BootsnAll Travel Network



Thailand for a bit

Left Boracay on Cebu Pacific, just under $170 CAD for the 1 hr flight from Kalebo to Manila + the 3 hr flight on to Bangkok so with the $10 charge for 1 kilo overweight luggage + the $17 airport tax it was still under $200 for the whole trip. Not bad when you consider the airport tax on a similar flight to Cuba is more!

What can I say but completely unprepared for the reality of Bangkok which is, from what I have seen, not that different from any progressive Western city except that public transportation is the norm for most residents but it has a better highway system than Toronto (which isn’t hard).

Was at The Mall a couple days ago to ship a parcel of my winter clothes & souvenirs to Canada from the Mail Boxes/UPS store & it could have been in any city if it wasn’t for the live trees & parrots in the 4story structure + the Thai food court that supplemented the usual American fast food joints.

On the return trip to the 13 Coins Airport Hotel where I am staying, a good solid 3*, for 900 Baht/night ($29) we drove past a Lamborghini dealership, some thing you don’t see in many North American cities!

Went to the Myanmar Embassy yesterday & got my visa to visit there with way less hassle & cost than it would have been to try & get it in Canada + same day service for only 450 Baht. So it’s off to Yangon Sunday morn to spend 3 weeks in the land that used to be called Burma, thought of leaving the return open but didn’t want to chance not getting a flight out near Xmas & overstaying my visa as not sure if Myanmar jails would agree with me LOL.

Have observed during my travels in CA last winter & now this year that Toyota is by far the most popular brand in the world, showing that old Generous Motors (now thanks to Obama & the North American tax-payer Government Motors) was just a rinky dink little mickey mouse mismanaged company that should have been let go the way of the Dodo bird.

From the way Lonely Planet & people I have talked to it sounds like Myanmar is stuck in a time warp similar to Cuba & not westernized yet with MacDonald’s etc, however without Fidel’s benevolent leadership. Another similarity according to LP is the use of the US$ for all government trains etc with use of their money only locally & no ATM’s with only major hotels accepting credit cards. Guess will find out for sure in a couple days. So should be another enlightening adventure!

In light of the situation money in Myanmar went to another local mall today to find a bank where I could get US$ as my cc limits me to drawing $500/day, will get the balance at the airport in the morning. Not surprisingly found that banks here are as money hungry as in Canada as them would not give me US$ on my US cc but made me use the ATM to get Baht then they would exchange that for US. Oh well less rip off’s here than in Canada as while wandering the mall spotted the exact same piece of garbage (compared to my old HP) Canon camera that I paid $140 for in August, selling the equivalent of $96 CAD!!



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