchtime.

Our tour guide had arranged a taxi for us to the airport.  We shared the taxi with another couple from our tour group who had a flight around the same time as ours.  We arrived at the airport quite early and were unable to check into our flight for about 30 minutes.  Luckily, the 3rd terminal in the Delhi International Airport is very modern and clean - we were delighted to have a nice place to hangout for a few hours.  As soon as we could, we checked in and headed through security.  We grabbed some lunch inside the food court and purchased a few much-needed toiletries and snacks from the WH Smith store in the airport before heading to our gate.  We think we were the first people at our actual gate, but that didn't really bother us.

James ordered a caesar salad for lunch and was a bit surprised by how much salad dressing was on it. 

If you wanted to take a nap at the airport, you could rent a sleeping pod!

As is now our habit, James sat and relaxed, while Erin walked around.  Our flight was scheduled to depart at 2pm, but by 1:40pm there were still no attendants at the gate.  We were quite worried that the flight may be delayed and that we would be experiencing another long day of travel on Air India.  However, by 2pm, we were onboard the aircraft and belted into our seats.

Unfortunately, at 3:30pm we were still belted into our seats waiting on the tarmac to depart.  Apparently, one of the passengers was held up at customs and they had to remove the person's luggage from the aircraft -which took some time.  We did make it in the air soon after and were headed for Bangkok, Thailand.

The sunset as we saw it from the plane, somewhere over the Indian Ocean (or the Bay of Bengal).

We arrived in Thailand around 9pm, quickly made it through immigration and nabbed a metered taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was very friendly and explained things to us as we drove through the city.  He also kept giggling at himself, which was very funny to both of us.

Our hotel was delightful!  After a long day of travel, and 2 weeks in India, the hotel seemed more than luxurious.  The room had a queen size bed, internet access, a refrigerator, a tv, and a hot shower!  We quickly checked in, freshened up, and then made plans to go out for the night.

James had a friend who, coincidentally, happened to be in Bangkok staying at a nearby hotel. We met up with Shelden in our hotel lobby and wandered through the street markets in downtown Bangkok.  James had a snack at the McDonald's (which was open 24 hours!), before we stopped at an outdoor eatery for a drink.  Shelden and James worked together a few years ago, but hadn't seen each other since - so, they had a lot of catching up to do.  Shelden had been in Bangkok for about 5 days and was also able to fill us in on a number of places to check out and some of the cultural issues we needed to be aware of.

Shelden and James enjoyed the opportunity to meet up in person in Bangkok!

James tried another McDonald's sandwich - this time it was the Samurai Pork Burger.

Around 2:30am, we finally said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel.  Because we weren't on a tour or with a group, we were lucky enough to be able to sleep in the next day.  It didn't take too long before we were tucked into bed and asleep.