DAY 1 & 2 - AIRPORT / AIRPORT / AIRPORT

Well, after several false starts to this blog, here's hoping that the 7th time's a charm...  Yup, I've "lost" at least 7 previous drafts (covering several days) so far.  Think I've got the solution now so will try to post some quick recaps of our trip to date, now 2 weeks in.





Long day...  Left home at 8:15 am, arrived at the airport to discover our flight had been delayed 1-1/2 hrs.  So the time we had to catch the connecting flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok shrank to 15 mins.  To our surprise Air Canada actually had free food and booze and provided lots of both. On the flight over, Phil, being the forward thinker he is, bought a bottle of Grey Goose vodka from Duty Free on the plane so we could have a drink to celebrate once we got to Bangkok. When we arrived in Hong Kong we rushed to clear security and catch our next flight but security refused to let him take the vodka through customs so, with no time to get it sorted out, he ended up leaving it there.  Way to take one for the team, Phil!


When we arrived in Bangkok, Phil, Linda & Danny cleared customs but my immigration officer looked at my papers,  then, having very limited English, waved me off and pointed to  the back of the queue, saying "Go! Go!".   I thought I was being denied entry to the country and my vacation might be over before it started....  ok, maybe a little dramatic but it'd been more than 24 hrs since I'd had any sleep and I was feeling a little cranky :)   Turned out, Danny had written the wrong flight # on my arrival card.  Note to self:  In future, understand and complete my own paperwork. 


While we waited for our hotel transportation, decided to step outside for a quick smoke - my first in over 20 hours (thank you, Nicorette!).  Linda came with me as we thought it might be a little "fresher" outside.  Turns out the airport WAS air conditioned.  The heat and humidity enveloped us as soon as we stepped out the door.  


We arrived at the "Cottage Hotel" (10 minutes from the airport) and, given we had by then been up 26 hours, sleep came quickly.