(A note to all, this was written as a group effort by all two of us. And yes, Adam Lesar the title Kamakoski is for you)
!!Wow!! We were(and still are) so blessed by so much love and so many blessings from all of you, our friends, as we said goodbye to San Francisco :-) Amazing meals, a private Island Party, Surprise Guests, an Epic Surf trip(Robin and Scott), huge air/dodgeball at the House of Air, and a huge(and beautiful) group rush on the Hyde Out Bar!!
Clint, Megs, and puppies too-- Thank you so much for letting us crash with you before our grand adventure. You were all absolutely wonderful to share so much close time with (At least when Loki wasn't eating our underwear *finger wave at Loki*)!!
Thank you all so much, we love and already miss you!!!!!! You remain fondly in our hearts <3
On that note, welcome to the beginning of our adventures ;-)
We didn't really sleep the night before we left the States; In fact Scott didn't sleep at all!! I(Scott) was pretty stoked and already giddy with the thought of moving. We stayed up calling family, packing, organizing and trying to find the things that we would take with us, a bit of a challenge, as the clock was ticking.
As the sun rose, and the house woke up, we said goodbye to Megs and the pups. Clint drove us to the airport (happy to report, no flat tire along the way). We played a game of tetris trying to get the van near enough to the curb with cars flying in and out without signal--but, alas, we got there and got our baggage carts. We started loading them up before saying goodbye. (Holy Heavy!! 2--50lb/23kg bags a piece plus carry on and laptop bags)
We had to run to my (Linz's) check in counter because for whatever reason, I couldn't check in online and the line was pretty long to start with. My bright pink bag was the perfect weight of 23 kg/50 pounds with my backpack being slightly over (luckily I got a warning and my bags went on through). We went to check Scott in and we were in different gates (Scott was going to Beijing via Air China and I was going to Seoul via Korean Air) so we said goodbye at my security check.
(Linz)
The flight to Seoul was smooth. I had originally been assigned a middle seat but found myself sitting with two Korean school girls who fancied being next to the window and in the middle seat so I lucked out with the aisle seat. I watched movies, read, slept and ate through the entire flight it felt like. The 13 hours seemed like a short flight and I was ready to get off and stretch and quick run for the other plane (I think there was like an hour and 20 minute layover). Luckily there was a tall gentleman behind me to help me take my (over the weight limit) bag down and I ran through to brush my teeth at the lavatory and then rush through the transfer line...leaving me 10 minutes before boarding when I finally arrived at the gate.
When I was at the ticket counter in San Francisco the lady at the counter was almost apologetic as she told me there were only middle seats left on that first flight...I think she felt bad because when I boarded my second flight I was in the row of only two seats instead of 3 and in an aisle and it was beautiful.
I was so antsy that second flight, it was only I think 5 or 5.5 hours but I was ready to be in Bangkok. I couldn't seem to concentrate on any of the movies so I slept, ate and read and tried not to stare at our flight map.
Finally, we landed, I hustled off the plane and booked it straight through to customs. I knew the airport well, and I think that helped get me to my baggage claim quickly. I grabbed a cart and my pink suitcase never fails me, it is always one of the first bags off the plane :) and my backpack was not far behind. Scott was only supposed to be half an hour behind me coming from Beijing but I saw it had landed earlier so I booked it to his carousel. I took a seat and waited for his bags to emerge and hoped he would also.
I spotted his smaller send through as one of the first bags off, and it kept circling--so I knew he wasn't there yet. As more people started to enter the area, I moved my cart towards the exit to ensure I wouldn't miss him (even though I had a hunch he might be one of the only foreigners to fly Air China). The crowd cleared and he wasn't there and still one of his bags had yet to come off. I asked the porter if that was all...and he said yes. I asked him who I speak with if one of the bags isn't there--trying to explain it was my boyfriend's bag but I had no idea where he was either, but the first bag was one of the first ones out. He pointed out who I would speak with when I had the luggage tags...when my boyfriend emerged. We dealt with that when I finally found Scott (maybe the last person to the baggage carousel) and I flagged him down and explained that we needed to make a report.
(Scott)
After Linz and I kissed goodbye I causally strolled, with my body weight in luggage, toward the Security Point. While packing I had made a huge effort to go Zen and get rid of anything that I did not need. Thus, as I finally made it through security and began to walk toward my flight I felt an extreme sense of calm come over me. I felt lighter and more free than I have in a long time.
Walking through the security gate to head to Asia in San Francisco is like walking into an Asian Mall. A bit ironic considering I had just detached from so many of my material possessions. I laughed, made note of the advertisements (and thought about how my friends and I would do them better), and found a noodle restaurant. Sitting down I called my Dad, Will Slayden, some friends, and finally right before I got on my plane I said goodbye to Mom.
To those who would like to visit anywhere in the world, even if you are flying budget like me, PLEASE buy your tickets way in advance!.. Or you may end up on Air China (haha--from Linz). Now let me preface this next bit with a quick note. For the most part, my fellow passengers and a good number of the staff were very friendly and helpful... However;
Per the advice of Travel Veteran Linz--I made sure to get an emergency exit seat (AWESOME IDEA!!!) so I could stretch my legs. After sitting down and making myself comfortable, I did my best to say hi to my flight neighbors. The gentlemen to my right had breath that could be used for chemical warfare, but was kind. The gentlemen to my left and I just ended up smiling, nodding, and smiling.. Right before he put his earplugs in and fell asleep. Thank God he didn't snore :-)
I've got my laptop in my lap and I'm playing Assassin's Creed. The Flight crew is giving what I assume to be flight instructions and I am assuming in the case of an emergency I just pull the handlebar to my left. So, all is good... Until we take off.
Now I have flown enough times to know that Airplanes are supposed to be water tight. I also know that water is not an inter-dimensional Element that can pass through the hull of an Airplane.. Or so I thought!! As we are flying to our cruising altitude we pass through a rain cloud and it literally begins to rain in the Airplane!!! There I was, zoned out stocking my pray in Assassin's Creed, when all of a sudden I feel a drop on my head. At first I think nothing of it. Then another drop hits my keyboard. I look up. To my amusement, people are holding their newspapers/magazines/whatever they could find above their heads as drops fell from the cumulonimbus-ceiling!!! I quickly put my laptop away in my bag (Megs~ you know) and popped my I-Pod earphones in to listen to the Cranberries. Gotta say, awesome soundtrack for something so surreal :-)
Once we left the rain cloud the cumulonimbus-ceiling dried up and the flight went on as normal. We had two ok meals (for the record--Korean Air meals are fabulous) , I networked with my fellow party people in the back of the plane. We were all bored and so we hung out by the bottles of wine ;-)
After the adrenaline died down, and the wine kicked in, I tried my best to sleep.. and ended up reading an entire western novel in honor of my home country. After the book I fell asleep and woke up in Beijing.
Now, as one can imagine, after drinking wine at high altitudes and sleeping in pretzel like positions you may wake up a bit disoriented. Thereby forgetting that you placed your passport in the most obvious of places.. Like the top of your bag. Apparently this can frustrate some people as I could not find my Passport right away and had to look for like 3 minutes after people had already left the plane. Note to all of you: if you do this Chinese Flight Attendants may say things like "American? Go back to America." At which point I recommend doing what I did. Remember that he works for an Airline that Rains. Ah, Karma~
Exiting the plane I found my way to my next flight and realized I was just making it on time. We were shuttled to our plane, I walked up the steps, found my seat, and went back to sleep. The next thing I knew I was in Bangkok!!
So (Linz continued..);
That put behind us, we headed to the taxi area where many people told us they (private taxi) would take us for a "good price" of 800B...I laughed and told them it was only 400 IF you paid the taxi airport surcharge and both tollways...they smiled and waved us off. It was kind of a good thing Scott's bag decided to spend the night in Beijing (or where ever it was) because I forget the tanks are in the trunk and otherwise our bags and the two of us may not have fit into the cab. We headed off and I didn't quite know where the hostel was, I had the address written and knew it was across from National Stadium/MBK on the BTS (skytrain) line. We didn't need to take the express ways and it ended up being half of the estimated price that we had and a quarter of what those private taxis were charging--even as we drove around looking for the hostel.
We finally got to LubD hostel
http://siamsquare.lubd.com/ and it was better than I hoped it would be. I've been to some pretty sketch hostels in my time and this was a paradise. It was clean and organized and friendly even. We checked in, put our bags 3 levels up the stairs (ok, to be fair Scott carried the majority of the bags) and then we went to the 7-11 to get some snacks and dinner. I forgot about the booze selling restrictions--I can't even tell you what times they are now, but after a certain time they don't sell beer and before a certain time...but what those times are I've no clue. There are ways around it as a foreigner, but we will get to that later I'm sure. So we went back to the hostel and got beer--they tend to overlook the rules because they could be considered an eating establishment, but also, its a regulation of Thai National's drinking habits to ensure they are being responsible citizens is how I understood that.
Finally, to bed...
