Dec 25 – Our flight to Thailand left at 11 AM on the 27th. We didn’t want to get up in the early morning to make the flight so decided to take a Southwest flight, arrive on the 26th and spend the night in a hotel near the airport. I watched the evening news and saw there were a lot of flight cancellations – especially with Southwest.
Dec 26 -I woke up at 2AM and checked our flight and saw it was canceled. I turned on my computer and looked at surrounding states to see if there were any flights to Seattle available. There weren’t. I looked at car rentals and saw I could get one in Littleton so reserved it and went back to bed.
I called Debbie at 7 AM and said, “Happy Stinking Birthday”. We talked and decided we would have to postpone the trip a year if we didn’t take it now, so decided to proceed with us driving.
The car rental opened at 9 AM and Emilee had an eye doctor appointment at that time. Bill took me to start the paperwork at 9:15 – Emilee was to come after her appointment so she could be a driver. She discovered she forgot something at her place so had to go back there first. She got to the rental and we signed her up as a driver for two days. We took the car and loaded it up and got going before 10:30 am.
We drove and drove and drove – stopping for gas when the car said we could drive another 100 miles, since stations can be a long distance apart. We got Burger King in the afternoon and drove while eating and then Ana was hungry in the evening, so we got her Carls Jr. We ran into rain, wind, sleet and fog. Emilee had to keep up a running conversation to keep me awake at the end. If you have driven to Seattle you know that Snoqualmie Pass is right before you get in – right when we were the most tired. A couple times she said, “do you mean to be heading for that tree”.
Dec 27– Mark, Debbie and Ben met us in the cell phone lot of SEATAC. We drove to departures and grabbed our suitcases. Mark dropped Debbie off and Ben took the rental to their house so we wouldn’t have to pay for parking. We got to the airport 3 hours before the flight. We got checked in and decided to go to the airport lounge. Emilee has a credit card that gets herself and two guests in free, so we only had to pay for one. Ana, Emilee and I got cleaned up a bit.
Our flight left at 1125 AM on the 27th and we arrived in Seoul at 4:25 PM on the 28th – flight time 12HR 10M. Ana and I were in seats 53 a&c and Debbie and Emilee were in 54 a&c. Fortunately there wasn’t anyone in the middle seat. The flight offered an anytime snack cart where you could go to the back of the plane and get snacks. We were near the back and Debbie and Emilee went several times.
Dec 28 – They announced that masks were required in Seoul so we had to put them on and wear them in the airport and on the next flight leg since it was Korean Air. Seoul has a very nice airport – with robots running around to clean and carry luggage. We had a fairly long layover so went to the lounge there – where they had good food. We left for Bangkok at 8:10 PM on the 28th and arrived at 12:20 AM on the 29th – flight time 6HR 10M. We chose a window seat for each of us, so were pretty comfortable. I had a man and woman next to me. He was not happy being in the middle seat especially when I started talking to Ana who was behind me.
Dec 29 – We rented a Portable Pocket Wi-Fi that we were to pick up at the airport, so we had to search the airport to find where the kiosk was. It is basically a hotspot you carry with you. It cost $100 for the entire trip and we could connect up to 5 devices. It was much cheaper than Verizon would have been.. We found the booth with it and then got a taxi to our hotel – Dream Hotel Bangkok – SHA Extra Plus Certified. They were expecting us and got us checked in very quickly – Debbie and Emilee in one room and Ana and me in another. Our room had a sign saying durian fruit is not allowed in the room. We found this in every hotel we stayed at.
We slept for awhile then got up in time for breakfast. We had planned to do a food tour but had not booked it in advance and could not find one. We decided to go to a nearby park so started walking. We found a Dunkin Donut and got donuts, then, since it was so hot, decided to get a Tuk Tuk to take us the rest of the way. We walked around there, seeing the monitor lizards. We took the subway to a mall where you go to the top and there is a see through floor. There was a long line and Ana does not like heights so we decided not to go. The subway system was kind of confusing and we ended up buying a day long pass on a line we weren’t going to be on. We took the subway to the Temple of the Golden Buddha (Wat Traimit). The temple is made of solid gold and weighs approximately 5 ½ tons. It is valued at 250 million dollars. The girls had to put on skirts they had brought and we had to take off our shoes. We went into the temple, then came out and put our shoes on and went into the museum. It was several floors high and when we got to the top decided to take the elevator down. A woman started yelling at us and pointing at our shoes and the elevator (which had marble tile in front of it). We deduced we shouldn’t have our shoes on. Debbie and I took them off Emilee and Ana took the stairs. We went to the pier and waited for dark for the Wat Arun temple to light up.
We took a TukTuk to Chinatown. The Tuk Tuk driver tried to take us to a restaurant where he gets a kickback but Emilee had Maps up on her phone and showed him exactly where to take us. We walked around, sampling food then took the subway back.
Of note – Most of the toilets we went to had a choice of a squat toilets or Western type toilets. In the more rural areas they did not flush – there was a bucket of water that had a pail to scoop water into the toilet. With this type the floor was often wet and they often had a woman there with a mop.
The Western toilets all had signs saying do not stand on toilets, do not throw paper in toilets, some even had do not throw trash and clothes in toilets. As with many other countries, there is a trash can near the toilet and all toilet paper goes in the can instead of the toilet.
Dec 30 – We had breakfast and then called a Grab to take us to Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha). It was interesting to see the streets we had traveled under the day before. All over Thailand there are pictures of the king and queen. We then went to the Emerald Buddha Temple and then the Grand Palace.
We wanted to eat at a restaurant with an outdoor patio-we found one that looked interesting-the person who met us at the door kept saying five something-we finally figured out he was warning us that it was five stories up. We hiked up the five stories and sat on the balcony. The food was good but more expensive than we had anticipated.
We took the subway back to the hotel. Ana had said she wanted a pair of crocs and there was a mall nearby that had them. It turned out to be Terminal 21 which is a nine story mall where each floor is decorated based on touristic cities and locations around the world. It was very interesting.
We took a taxi to the Calypso Cabaret, which is a “Ladyboy Show” of Thai Transgender artists. It was interesting . We were worried about getting there on time because the traffic was horrible. After the cabaret we walked around for a little while and then struggled to get a GRAB to take us back to the hotel
Dec 31 – I got my clothes ready for the hotel laundry and called down to see what I should do with the bag. The man said are you staying here tonight. He acted strange. I put the laundry by the door and got a call from Emilee and Debbie. They had been walking over to get breakfast when the person at the desk ran out and said I don’t have your party scheduled to stay tonight. Emilee and I had miscommunicated when setting up the reservation and we were set to check out that day. I grabbed my clothes back and we all packed quickly. Debbie and the hotel manager were frantically trying to find an affordable room for the night. Since it was New Years Eve things were pretty booked. Debbie found the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel by the old airport – away from the center of town. We had a tour floating / railroad market set up for the day, so they let us leave our packed luggage with them while we went on it.
As we drove through Bangkok-Emilee was excited when she noticed the Ghost tower that we had seen on Mysteries of the Abandoned. We went to the Railway Market. It is a local market that has a lot of fish and fresh fruits and vegetables. The train comes four times a day and each of the vendors has to take down anything that overlaps with the railroad tracks. People stand to the side and the train passes very near to them. We then went to the floating market. We got in a boat and went down the river-there were vendors along the side. The boat pulled over to the side so they could try to sell cheap souvenirs. It was really commercial. We drove to a coconut farm where they showed how the process coconut. There were monkeys and other animals in cages-a lot of puppies and a store. Emilee climbed a ladder up a coconut tree.
The tour driver took us back to the hotel and Emilee used Grab to call for a ride. She ordered a SUV but it was too small for us and our luggage. The hotel porters were trying to help. We ended up with a van that overcharged – he was not happy about leaving the downtown area on New Year’s Eve. The hotel did not have much near it. We checked in then went for a walk. We decided to go back to the hotel for their expensive Christmas Eve buffet. We thought the buffet would be safe since it was a nice hotel. We ate and went to the room. There wasn’t much going on so we went to bed. Debbie and Emilee were very, very sick during the night – probably from the duck curry they ate since neither Ana or I ate that.
Jan 1 – Debbie and Emilee were not feeling well but we were scheduled to go to Kanchanaburi by train. We had trouble getting a taxi and ended up having to take two of them to get to the train depot. Ana and Debbie took a fairly nice one. Emilee and I were in an old beat up one and the driver drove very slowly. Debbie and Ana got there first and Debbie purchased the tickets (about $3 USD per person). Debbie was very concerned we wouldn’t make the train– when we got out of the taxi the porters were waiting for us. They grabbed our suitcases and put them in one of the seating alcoves and pointed for us to sit in another. They were filming as we got on. Ana and Emilee moved over to an alcove for two, Debbie and I stayed in the one for four. We ended up with a mother and two daughters in Muslim clothing across from us. As the train filled up people were not real happy about our suitcases taking up seating. Ana said the father of the group across from us was giving her dirty looks when he saw who the luggage belonged to (or it might have been her tattoos).
When we got to Kanchanaburi we took a taxi (pickup converted to take passengers) to the Good Times Resort -SHA Extra Plus. Debbie and Emilee wanted to rest and not much was open since it was New Years Day, so we just hung around the hotel and had dinner there. After dinner we walked to a mini mart and got snacks.
Jan 2- We took the laundry down – it was by the pound and mine and Ana’s cost 260 baht and Debbie and Emilee’s 120 baht which is about $3.00. I wish I had someone at home to wash and fold my laundry so cheaply. The hotel arranged a tour for us. There was a family from Australia with a man and very talkative woman and two girls and a couple with their daughter on the tour with us. The road signs were interesting instead of deer crossing, they had pictures of monkeys and elephants crossing. We went to Erwan waterfall that has seven small waterfalls. Since COVID the Thailand government requires life jackets if you are getting in the water (I have no idea why). Debbie and Ana rented life jackets and swam in the water-they went up four levels. Emilee and I went three levels. On the way back to the parking lot Emilee and I stood and listened to the wind going through the bamboo trees – it was pretty amazing.Then on to Hellfire Pass which is a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway (“Death Railway”), which was built with forced labour during the Second World War, in part by Allied prisoners of war. The pass is noted for the harsh conditions and heavy loss of life suffered by its labourers during construction. It was called Hellfire Pass because the sight of emaciated prisoners labouring by burning torchlight resembled a scene from Hell. The guide said they had golf carts for disabled and older people, looking at Debbie and me. So Debbie and I were going to ride in one-instead of walking down to the canyon. When we got to the museum Emilee went to the bathroom but the guide started leaving without her. Debbie ran after the group and yelled for Ana to tell him to wait. The guide didn’t listen to her and ended up leaving without Ana too. She tried but she couldn’t catch up-so Emilee, Ana and I got in a cart-Debbie had to ride by herself with a little old Thailand lady. We didn’t really want Ana going on her own with the group since our rule is to stay in twos when traveling. We needed to be at the Death Railway at a certain time in order to ride on it. There was a traffic jam going into Kanchanaburi, where the police were doing traffic checks (they do this going into cities. They usually just wave people on but because of the holiday were having people stop). The driver drove on the side of the road and passed people when he shouldn’t have been. I mentioned to Emilee that that would not go over well at home and the man from Australia said the driver would get beat up there. We made it to the train in time to walk on the bridge, and then ride the train to the Bridge over the River Kwai. It was very busy with tourists. We returned to the hotel and had dinner at the hotel by the river,
Jan 3 We arranged for a car to take us from Kanchanaburi to the train station in Ayutthaya (which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and one to take us from Ayutthaya to the airport in Bangkok. The company asked if we wanted a guide while we were in Ayutthaya and we said yes (for 1500 Baht (about $45) that way we didn’t have to take our suitcases in and out of the car and store them at the train station. The driver didn’t have any idea where anything was. We started walking around the ancient city and realized it was spread out to much to walk so we had the driver drive us from ruin to ruin. Ayutthaya was attacked and razed by the Burmese army in 1767 who burned the city to the ground. Many of the statues are headless because of looters stealing and selling them. Debbie stood beside the Buddha in a tree and I used her phone to take her picture. The tourist policeman blew his whistle and yelled “Delete, Delete at her then stood over her while she deleted the pictures. You are not allowed to stand above the Buddha. He then had us sit on a bench and he took our picture by the tree. Ana wanted lunch so we stopped for that. We looked around a bit more, then had our driver take us to Bangkok. Our flight left at 7:30 pm and arrived in Chiang Mai at 8:50 pm. I had called the hotel to see if they had a taxi service from the airport. She said yes, but it costs 600 Baht and the ones at the airport are 400 Baht– we took the one from the airport. We stayed in the Makkachiva Hotel. After we got checked in the woman took us to a chest with room numbers and indicated we were to leave our shoes there. They had slippers to put on, but we chose to just wear our socks. It felt very strange leaving our shoes.
Jan 4- We had breakfast, pancakes and eggs, and noticed some people were wearing their shoes even tho they weren’t supposed to.. We went on a half day elephant care with Maerim Elephant Sanctuary. They have elephants they rescued from being abused by logging companies and people who offer rides. The company picked us up in a truck with bench seats in the back. There wasn’t enough room in the back for all of us so the driver insisted that Emilee sit up front (we later found that there were already two other women upfront and he was looking for the smallest person). A family from Minnesota rode with us, there daughter was an exchange student. The man was trying to word an email to people he worked with. They spent most of the ride trying to help him come up with the perfect wording. Both Debbie and I were about ready to grab his phone and type in a message.
At the elephant sanctuary we were given clothes to change into-with our swim suits on underneath. We met the elephants and fed them. Debbie, Ana and Emilee went under an elephant for good luck and gave them a mud bath. Debbie went into the water hole to rinse one of them off. It was amazing to see the expression on the elephant’s face as she got out of the water. It looked like she was smiling. After cleaning up we had lunch. Lunch was supposed to be a cooking lesson but it ended up being dipping rice noodles and toppings in broth and mixing with spices. Afterwards they took us back to the hotel. Debbie was all excited when she thought our stop was near a saloon where fish give you a pedicure-she had us all getting out of the truck -it was the wrong stop and we had to get back in. Emilee, Debbie and I walked to the nearby ruins. One was for men only “Chiang Mai’s city pillar is located in Wat Chedi Luang and is now enshrined underground. It is a sacred place and worshiped by Thai people, especially those from Chiang Mai. It is the pillar of the city. Women are prohibited to enter because they menstruate. It is believed that it humiliates and ruins the sanctity of the city pillar. Besides, men who dress inappropriately are not allowed to walk in. It is believed that any disobeying of the rules will cause social instability.“ I noticed they were willing to accept donations from the unclean women though.
Jan 5 – We had a 3 day 2 night tour hill country tour scheduled. The driver picked us up at 8 AM and said he had to rearrange our schedule since we each wanted a bed and a private bathroom a homestay would not work. At that point we should have questioned him more because we ended up being rushed for the trip and he skipped some things we were supposed to do. He was one of the owners and was recovering from a cold so wore a mask. We drove three hours to Chiang Rai. At a couple of gas stations there were hot springs – people cook eggs in the springs. We had a buffet lunch, then went to Wat RongKhun (also known as the White Temple). It is an impressive modern temple, which is an art exhibit. Its construction began in 1998, and is expected to take several generations. It is pretty amazing with ornate carvings, it was originally conceived by renowned artist Chalerm chai Kositpipat. We were hurried here and Emilee was disappointed because it is one she wanted to see. On the drive we saw salt mines. This is interesting because we also saw these in Peru. We then drove up to a tea plantation but didn’t go in so I am not sure why we went there. We went to the Doi Tung Development Project which was established according to the King’s mother initiative in 1987. The project aimed to transform the community from its dependence on opium cultivation and trafficking into a community that possessed stable incomes. We also visited the winter flower garden (Mae Fah Luang Garden), King’s mother villa and Hall of inspiration. The Thai people seem to not only worship Buddha but the royal family as well. There are pictures of the king and queen in all of the cities along the streets. We returned to Chiang Rai and went to a Flower festival. The flowers were very pretty and some of the areas were reminiscent of Disneyland displays. We went to the restroom, all but Emilee turned back when we saw we were expected to take our shoes off and put on their flip flops and crocs. The attendant sprayed and wiped them when she saw we were reluctant. Emilee said the toilet was actually pretty clean. We had dinner at the festival. The guide arranged for the dinner, but it had several things we did not want and were reluctant to try since they did not meet our street food safety rules. So we were probably the epitome of ugly Americans. We spent the night in Chiang Rai at the Blue Lagoon Hotel. It was interesting because the bathroom was an RV type – where the shower is not separate from the toilet – it is off to the side and just drains in the floor. It did have a nice breakfast buffet.
Jan 6 – The driver picked us up at 9 am – not sure why so late because we were rushed most of the day.
We drove into the hills where we went to a Tea plantation for a tasting. Then onto Monkey cave, where you can feed the wild monkeys. We each got a basket of food and you had to hold it in the air or they would grab it out of your hand. Ana named one “Old Man” after Bill. We went to Tham Luang Nang Non Cave where the soccer boys were trapped when the entrance filled with water. There was an international effort to save them. (If you are interested in learning what happened there is a movie -13 Lives and documentary – The Trapped 13: How We Survived The Thai Cave. They have made a shrine / museum dedicated to the rescue. As a result of the incident people are only allowed to go 150 feet into caves and they have it barricaded. I believe Emilee got to the barrier and went under so she could get a good picture. We then went to the golden triangle area, where the border of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. The area has been a hub for the opium trade. They have that under better control, but it is still active, along with other drugs. We took a speed boat-cruise along the Mae Khong River. Myanmar still have its borders closed because of COVID. Laos is open. They both have casinos on the banks. In Laos the Chinese have bought up a bunch of land and the casino belongs to them. Emilee and Ana were sitting at the front of the boat and Emilee hurt her foot standing up. It was swollen and got a pretty good bruise. After lunch we went to the opium museum. It shows the history of the opium trade and was pretty interesting. We drove into the mountains and saw a Chinese settlement and visited a Chinese market. We spent the night in the Phu Chi Fa Area at Hug Phu Chi Fa. We got there after dark. Ana thought the driver was going way to fast on the narrow roads. There are a lot of motorcycles. Sometimes you will see whole families riding one, or a mother with her small child riding in front of her. Emilee, Debbie and I had put overnight things in our small bags. Ana had to take her suitcase. We had to go uphill over a rocky path, with no lights. I still have balance issues from when I had vertigo and darkness makes it worse, so it was interesting getting to the room.
Jan 7 – Debbie and Emilee get up at 4:30 to go see the sunrise. It was very cold and they were wishing they hadn’t said they were going. They drove to a parking lot and got in the back of a pickup truck and drove to the National Park that only locals can drive in. There were people selling hats, jackets and flashlights. The tour guide bought flashlights and gave one to each of them. It was very dark to start and the trail was very uneven. There were children who were singing and dancing along the way who were dressed in traditional clothes. The guide said they were orphans (there parents had abandoned them so they could go work) and they were trying to get money to survive. One of the orphans flipped them off. The sunrise was very pretty but not spectacular (it supposedly is when fog is in the valley). At the top of the hill there is a sign saying you are in Laos. Emilee was in shorts and was freezing-so was the guide. They were one of the first groups down.
After breakfast of toast and coffee, we drove along the mountain to Phu Sang waterfall (warm waterfall), it has a hot spring. We tasted the eggs that are cooked in it. They boil them and put them on sticks after spicing the inside – they are very good. We returned to Chiang Rai. and went to the Blue Temple. I think it is one of the prettiest temples we saw. We then went to Wat Huay Pla Kung A Buddhist monumental 9-stories chedi style temple. We took a tram to the top of the outside, then an elevator to the top of the temple. It was very pretty and ornate. The monk in charge of it runs a restaurant where people can eat for free and also provides housing for people who need it. Which is kind of interesting because earlier Debbie had remarked on not seeing homeless and the guide acted like they don’t have any. The guide offered to take us to another flower festival but we told him to just take us to the airport. We were early and it was crowded so went to the lounge and had snacks.. Our flight left at 6:25 pm and got to Bangkok at 8:00 pm. We had a two hour layover and left for Phuket at 10 PM arriving at 11:25 PM. While we were waiting in Bangkok the manager of the Phuket hotel called and said there was not a speedboat to Koh Lanta – she could arrange a speedboat to Koh Pi Pi (pronounced pee pee) and a ferry to Koh Lanta. She also arranged a taxi to take us to the hotel, Chino Town at Yaowarat Phuket – SHA Plus. It is a hostel type place and we were supposed to have a family room with four beds. The manager said there was a mix-up and she had a room with three beds and a futon. The futon ended up being a mattress thrown on the floor. Emilee ended up on the floor because she is the smallest. We left shoes by the staircase and had to carry suitcases up stairs.
Jan 8 – Debbie, Emilee and I walked around Old Town. We found an ATM because we were short on baht and went for breakfast. We ate at the restaurant and got Ana nutella pancakes to go. The room said no food but we told her to be careful of crumbs. We were not real happy with them over the bed mix-up anyway. We got on the speedboat to Koh Pi Pi, it took an hour and a half. We had to get off to catch the ferry. They wanted 20 baht per person to enter the island. We told them we were just waiting for the ferry, so had to stand 45 minutes and wait. On the ferry a lady came around to arrange a taxi to our hotel and speedboat back (there is a speedboat from Koh Lanta – Koh Pi Pi – Phuket) and then taxi to airport. She needed a 200 baht deposit. Debbie asked if we could pay by card when we paid for the rest at the pier and she said yes. For the taxi to our hotel Debbie said we had to stop at the snorkeling place first, the woman said no problem. But, she put other people in the taxi with us who had to sit and wait while we went in and got our paperwork done and got measured for fins and snorkels. We stayed at the Laguna Beach Club Resort SHA Plus, which is right on a very nice quiet beach. We ate at the hotel restaurant, which was American food, and then walked along the beach. Ana had not washed her swimsuit out after seeing the elephants and she needed a new one. We had the taxi (converted pick-up) take us downtown. Ana found a cute suit at a great price (about $15) and we enjoyed the small market.
Jan 9 – Emilee, Debbie and I had the taxi take us to the Mu Ko Lanta National Park. It was an interesting ride because we saw some of the island. We were hoping to see monkeys at the park, but didn’t. We did see more monitor lizards. It is a beautiful park with a nice beach. We went back to the hotel and relaxed on the beach there. We wanted Thai food for lunch so walked to the next hotel down. We each ordered a dish and then shared them. We watched as the marijuana boat got close to the shore to make its delivery. We had a relaxing day with the girls laying on the beach and Debbie and me in the shade. In the evening we went back to town Emilee and Ana both got a new swimsuit since they were such a good deal. We decided to eat at the market and went to several food carts. One of our favorites was a spiral potato that was deep fried and then sprinkled with different spices.
Jan 10 – The snorkeling company picked us up and we had breakfast there, We were the only snorkelers, the rest were divers. They took us out to Koh Rok in the Andaman Sea. Debbie, Ana and I wanted to wear life jackets. The guy who helped Ana with hers gave her more of a vest. Debbie and I had bulky ones. We got in the water and I immediately knew this wasn’t for me. I got out right away. Debbie soon followed. Ana and Emilee stayed in for about an hour, then we sat on the boat and waited for the divers. After the divers got onboard they served snacks and moved to another spot. Debbie decided to try again without the life jacket and was able to see several fish and shark. We went back to the shop and they served lunch. This is one experience I wish I had skipped, all I got from it was a sunburn – I am more a dry land and shade type person. Debbie and I decided we wanted a massage. There was a place to get one, on the beach, right next to the hotel. We went and when it was our turn a woman had us sit on the pads and said “get undressed”. I am sure my face said enough because she said I will help. She gave us large towels to wrap up in and helped us pull swimsuits down so they could massage our backs. Debbie had a woman and I had an old grizzled man (he did give a good massage). I am sure we flashed people as we turned and moved, but no one we will ever see again.
Jan 11 – The taxi picked us up for the speedboat to Phuket. It was late and we worried it wouldn’t come. We got to the pier and they didn’t take a credit card. We did not have enough baht because we were trying not to have extra. I had USD in my suitcase so had to open it and rifle through it. Debbie jumped on the back of a motorcycle and sped off to find an exchange – none were open. They had Emilee and Ana go to the boat. Emilee refused to get on afraid they would take off without us. When Debbie couldn’t exchange the money we talked them into taking USD – if was confusing for them as they tried to figure out how much. Finally a woman from tourist information, sitting next to them, got up to help and they figured it out We knew how much it should be and in retrospect should have just offered her $140 USD to pay them the equivalent of $120 USD in Baht. We got to Phuket and they said we hadn’t paid for a taxi. In the confusion we had left the receipt at the pier. We paid again and got to the airport. There were two European women in the taxi with us who had stayed on Koh Phi Phi and were disappointed – it was very noisy. We had researched both islands and chose Koh Lanta because of Kho Phi Phi’s reputation. Our flight left Phuket at 4:20 PM, getting us to Bangkok at 5:50 PM. We left Bangkok at 11:55 PM and arrived in Seoul at 7:20 AM on the 12th. We again each had a window seat so we could sleep. When we boarded a woman and little girl were beside me and the flight attendant asked if I wanted to move, I said no because I wanted the window to lean against. They ended up moving the woman and girl and then a woman sat in the aisle seat.
Jan 12 – We had a long layover in Seoul, not leaving until 1 PM, so went to the lounge again. The food wasn’t as good since it was breakfast. We were in Comfort Plus for this flight, so were further up in the plane, so Debbie and Emilee didn’t get the Anytime Snack as often (plus they didn’t have Tillamook cheese). We arrived in Seattle at 6:10 AM. Our luggage was the last to come off and Ana’s suitcase was kind of beat up. We have Global Entry so got through customs very quickly, although as we started up the line a woman questioned Emilee, telling her that was for American citizens. I wanted to make sure our Southwest return flight was canceled so we found the Southwest counter and she said since we hadn’t checked in there would not be a problem. Ben picked us up and took us to their house. We were going to go see Mark’s plane and Emilee wanted to take a ride. Since it was raining she couldn’t so we decided to get going on our long trip home. Emilee had only been signed up as a driver for the first two days so we stopped at the Boise airport Enterprise counter and signed her up as a driver. We spent the night in Mountain Home Idaho.
Jan 13 – We got up pretty early and continued our drive. We did take it slower on the return trip than we had the trip there.
Southwest screwed up, but have done a decent job making amends.