On Friday we woke up early to head to LaGuardia Airport where our long flight began…flights I should say. About 4 months ago, Joey found an extremely cheap flight, but with a little catch…a double transfer. We started from NYC and flew to Chicago, and from there to Tokyo, and Tokyo to Bangkok. It was a VERY long day and full of traveling and transfers, but with a budgeted plane ticket, we’re now able put it towards the real adventure! Besides, the airplane movies and snacks/meals made it pretty comfortable. If you ever fly to or through Tokyo, the food that Japan Airlines provides was great!
Some of our transfers were a bit tight, especially being that we wanted to change some USD to Thai Baht before we landed in Thailand (TIP: LaGuardia doesn’t have direct flights to Thailand, so they don’t stock Thai Baht…). Most people agree that it’s actually a better idea to change currency in the destination country, which I do agree with, but we were scheduled to arrive to Bangkok around 11pm and we wanted to make sure we had time to catch the Airport Rail Link into the city before it stops running (hours are approximately 6am-12am).
This airport connection was effortless and costs significantly less than a taxi/tuk-tuk (often 200-300 baht minimum). It functions as an aboveground connection between the airport and just outside the city center…AND it only costs a maximum of 45 baht depending on what your station destination is. Because we knew we were getting in late, we booked a hotel close to the last stop on the 8-station Airport Rail Link (Phaya Thai Station), which is also a connection point to the Bangkok Skytrain (BTS) Sukhumvit Line.
We made it safe and sound to our first hotel room, trying to figure out this whole jetlag thing! We plan to explore the Chatuchak weekend market tomorrow, so stay posted!