SOUTHEAST ASIA ADVENTURE

MONDAY, 28 APRIL 2014

HERE WE COME SOUTHEAST ASIA!

Today begins a 3 week trip to southeast Asia. It promises to be one of the longest days EVER! We woke up at 0400, picked Zach up at 0500, and headed for SLC airport where we caught the first leg of a 3 flight journey. The first flight took us to ORD, where we had a 2 hour layover, then got on a United 747 bound for NRT.

TUESDAY, 29 APRIL 2014

LONGEST DAY EVER!

We spent the rest of Monday and most of today chasing the sun on our 12 hour flight. It never set during our flight to NRT and was still shining when we landed around 1600. Another 2 hour layover saw the sun set, then our final flight to BKK. It was a 6 ½ hour flight. We landed in BKK shortly after 2300, made it through customs quickly (it helps that we have learned to pack only carryon bags, avoiding checking). The good part of arriving so late is traffic isn’t too bad & it only took half an hour to get to the hotel in Bangkok. A shower was in order after arriving in our room, then to bed around 0100 (noon in Utah), meaning from the time we left to when we hit the pillows 31 hours had passed. LONGEST DAY EVER!

WEDNESDAY, 30 APRIL 2014

WELCOME FORTNEYS!

We slept pretty well last night, but I was up by 0600. One of our goals on this trip is to go to Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). It has only been a few years since the government has allowed tourists in. A visa is necessary, and getting one in the USA is a long, difficult process. However, we found out it is possible to get one the same day at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok. The process is you turn in your application between 0900 – 1200, then pick it up between 1530 – 1630. The days set aside to go to Myanmar are Saturday through Monday morning. I have the applications all filled out with required pictures and copies of passports. We asked the bellboy to call a taxi for us. He told us to wait. After about 5 minutes he told us it would be better to take the Sky Train to the embassy, because a taxi would take over an hour. Jim hesitated, but they gave us a map and told us to walk 5 minutes to the closest Sky Train station. It really was pretty easy.

The problem is Hank & Linda’s flight doesn’t land until 1040…impossible to get to the embassy by noon. I decided to take all of the papers to the embassy & see if somehow they would accept Hank & Linda’s without their passports. That would be a big fat NO! Tomorrow is a holiday and the embassy will be closed, so the only other option is Friday, but we have a guide and tour scheduled. I was able to call the tour guide and asked if it would be possible to start the tour at 1000 instead of 0900. He said it would be okay, so Jim & I went ahead and turned our applications in.

The Fortneys got to the hotel just after noon, and told us they wanted to shower & take a nap. Jim and I hung out at the hotel for a few hours then headed back to the Sky Train and picked up our visas to Myanmar!

For dinner we walked down the street to a Thai restaurant recommended by the concierge. The food was okay, but the prices were high!