Australia to Thailand

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Everyone came to the airport to say goodbye even though we told them to stay in bed as it was so early!

It was really sad leaving as we’d had such a great time in Perth. We could happily have spent a few more weeks there!

Our flight to Singapore got off on time and we had a horrible airline breakfast on board.

We had a few hours layover in Singapore which turned out to be the best airport we’d ever been to. There were so many shops, lots of places to eat, a transit hotel, indoor gardens and even a free cinema!

We wasted some time by having lunch, and then Matt read while I hit the shops. I didn’t actually buy anything but I did scope out some things I might buy when we call back later in the trip.

The flight to Phuket was much more basic (no tv!) but at least we got a row of three seats to ourselves so could spread out a bit. By the time we landed we’d been on the go for more than twelve hours and were starting to feel tired.

Our hotel was supposed to have arranged a taxi for us but we checked the signs held by the drivers outside the airport our name wasn’t there. A few minutes later someone working for one of the tour groups came and asked us where we were staying and put in a phone call for us. Within ten minutes our driver appeared waving our name on a sign. We were relieved to get into the car, although that sense of relief only lasted a few seconds when we realised our driver was a maniac!

He drove up to the bumper of every car in front of him, went at frightening speeds and tried desperately to overtake everything. I was convinced we were going to knock people off scooters and end up in a head on smash on a blind bend. Matt’s hand turned white as I held it tight every time we had a near miss (which seemed to happen every few seconds!)

It was getting darker. We hadn’t realised the hotel was so far away from the airport, and in busy rush hour traffic it was taking a long time. I remembered the guide book advising against night time travel due to the dangerous roads (and drivers) in Thailand but there was nothing we could do but sit it out and hope we made it.

I tried to keep myself busy looking at the scenery; the ramshackle housing, the stray animals and the whole families balanced on one scooter. There seemed to be people, traffic and animals everywhere.

I finally let go of Matt’s aching hand when we pulled into the driveway of the resort. It was set up on a hill, high up from the hectic streets of the town. I was relieved to be away from it as already there seemed to be too much going on.

We were greeted by one of the Italian owners, Paolo, who took us to the bar and got us a cold drink while arranging for our luggage to be taken into our bungalow.

It was a relief to have finally arrived. After a quick briefing we were shown to our room. It was the close to the restaurant and swimming pool, and had a king size four poster bed.

We flaked out and were in bed fast asleep by 9pm local time (we’d been on the go for 18 hours!)

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