I can not imagine once I reach Cambodia I will see accommodation like this hotel in Bangkok. How nice of the Peace Corps to give us one last chance at deluxe comfort. Our itinerary has us laying over in Bangkok Thailand for 19 hours. They have booked us into the Best Western Premier Amaranth Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel which is bar far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in in Asia, and probably anywhere. Expensive? Yes, and well beyond my budget, so it is probably the last time I will stay here, and I can not imagine I will be seeing such accommodation or food again in Cambodia.
We arrived at the hotel sometime after midnight. It had been a long series of flights from Washington DC to Bangkok via Japan. I have never traveled in such a large group before, however the 58 of us volunteers all moved fairly efficiently through the airport security and connections with none of us getting lost. There was some minor confusion at the baggage check in DC. Because of our more than 12-hour layover in Bangkok we were initially not able to check our bags through all the way to Phnom Penh in Cambodia as we were instructed. I fell into the led in organizing our group and was able to find a supervisor that put our group into a separate line and hand checked out luggage through for us.
I managed to get 4 hours of sleep at the hotel last night. It was welcomed to be supine. When I could not sleep any more I decided to go down to the lobby for breakfast. The Hotel buffet will probably be the last time I see a western style spread like this for some time so despite the expense I took advantage of it.
There is an amazing rock collection on display in the lobby. There are some incredible natural and carved stones on display. I of course have to share with you the Grandfather and Grandmother stones, two stones with naturally formed features. The tag on the display reads as follows.
“Imitating the image female and male symbols. They were believed that they will give a child to those who have trouble with pregnancy. They also bring the power and balance all forces.”
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How could they not?
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