We arrived in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on April 30, 2003. Due to the current SARS outbreak, they handed out masks and checked our temperatures as we arrived at the airport.

Our introduction to Bangkok was an emotionally draining one. We don't speak Thai so we had to hope that our trip package deal would solve any difficulties. We were met at the airport by a guy who brought us to someone else. Neither of them spoke English very well but luckily another passenger helped out.

We got into a weak old van and started driving through Bangkok which is quite a dirty city. After driving for 20 minutes in the middle of the night, the driver turned down a small dark dirty alley and we were wondering what we had gotten into. When the driver slowed almost to a stop in this alley, I gulped. It turns out he was just slowing for a speedbump.

Presently , we reached our hotel. The alleyway was just the way to the hotel.