Off we go!

Wednesday 15^th August 2018.

The day started like any other day. I woke up. That’s a good start. And then I realised today was different to yesterday. Today, we’re heading off to Khao Lak! Or KL as it’s known to travellers who are regular visitors. Not to be confused with the other KL, that’s somewhere in Malaysia apparently.

A lovely way for us to get to the train station when we aren’t in a hurry is to walk down to the Central Wharf at Davistown and catch the ferry over to Woy Woy and catch the train from there. Our flight tonight is 9.20pm, so we have loads of time to finish packing and make the trip to the airport in Sydney. I’ve checked in online, so there’s nothing else to do at the airport but drop our bags and pass the time having dinner and some drinks.

I drop Trevor and the bags at the wharf, drive the car home and then walk back down to the wharf. There’s a young fella wanting to catch the ferry but he doesn’t have cash, he thinks he can use his Opal card. Unfortunately not. It’s only a couple of dollars so we pay for him too. I don’t think the ferry master was going to let him on otherwise, he was getting a bit hard-arse on him.

After a late lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf we jump on the train to the airport, find our check-in gate and walk up to see if we can drop our bags. It’s not yet 5pm so I’m expecting them to say no. Surprisingly, the lovely lady says, yes, no worries, you can drop your bags. She scans the first passport and says, Mrs Ellis, you’re booked on the 6pm flight, it’s lucky you’re here, you nearly missed it. What??!! No we’re not!! She checks again. Yes you are, but wait, you’re also booked on the 9.20 flight. You have a double booking. Me: I booked through a travel agent (thankfully!) I only booked one flight and when I did the online check-in the 9.20 flight was the only flight that showed up. She checked my itinerary, which no-one has ever needed to do before. Someone stuffed up, and it wasn’t me or my TA, Kelly. We nearly didn’t have a flight tonight at all, and I got no text message or phone call. Not a great way to start.

After much tapping on the computer and a phone call to the supervisor, then a visit from the supervisor, we all agree that we’ll take the seats on the 6pm flight (boarding starts in 5 minutes!!) She gives us Express Path tickets, but we must have missed the turn for that because we end up with everyone else. Just lucky it’s not busy and we get through fairly quickly anyway, although I must have a target on my chest because I get called into the full body scanner and then the bloke with the swab thing for drugs or explosives or whatever collars me as well! Meanwhile, Trevor’s shoes set off the detector so he has to take them off and they get put through the scanner again, but Trevor still sets off the scanner, so back he goes again! And…… sets it off again. By this time the security guy gives up and waves him through, there’s nothing else it could be. We are very flustered and getting a bit cranky by this stage and scurry off to find our gate. We follow one sign pointing to the right but then there are no others, and this part of the airport has been redeveloped since the last time we came through, so we have no landmarks. Luckily a lady in the shop nearby sees us and points us in the right direction.

We get to the gate with time to spare as it turns out. Boarding hasn’t started yet. When we checked in the woman told us that the plane was about 80% capacity so she could book us in different seats than what had been allocated, window and aisle and leave the seat between empty. Awesome!! She couldn’t guarantee that the middle seat would stay empty but we could always go back to our original seats. If we knew where our ‘original’ seats were!! 

We’ve only flown with Singapore Airlines a few times and they haven’t disappointed us yet. Did we take off on time? I have no idea what time we were meant to take off, so I don’t know. Dinner was nice and we had a couple of glasses of wine before finishing off a movie and then settling in to try and get some sleep. The empty seat in between us made things very comfortable, I only wish we had that luxury every time. Singapore time is 2 hours behind Sydney time and we’re due to land in Singapore around midnight, Singapore time, there is no curfew on flights like in Sydney. Last time we flew Singapore Airlines, I couldn’t eat the 2^nd meal they offered and again, I found that at body clock time of 2am, I had no interest in eating another meal. Such a massive difference from when we flew Emirates to London. We were starving by the time they offered any food.

Thursday 16th August 2018. 

Changi Airport was still bustling when we arrived, which was good because it wasn’t difficult for Trevor to find a cup of coffee. Me? All I wanted was a bed! Apparently too much to ask! We knew we had to change terminals, so found the skytrain and waited only a few minutes before it arrived. Our flight to Phuket was scheduled to depart at 7am so we were in for a long wait. Might have been better to stick with the original plan, at least we would have been in the mood to fill in the extra time in Sydney, having dinner and a couple of drinks. Anyway, what’s done is done.

People are sleeping wherever and however they can, and we eventually find a row of 3 empty seats. I try and sleep but am disturbed when a man bumps my foot with his baggage trolley. Not happy. I had noticed some people sleeping across 2 seats, their legs crooked around the seat’s arm. Let’s give that a go…….. a bit of contortionism required but I soon get settled and actually fall into a deep sleep, sadly not for long enough. The military police and police officers seem to be looking for someone and are waking everyone up to check passports and boarding passes. Seriously?? Great, thanks. So, I’m awake again and figure it’s only fair that Trevor tries to get some sleep, he’s been sitting watch since we got here. At least by the time I’m disturbed, we have a gate designated for our flight, it opens at 6.10am and is about a 10 minute walk away.

Checking in, the attendant says there’s a problem with our passports. Of course there is!! Apparently they’ve been scanned twice. Well of course they have! The woman in Sydney scanned them multiple times trying to sort out what was going on. Anyway, it’s all good in the end and we board the plane. Our flight is delayed by passengers from a connecting flight into Singapore, so we take off about half an hour behind schedule. I feel sorry for them, I’m beginning to know how it feels to be running late for an international flight! And we know there’s some turbulence coming because the service of hot beverages is suspended. Nothing too dramatic though. The queue to clear immigration in Phuket is very long and we resign ourselves to being here for about an hour, when an airport worker approaches us and asks us to follow him. OMG! What now!! He takes us to the priority lane. At last! Things are going our way. Except there is a family in front of us who haven’t even completed their cards and stand at the window writing on the cards until they are politely asked to move aside until they have finished. And then there’s the arsehat who slows things down by refusing to look into the camera for his identity to be verified. By the time it’s my turn, I have no problem replicating the resting bitch face that is my passport photo! And the Immigration man has 2nd thoughts about giving my passport back. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the new passports we got this year. This is their first run and I'm not liking them one little bit!

The guest wrangler is waiting patiently right where expected when we exit the airport and after a short wait for another couple, we’re on our way to the JW Marriott in Khao Lak in a pimped up people mover. It’s very comfortable and we are offered a bottle of cold water which is very much appreciated. The other couple with us have been here before so they can point out a few things along the way. It takes an hour and a half to reach the resort and every trace of tiredness has left me, sadly though it doesn’t take too long to find me again. I think it’s only about 10.30 when we arrive, my eyes don’t work properly anymore, I’m so tired, so not unexpectedly, our room isn’t ready. We are given so much information about the resort and meal times etc, my head is starting to hurt. There are so many options of bars and restaurants! We take ourselves on a bit of an orientation tour and end up in the beach bar with some beers. It’s a trick we learned from Anke and Bob when we went to Cambodia – when you’re so tired you can barely stay awake, eat or drink and it will keep you awake! 

the Beach Bar

It’s lunchtime and our room still isn’t ready, so we go to the Waterfront Restaurant and have lunch. Keep eating, keep eating, stay awake………….. Back to Reception and our room still isn’t ready, this had better be worth the wait! The other couple in the van with us went straight to their room once they were checked in, as did the Kiwi fellas that arrived soon after. We had spoken to them in the immigration line, not knowing that we were headed for the same resort. I can’t stay awake any longer, so we find seats at the far end of the reception area, away from where the new arrivals arrive, get as comfy as we can and doze off. Not sure how long we were there but soon we were tapped on the leg. Our room is ready!! Yay! It’s the room we were hoping for when we took our walk around on arrival. 1028 with direct pool access and a bit of planting in front to give us a bit of privacy, and a full roof over the verandah, giving us day round shade. Perfect! 

our room and pool access

as viewed from the bath

bathroom behind the window

our verandah

We quickly unpack and lie down to have a nap, as planned. None of this staying awake until normal bedtime to get your body clock adjusted. No! I need sleep! I set an alarm for an hour and when it goes off, Trevor is still sound, so I set it for another hour. The bed is typically Asian, hard as a rock but I sleep soundly. I ask at Reception if there’s anything that can be done to make the bed softer and before you know it, housekeeping is there with a mattress topper. Awesome service! First happy hour of the day starts at 5pm and we have dinner booked at Sakura, the on-site Japanese restaurant. 

Dinner is fantastic, we’ll be eating there again. Really tired again. We’ll have no trouble sleeping tonight.