Journey to Thailand

Early Monday morning local time (Sunday evening EST), I left Cambodia to come to Thailand. I was sad to leave Cambodia but it helped that I was coming to see my good friends Bill and Susie Antolec.

Although I am getting better at it, I am still a novice traveler and navigating foreign airports alone is definitely a learning experience. I flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok where I had a 3 hour layover. It took some time to get through immigration and then find my gate for my next flight. I wanted some coffee (didn't have any in Phnom Penh) and the first few shops I went to did not take American money nor my Visa card. Finally at the 4th store they took my cash and I got some coffee. After finding my gate and sitting for about 45 minutes, they announced that they had changed the gate. Even though they were speaking English, the accent made it very difficult to understand. I had to walk up to the worker and use my fingers to determine the proper gate number. I was being changed from gate 33 to gate 75. That meant a good, long walk.

As I walked, I starting feeling some pain in my feet and legs and notice that my calves, ankles and feet had started to swell. My first flight was only an hour and 10 minutes so that should not have caused it. When I got to the new gate, I attempted to take up two seats to elevate my feet. That worked for about 30 minutes but then more people began to show up and I could not be rude and take two seats.

The pain was increasing and this was one of those flights that you board a bus that takes you to the plane and you walk up the steps. By the time I got to my seat on the plane, I was hot and hurting. I started to get really cranky. Heat and pain are not my friends.

As soon as I recognized that I was getting cranky I began to pray. I had just had the best week of my life in Cambodia and now I had the gift of visiting another country and seeing my friends. No room for crankiness. The last thing I wanted to do was have Bill and Susie welcome a cranky guest into their home.

As an answer to prayer, as soon as I met them in the airport the joy of seeing them removed the crankiness. Susie had brought some flowers and put them around my neck like they do in Hawaii. Bill was a gentleman and took my near 50 pound luggage from me.

Chiang Rai is a town situated near mountains and it is absolutely gorgeous. We got to their house and they brought me to my room - and Susie had a large floral arrangement with a card welcoming me. (who can be cranky now)

It was 4:30 in the afternoon and they gave me an hour to unpack and rest. The swelling in was getting worse so the rest was much needed.

At 5:30 they took me into town to show me the Night Bazaar. Lots of outdoor food vendors and souvenir shopping. The food was delicious! The best part was a dessert called Rotee or Roti. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

Our evening was cut a bit short due to my pain and swelling - it was getting harder to walk. But I did get to see the area they lived in before they built their current home, as well as other cool sights in the town. Tuesday would be a full day and I needed to rest.

I had a wonderful welcome and a great first night in Thailand.