There and Back Again: A Wog's Tale

So we're back from our "vacation." DiploWhat has already given you an idea of what the trip was like, but here's my story:

First, a few days before our planned departure, Thai Air cancels our flight on Saturday and moves us to Sunday with no reason given. We had already booked our accommodations, so right from the start we lose out on one night in Thailand (not Bangkok, though).

Anyway, before we even left, we realized that we had no clue how to arrange a taxi for 5:00 in the morning to get to the airport for an 8:00 flight. Thankfully, the apartment management office is crazy helpful and they called and set it up for us.

So, we get to the Beijing airport and encounter pre-recorded cricket sounds emanating from hidden speakers surrounding a (non-operational) fountain. Later airport events include hearing Adolph Hitler being paged over the public address system in Bangkok.

After that, we arrive in Ao Nang with little trouble. Only, the resort sucks. The room is full of ants, the water pressure and temperature are horrendous, and they don't have washcloths. Or even know what they are. So our primary mission the next morning was to find a different resort. And we did, and were very pleased with the move.

After we settled into the new place, we explored the town -- a nice little place nestled between jungly hills and the ocean beach. We set up some day excursions; one full day of snorkeling, and a half-day of kayaking (mangroves and a cave) paired with elephant "trekking."

In short, the snorkeling was amazing (best I've experienced) but too short; the kayaking was fun but tiring; and the elephant "trekking" was a 45-minute ride around the back yard of the elephant farm. But we had fun.

You can see evidence of our adventures here.

Here's a preview:

Saturday rolls around, and we prepare to check out of the resort. Well, we ask the staff to hold our bags for a few hours while we kill some time in town until we have to leave for the airport, and they say "but the airport is closed." We're like "WHAT?!?"

So yeah. It turns out that large-scale political protests were going on and the protesters had blocked access to several regional airports throughout Thailand -- including the one we needed to use to get back to Bangkok. And that they would be closed for several days.

Well, we needed to get to Bangkok to catch our flight to Beijing (departing 12:35 a.m.). It was 11:45 a.m., and we were told that it was about 10 hours by car to Bangkok. So we scrambled and found a taxi who would take us to Bangkok. 9+ hours and several hundred dollars later, we were at the airport in Bangkok (which was NOT closed), and checked in for our flight.

Except for the last hectic bit, it was a good trip. But I'm slow in posting this because I picked up a cold / sore throat (methinks the alternating humid air and A/C did me in) which I am still fighting. See you next time!