Thailand: March 22 - Our Journey Begins

Today we awoke bright and early and began our much anticipated journey to Thailand. We were extra proud of ourselves for packing everything we would be bringing with us into only two backpacks. We didn’t bring a single suitcase. That is a huge transition from what we lugged around with us in Australia. One of our backpacks is a new Tatanka hiking pack we had bought just a few days ago. Naturally, it has a much higher storage capacity than a regular backpack. I’m very excited to have it and it is already proving very useful.

We arrived by bus at the airport in Fukuoka at about 7:30 a.m. It felt very familiar to only three months prior when we were embarking on our first big journey, which was Australia. As with most service oriented businesses in Japan, checking in was a breeze. The first leg of our journey was a short flight to Taipei, China. We stayed on that plane as a few new passengers boarded and we were off again to our next stop, Hong Kong. After a short layover we were again on our way to Bangkok. Once in Bangkok, we had a little time to kill before proceeding on to our final flight to Phuket, our final destination.

We walked outside and felt the hot air hit us just long enough to be bombarded by cab drivers vying for our attention. We went back into the airport and did a little more walking around. Lucky for us, we stumbled upon a Thai massage parlor at one end of the airport. Upon realizing that it cost only about $8 per person per 45 minutes for a massage, we jumped on the deal.

For what would doubtlessly be the first of several Thai massages for us, we both opted for foot massages. The massage was awesome. We both just lied back and relaxed while the masseuses worked out every ache and pain in our feet. We were already enjoying Thailand quite a bit.

After the massage, we contentedly walked our way to the next boarding gate and embarked for Phuket which is in southern Thailand. Once in Phuket, we obtained a cab to take us to our hotel. The cab ride was an adventure in and of itself. The driver literally drove at a speed of over 100 mph the entire way as he weaved in and out of highway lanes, narrowly missing the corners of other, slower moving automobiles along the way. Sarah and I sat tensely in the backseat, seatbelts fastened, hoping all along the way that we would arrive safely at our destination. Eventually, we did. We were glad to be alive!

We checked into our hotel and, upon entering our room, found it to be quite comfortable. We had a nice king-sized bed, air-conditioning, and even an electric shower. To clarify: an electric shower is one that has its own small heating unit which is powered by electricity. It seems that in much of Asia, these devices are very common since central water-heaters are not widely used here at all.

After an entire day of flying, bustling from airport terminal to terminal, one relaxing massage, and one crazy cab ride, we were quick to fall asleep in our cozy bed.