While Drukair was for many years the only carrier flying to Bhutan, there are now actually two airlines flying to Bhutan, Bhutan Airlines and Drukair. Drukair is the official government carrier. Druk still has service to more cities, but both airlines do serve Bangkok. Additionally, Druk services Singapore, Dhaka, Kathmandu, and Mumbai, among others. 

It seems many visitors wonder whether business class is "worth it" on Druk, so I thought I would give our experience flying to The Land of the Thunder Dragon!

Our Experience from Purchase to Check-In
We decided to splurge for business class seats going to Bhutan. And I use the word "splurge" lightly...they were only $70 more each way ($140 round trip, per person). Tickets to Bhutan were not cheap in the first place, so we went for it. Our itinerary was Bangkok-Paro, with a stop in Guwahati (about 3.5 hours total, with stop).  The return was Paro-Bangkok, with a stop in Bagdogra. I believe the tickets were $846 RT per person.

Apparently we weren't the only ones to think that way--I think all of the tourists on the flight, which was probably a grand total of 8 or 9 on the way to Paro, were in business class. The flight leaves Bangkok at some absolutely ungodly hour, 6:40AM to be exact. And you have to be there two hours in advance per the usual with most international flights. I'd advise getting there a bit earlier, so you can get in line just as the counters open because... 

I think I've alluded to it before in a few posts, but if not, here is what you probably didn't need or want to know for the day: I have horrible motion sickness.

I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't have motion sickness. When I was younger, traveling with my parents, I constantly dreaded flying and early morning car rides because I knew I would get sick. Also?  There is evidence this is genetic (for example, here). Thanks Mom and Dad (...though neither of them have significant issues).

Sure, sometimes it was worse than others, and not having food in my stomach (i.e. mornings) certainly seemed to exacerbate the problem.  I'm also one of those people who isn't really ever hungry in the morning, so that doesn't help. I've been that way since about 5, when my mom says one morning I woke up, and out of the blue told her I wasn't hungry for breakfast.  Twenty-five years later and not much has changed.

When I say "bad", I'm sure my "bad" doesn't compare to people with actual medical problems that cause extreme motion sickness, so I don't want to exaggerate. Yes, on large, commercial planes I am ok probably 70% of the time. But I know I'm not the only one that dreads certain forms of transportation because on a good day, it makes me feel like crap for a few hours, and on a bad day, there will be throwing up. I'm sure the anxiety of getting sick doesn't help the actual motion sickness, either.

Everyone says you can't go to Bangkok without checking out a rooftop bar. So we checked out a rooftop bar. Not because we like to listen to what everyone says, but because we (like many visitors) wanted to see the Bangkok skyline and grab a drink after another hot day of being a tourist.

We chose the Banyan Tree for one reason only: because it was next door to our hotel. If nothing else, we were consistently lazy after a day of sweating profusely and seeing Bangkok.  Fortunately for us, the Banyan Tree was just around the corner.  Unfortunately for us at the time, it was raining. In fact, it rained each night we were in Bangkok, which cooled off the city for just a bit in the morning. Considering it was still "rainy season" we counted ourselves as extremely lucky, and the respite from the heat in the mornings was also welcome! 

We wandered over to the Banyan Tree hoping that it wasn't enough rain to close the upper deck, but it was closed.  Good news, though-- they have another bar on the 52nd floor called Latitude, which is covered, but where you can still see the view. I have no idea if the view is "the same", though they said it was.  Everyone talks about the Moon Bar, but you never hear about Latitude--I'm sure the Moon Bar is better, but seeing as it was closed, we were happy there was an alternative. The view from the 52nd floor is definitely still impressive, and you can see the miles of Bangkok lights. 

We were in Bangkok for a little more than 48 hours...which isn't very long for a city that is THAT big, THAT varied, with THAT much to see.  It was our very first trip to Bangkok, a necessary but also desired stop on our way to Bhutan.

We knew, more or less, what we wanted to see in our two days.  We didn't want to go out, a la Hangover style, and waste our days being lost and hungover....and we aren't big on clubbing, so we were able to spend early mornings out seeing the sights before the hoards. And I mean hoards...the Grand Palace was still incredibly crowded with visitors.

We wanted to see most of the sights you read about in things entitled "Top 10 Sights of Bangkok".  It would be a bit of a long day, but totally worth it.

What made it all easier was hiring a guide for the day.  Her name was Mandy (@Mandyguidesmile), and she was awesome (totally unpaid endorsement...we hired her)! She's a registered tour guide, and helped us navigate the insanity of Bangkok with ease. No haggling with taxi drivers about turning on the meter, no getting lost (though DH is admittedly fantastic with a map...I....not so much), no wondering where to go in each of the temples, and with plenty of information and history to go along with each stop.

When we were in Bangkok, we had briefly seen a mention of a snake farm. I mistakenly assumed that this was probably a farm, for snakes, since I didn't know whether snake was a delicacy (or just an edible commodity) in Thailand, or perhaps for export. Or for skin for shoes, purses, ipad cases, whatever. Probably complete with cobra charming...

Not interested in a snake farm for these purposes. At all. For many reasons.

*ETA:  These types of attractions do exist in Bangkok, too.

Fortunately, I picked up my guide book and happened to be reading something else that was near the "snake farm". So I stumbled into the brief description...What a misnomer! If anything, you could call it a "venom farm" or an anti-venom farm. And I guess in relation, it's a snake farm since they "farm" (I don't know if I would say farm...but I digress) snakes for venom. But it's actual a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for research on venomous snakes and the production of anti-venom, named the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute.

UM, SIGN ME UP.

We had one very expensive dinner while we were in Thailand, at Nahm in the Metropolitan by COMO. Since we were staying at the Metropolitan, and Nahm has been ranked as one of the World's Best as well as one of Asia's best, well, why pass it up?

We decided to do the tasting menu because who knows when we will return to Bangkok again. I'm definitely glad we did as it allowed (errr...forced) us to try some things I never would have ever dreamed of trying.

First, the service at Nahm was great. Attentive, but not annoying. Friendly and helpful, but not pretentious or condescending. Courteous. I'd definitely give it two thumbs up. 

Now, on to the food...

We're back! It's been a bit quiet on the TravelingSaurus front as I was enjoying vacation too much to bother posting from Bhutan or Thailand. I could have said that the internet was too slow or something, but honestly I just wasn't that into it. Sorry.

But now there is so much to catch up on, while catching up on life in general.  I'm super excited to share our wonderful experiences from The Land of the Thunder Dragon.

Thailand, as most of you already know, was awesome. I seriously could have eaten 20 more days of Thai food without regret. I loveeeee Thai food. Well...there may eventually be some regret.

Some people reveal the sex of their baby...I reveal our first destination for 2015!  I'm scheduling this post for when we are away in Bhutan and Thailand, as I have a feeling that the internet may be a bit slow for blogging in Bhutan.  But I could be wrong...in which case, you might get Bhutan updates, too.

You may remember the destination triage post from a few months ago...the first reveal is....

Vamos a Costa Rica!  January 2015.

Costa Rica was an easy choice for us to start off our year. It's relatively easy and close to get to (about 6 hours with one stop), no significant time is lost due to time changes, and it's relatively inexpensive--even when we (well...I) don't really try to travel inexpensively. Now, I can hear people out there groaning already, but we opted for the Caribbean coast rather than Arenal or Guanacaste.  I know, I know. I am aware how popular those places are and how much there is to see. But...

We are interested in seeing cool tropical wildlife and hopefully finding some decent snorkeling around Cahuita.  We realize snorkeling can be hit or miss, but that's ok. We know it's not like Belize or other reefs, but it is supposed to be decent around the National Park. I also reallyreallyreally want to see a sloth; DH really wants to see tree frogs and other jungle fun. We didn't want a resort--we wanted a more glamp-like environment. We might do some rafting, but are going to focus on wildlife on land and in the ocean. Have I mentioned I think zip-lines are borrrinnngggg? There I said it. I'd much rather watch animals.

As you might remember in the first installment of destination triage, we had narrowed down a short-list of places where we wanted to travel in 2015.

I'm happy to report we've planned two trips, already--one in January, and one in June.  Both destinations were on the original list, too, which considering my ever-persistent capriciousness, is refreshing.

I'm writing about this as a normal person (with a perhaps overly analytic personality), with other obligations, a husband, a dog, working within time and budget constraints, and trying to maximize miles, points, and good travel deals. I also like to avoid things like typhoon season, disease outbreaks, super crowded beaches, and overly busy museums. When it really comes down to it, choosing where to go next is as much about practicality as it is about emotions.

So, here are the five things I (we) really consider when deciding where to go for our next trip.