After sharing stories and playing games for a few hours the time came for us to head to SFO airport. We got our seat assignments, checked our bags and headed to the gate for our 12:05 am flight to Hong Kong. Our flight was 16 hours non-stop; the longest flight either of us has ever done in one shot. We got comfortable in our seats which, on a Cathay Pacific plane, was not hard to do. I was out for the first 8 hours of the flight. Bre ended up watching a movie first, then fell asleep for about the same time. The rest of the flight was spent watching movies.
Our flight landed in Hong Kong slightly after 6 am and we could see through the haze the glow of the city, which only revealed a small hint of its sheer size. We tooled around the airport for two hours and during our layover we noticed the similarities of all the shops there, and how overpriced things were. We watched other travelers and guessed by what they were wearing where they were going to, and coming from. With our $31.00 HKD Starbucks coffee we boarded the plane for our 9 am flight to Phuket, this time next to a window. As we rose away from the runway I could see through the smog how large Hong Kong was and how the mountains separate densely populated areas with sky scrapers. And with all of the water ways in between, it reminded me of many San Francisco sized cities all next to each other.
The three hour flight seemed to pass quickly as we talked about the adventure we were embarking on, and the people and places we would experience. As we approached Phuket from the south I could tell right away it was a relatively small island with expansive beaches that took up most of the coast. Its lush steep green mountains gave way to muddy rivers that feed farms and livestock in the middle of the islands, eventually weaving its way down to the ocean. There were small resorts, big resorts, and areas that look unclaimed, and they were all beautiful. As we approached to land from over the water the clarity of the ocean really caught my eye and I could make out how the reef system protected the shores of this small island.
Once on the ground we headed down a hot and humid hallway toward immigration where we stood inline and took note of the people entering Thailand; none of them were American and the large number of European travelers were families with small children or even infants. We made our way througth the persistat taxi drivers to the local bus where we drove down a winding narrow road shared with hundreds of mopeds without any regard for traffic laws. Our bus driver constantly honked the horn to let them know we were there with little results. We met a guy from Denmark who was moving to Phuket to work for 3 months and had no idea where he was going to live, just that he needed an internet connecion so he could work remotely. Another guy from Australia was here on his 4th visit for a year long stay as a writer and was going to purchase a condo in the north shore, then keep it as an investment. We got a lot of good tips as far as what the different beaches were like and what towns had to offer.
Once at the bus terminal Bre and I had a hard time asking the local Thai how to catch the bus to Kata Beach and after a 2 and ½ hour miss communication arrived in Karon Beach where we had our first Thai meal; spring rolls and green curry soup with seafood…Its true what they say about Thai food in Thailand, mmmmmm! With our belly’s full we hopped on the bus for another 15 minutes and finally got to our bustling destination, Kata Beach.
Like Waikiki there’s no shortage of hotels on the beach, restaurants, open air markets, tourists and the “occasional” prostitute. However, as we walked our way along the main street the vast difference of Thailand became very apparent. The quickly moving people, I thought were tourists, were the local Thai merchants running between friends and other businesses owners. They would talk for a bit trade some merchandise then run back to their store and quickly put it up for sale. I got the impression that the merchants were gambling with each other what would be a bigger seller that night and were taking the risk through trade.
Just as the sun was setting over the ocean we found a small bungalow style hotel with rooms high on a hill that had a vacancy and after some bargaining were able to secure for the night; just in time as Bre and I were quickly becoming cranky and tired. I looked at the clock, did some math and realized that we had been traveling for over 30 hours and was relieved to know we would not have to do it again for another month. After a quick shower we both melted into our oversized king bed and fell asleep to sound of the sweet Japanese art of Karaoke (pn., care-ey-okay with your best Japanese accent). As I lay there listening to the “music” a thought flashed into my head and I told Bre just as we both fell asleep “We are half way around the world Bre, and we are here together”.
Day 1+ Picture Album (click to see entire album)
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| Day 1 |
