How not to catch a flight...
Arriving in Thailand wasn't exactly stress-free.
It all started on our final day in Malaysia where we had exactly NO plans, except chilling on the rooftop of our apartment and catching our flight to Bangkok. We succeeded in 50% of those plans.
Our flight was scheduled to leave Kuala Lumpur at 22:20, so we figured we could probably leave around 6/7(pm)ish to get to the airport.... (yes, in hindsight, this was never enough time to catch our flight).
Let's just says, a lot of things went wrong. Firstly, we attempted to buy our metro tickets for the first leg of the journey, but the machine wouldn't accept our notes so we had to join the painfully long and slow-moving queue to the customer service desk. Half an hour or so later and we were back on track in getting to the airport. That was, until we realised we were on the wrong train and had to a little circle back to the beginning.
From there we had to catch a bus from the metro to the airport (which he had TOTALLY forgotten about), taking a good 45/50 minutes. As we attempted to buy our tickets and board, we were informed by the ticket office it was cash only .... and obviously we only had card. Butty ran off to find the nearest cash machine, which turned out to be neither near nor easy to negotiate.
By the time we got off the bus, and to the airport, it was about 9pm and we knew we had about 30 minutes to check in. Racing off the bus, we were storming through the airport as fast as our huge rucksacks would allow us, glancing at each departure board we passed trying to gauge what check-in desk we needed. Before long we realised there was no flight to Bangkok showing so we were forced to take a reign-check and accept we had gone wrong. Turns out there are two terminals in Kuala Lumpur.
Back on the bus we went, watching the minutes pass by but still not accepting defeat. Two minutes away from the correct terminal and......... the bus stops. We were then instructed to change onto another bus which would take us the last leg of the journey. Except this bus didn't have a driver and we were left waiting for a further five minutes, as the clock hit 21:25 and the panic started to set in.
Eventually, we arrived at the correct terminal with approximately 50 minutes to go before our flight was due to depart. Unfortunately, by this point, we had gone into that complete panic mode where all logic goes out the window and you just start running in any direction that looks remotely correct. We pretty much knocked down the entire stream of people using the moving walkway as we sprinted through the aisle, exhausted and very sweaty. We stepped off, looked up at the sign, and yep, we had gone the wrong way. Back we went in the other direction, once again running along the moving walkway but this time with the people we had just wiped out staring back at us in amusement.
Up the escalator we went, 21:33pm, thighs burning and only five rows of roped partitions standing between us and our check-in counter. Obviously the logical thing to do was to go not round, but under, said partitions which caused further chaos as both of our rucksacks got tangled up and stuck, preventing us from taking the last few steps. We arrived just as the flight attendants were closing down the counter in a big, sweaty heap, begging them to let us check-in.
But, no. It wasn't meant to be. Our first missed flight, and no more to book onto until the following morning. Needless to say, we had a lovely sleepover in Terminal 2, featuring a McDonalds and The Hunger Games.
The following day we arrived in Bangkok, which seemed a lot more calm and a whole lot cleaner than either of us remembered from previous visits. We spent a couple of nights in a horrible, over crowded hostel and enjoyed a fun night out on Khao San Road before setting of on the long and hungover journey to the north. We instantly loved our little village; Nam Phong, with it's friendly residents, sunny weather, and beautiful surroundings. We met the other teachers, had some Pad Thai
and a few Chang beers before settling into our new home.
The house we are living in is simple but lovely. There is lots of space and a hot shower which is more than we were expecting in such a rural setting, although the luxuries don't extend as far as a flushing toilet or (strangely) a sink! There is a beautiful river close by and some fun bike routes to cycle around, so we are feeling pretty and lucky and content that we get to spend 9 weeks here. One of the main issues we have come across so far are the street dogs..... there are LOADS. And as soon as the sun starts to go down they all become quite aggressive so we have had to be careful about going out for runs or heading out alone.
There are daily markets dotted around the village, and we have quickly adjusted to the calm and simple way of life. We now have our designated chicken lady who makes the best fried chicken sticks, our banana lady and best of all, our fish lady who serves up the most incredible tasting barbecued fish ever. We have two littles puppies who come and greet us everyday on our walk to and from school - they get so excited every time we walk past, it's so cute!! So all in all, village life is going well and it is great how quickly we have slotted into things - which is hugely down to Thai people being incredibly friendly and welcoming.
We have now been teaching in the school for a couple of weeks and have lots to say about it, so we will post another blog update shortly with all the details of what it is like to teach English in Thailand. Watch this space :)
It all started on our final day in Malaysia where we had exactly NO plans, except chilling on the rooftop of our apartment and catching our flight to Bangkok. We succeeded in 50% of those plans.Our flight was scheduled to leave Kuala Lumpur at 22:20, so we figured we could probably leave around 6/7(pm)ish to get to the airport.... (yes, in hindsight, this was never enough time to catch our flight).
Let's just says, a lot of things went wrong. Firstly, we attempted to buy our metro tickets for the first leg of the journey, but the machine wouldn't accept our notes so we had to join the painfully long and slow-moving queue to the customer service desk. Half an hour or so later and we were back on track in getting to the airport. That was, until we realised we were on the wrong train and had to a little circle back to the beginning.
From there we had to catch a bus from the metro to the airport (which he had TOTALLY forgotten about), taking a good 45/50 minutes. As we attempted to buy our tickets and board, we were informed by the ticket office it was cash only .... and obviously we only had card. Butty ran off to find the nearest cash machine, which turned out to be neither near nor easy to negotiate.
By the time we got off the bus, and to the airport, it was about 9pm and we knew we had about 30 minutes to check in. Racing off the bus, we were storming through the airport as fast as our huge rucksacks would allow us, glancing at each departure board we passed trying to gauge what check-in desk we needed. Before long we realised there was no flight to Bangkok showing so we were forced to take a reign-check and accept we had gone wrong. Turns out there are two terminals in Kuala Lumpur.
Back on the bus we went, watching the minutes pass by but still not accepting defeat. Two minutes away from the correct terminal and......... the bus stops. We were then instructed to change onto another bus which would take us the last leg of the journey. Except this bus didn't have a driver and we were left waiting for a further five minutes, as the clock hit 21:25 and the panic started to set in.
Eventually, we arrived at the correct terminal with approximately 50 minutes to go before our flight was due to depart. Unfortunately, by this point, we had gone into that complete panic mode where all logic goes out the window and you just start running in any direction that looks remotely correct. We pretty much knocked down the entire stream of people using the moving walkway as we sprinted through the aisle, exhausted and very sweaty. We stepped off, looked up at the sign, and yep, we had gone the wrong way. Back we went in the other direction, once again running along the moving walkway but this time with the people we had just wiped out staring back at us in amusement.
Up the escalator we went, 21:33pm, thighs burning and only five rows of roped partitions standing between us and our check-in counter. Obviously the logical thing to do was to go not round, but under, said partitions which caused further chaos as both of our rucksacks got tangled up and stuck, preventing us from taking the last few steps. We arrived just as the flight attendants were closing down the counter in a big, sweaty heap, begging them to let us check-in.
But, no. It wasn't meant to be. Our first missed flight, and no more to book onto until the following morning. Needless to say, we had a lovely sleepover in Terminal 2, featuring a McDonalds and The Hunger Games.
The following day we arrived in Bangkok, which seemed a lot more calm and a whole lot cleaner than either of us remembered from previous visits. We spent a couple of nights in a horrible, over crowded hostel and enjoyed a fun night out on Khao San Road before setting of on the long and hungover journey to the north. We instantly loved our little village; Nam Phong, with it's friendly residents, sunny weather, and beautiful surroundings. We met the other teachers, had some Pad Thaiand a few Chang beers before settling into our new home.
The house we are living in is simple but lovely. There is lots of space and a hot shower which is more than we were expecting in such a rural setting, although the luxuries don't extend as far as a flushing toilet or (strangely) a sink! There is a beautiful river close by and some fun bike routes to cycle around, so we are feeling pretty and lucky and content that we get to spend 9 weeks here. One of the main issues we have come across so far are the street dogs..... there are LOADS. And as soon as the sun starts to go down they all become quite aggressive so we have had to be careful about going out for runs or heading out alone.There are daily markets dotted around the village, and we have quickly adjusted to the calm and simple way of life. We now have our designated chicken lady who makes the best fried chicken sticks, our banana lady and best of all, our fish lady who serves up the most incredible tasting barbecued fish ever. We have two littles puppies who come and greet us everyday on our walk to and from school - they get so excited every time we walk past, it's so cute!! So all in all, village life is going well and it is great how quickly we have slotted into things - which is hugely down to Thai people being incredibly friendly and welcoming.
We have now been teaching in the school for a couple of weeks and have lots to say about it, so we will post another blog update shortly with all the details of what it is like to teach English in Thailand. Watch this space :)
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