Even with all that, I'd say the trip went almost as well as I could have hoped. I had a slight brain fart when booking flights, which I will explain, but it worked out.
So we had to be in Phuket by Tuesday morning at 8am. The flight we could get would put us into Thailand at 1am. The idea of traveling for 29 hours and then spending a night in an airport to meet new friends - made we want to cry. We opted to leave a day early and get acclimated.
Our flight path was Charlotte - LA - Seoul - Phuket. We had a really difficult time booking tickets. Prices kept jumping. I'm still kicking myself for not booking the Signapore Air tickets at a super low rate last summer. We ended up booking LA to Phuket pretty reasonable and then we purchased Charlotte to LA with points.
The problem? Stupid me forgot about connection times. On the way there we theoretically had enough time. However, at LAX international flights are in a terminal at the end of the airport and terminals aren't connected. Add onto it the fact that the airline would only let us take one personal item (not two like our domestic flight) and we were now forced to make it by the baggage cutoff. We literally ran outside of LAX down the entire length of LAX and made it to the desk with minutes to spare. Had we missed this flight we would have been spending a day in LA.
Dripping with sweat we get to our terminal simply to wait for the delayed flight. Yes, how stupid is that? We were most impressed with what seemed like dozens of the most well manicured flight attendants I'd ever seen waiting to board our flight. Overall, I will say that the staff of Asiana Airlines were extremely polite and responsive.
Josh and I boarded our lowly travel seats and watched the lucky few climb the stairs to the promised land of first class. One day. I loved how quickly and efficiently these large planes loaded. Shortly we were up in the air and I was choosing which movie movie to start with. Bourne Legacy? Ah, yes. Good choice. Josh chose the same thing. So much for the benefit of our own screen and selections.
After figuring out that our super fancy Dr. Dre headphones will only allow us to be fancy in one ear on Asiana Airlines (sorry Best Buy, I'm pretty sure that means Josh will be returning), Jeremy Renner had me starting to forget about the next 12, actually 20, hours ahead of me.
I had heard mixed reviews on the food. Overall, Josh and I thought it was decent. It was without extra cost, filling and edible. That's more than I can say for most American Airlines. At the beginning of the flight we were given a choice of Western or Korean meal. I tend to think that eating airline food is adventurous enough so I went for the Western meal. Josh pretty much can't understand anything anyone is saying, so he always gets what I'm getting. Make that two Western meals. We had two meals on this plane and it all blurs together. I think we had beef, broccoli, potatoes, salad and mango cake. Later we had chicken, rice, fruit, vegetables, bread an some other stuff I never got to.
After the movie I have no clue what Josh did. I, however, was ready to sleep. I apparently passed out for a good 5 hours which is great for me. I woke up for another meal, watched Pitch Perfect, yet again because I'm obsessed, and we were coming into Seoul.
As we fly into Seoul you can tell its cold. The windows are icing and we can see islands with snow caps. It was pretty amazing. As soon as we get onto the jetway you can feel the 27 degree air hit you. We landed in Seoul a bit early and already had a 2 hr layover. Luckily you don't have to go through immigration to transfer.
The line to get up to the gates looks disastrously long but it goes quickly. The security check spits you into - is this a 5 star mall or an airport? Okay. A few things about the Seoul airport. It is by far the prettiest airport I remember traveling through. The key word being remember. Secondly, where the heck are the trash cans? I had to go on a hunting expedition to find one at the gate. Thirdly, someone please teach me how to connect to their wifi.
We finally get on our last flight and are on our way to Phuket. This flight is only 6 hrs but it almost killed me. I slept for 3 hrs (completely missed takeoff) and then was wide awake those last 3. I was over it.
But alas we landed. At 1:05am we touched down on Monday morning. About 29 hours after leaving. The Phuket airport was a breeze. We were through immigration and had our luggage by 1:45. Not wanting to mess with taxis I had prebooked a transfer through our hotel. The swarms of taxi drivers pouncing on us made me glad of that choice. The lavender scented wet cloths and ice cold waters waiting in the back of our town car made me super glad.
For the first two nights it is just Josh and I to relax. We (I) splurged and booked and ocean front room at a 5 star resort. Heck it's our 10 year anniversary trip and the rest of the time we will be with a group right? Plus, splurging in Thailand is a little different.
As we entered the open air lobby Josh and I both commented that it reminded us of the place we went for our honeymoon fitting. We easily checked in and found our room. I'm not sure what we were more excited about, a shower, the comfy bed or the fact that when we opened the patio door we discovered we were on an isolated beach. Ah.
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