The enchantment begins on my flight to Hong Kong. To my happy surprise, the welcome cocktail from Cathay Pacific floats a rosebud in hibiscus punch. It needs no alcohol to make me feel festive; I fall quickly under the spell of traveling to a new place.
I settle in for the flight from LA to HK, and spend a couple of hours in “transit” at the airport–all I’ve yet to see of the Pearl is a view from wings above it. Someday I’ll leave the airport and dive in. Just wish I’d made an approach into Kai Tak during the good old days.
The next fight’s a short one, over to Bangkok, dodging the storms that pepper the two-lobed peninsula. Lightning flashes; the British voice of the captain gives us a reasonable update (the hallmark of the RP British accent: its utter reasonableness). We descend into the bay of lights, Bangkok below coming out of the dark.
After winding through the arrival hall, past the desperately sad campaign signs against sex trafficking, I step out in to the sweaty night. Finding a cab, we find the hotel together after a bit of pantomime.
I’ll wake up to a view that right now remains a mystery. But there’s more of Bangkok to come, and I can hardly sleep.
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- The route to take me to Bangkok for the first time
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- Descending into Bangkok’s sea of lights
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- The Bangkok view from my window when dawn breaks