Well, I just got back from 2 1/2 weeks of vacation. They were long, wonderful, memorable, and eventful, so I figured a good way to cure the severe SDMB withdrawal I was suffering was to give a not-so-quick synopsis of the events.
Before I went, the plan was that I was going to South Africa for two weeks. A few days at a theme park called Gold Reef City, a few days at our honeymoon lodge in Warmbads, and then a few days in Kwazulu Natal. That was the plan. Shortly before I left, though, I was informed that there was a slight change in plans, and that we wouldn’t be going to either Warmbads or KwazuluNatal. (I will admit here that I did figure out the surprise destination before we got there, but he doesn’t know that, so don’t tell ) I guess I’ll break it down so I can make comments about each piece.
March 11- JFK to Johannesburg (16 hour flight)
It’s such a long flight, but it’s starting to feel somewhat old hat. The only real disappointment is the fact that although we stop in Dakar for an hour or two, those going on to South Africa are not allowed to disembark. To add to the torture, the flight crew remind those disembarking not to light their cigarettes until they’ve actually reached the terminal. After 8 hours, I’m definitely jonesing for a cigarette. But that’s ok. I will survive. The JFK-Dakar leg, I’m sitting in the very last row in an aisle seat. I have extremely easy access to lavatory, and I’m one of the first served whenever a meal or drink cart comes by. The only real drawback is that I am not a small person, and neither was the woman seated next to me. It was fairly cramped. Luckily, she got off in Dakar, and no one took her place, so the rest of the trip was comfortable. It was so easy for me to get up and walk around that I never suffered from swollen feet the whole flight.
I arrived in Jo’burg just slightly ahead of schedule. It was perfect weather - not too hot, not too humid. My husband met me at the gate with his little sign with my name on it, and off we went to Gold Reef City. And I passed out about 10 minutes later and slept like the dead.
Gold Reef City is a pretty cool place. It’s a theme park designed around an old mining shaft (you can actually go down in the mining shaft, but I never got around to it) and everything is set up to look like the old Gold Rush days. The rooms are beautifully appointed, the service is very good, and the atmosphere is just delightful. The first few days we were there, it really felt as if we had the place to ourselves, and would just walk around and eat at the restaurant and relax. It was the perfect setting for unwinding from my stressful life, and I really just had a great time. We visited with family a bit, then off we went…
Wednesday March 16 - Johannesburg - Surprise Destination
We get to the airport and head to the check in counter. He still hasn’t told me where we’re going, so when we get to the Singapore Air counter, I ask him if we’re going to Singapore. He beams, and says yes. I nod, playing along, but feeling a little bit under the weather so unable to muster up much enthusiasm. He just grins slyly.
Singapore Airlines has absolutely impeccable service. In the booking of the flights, his sister (a travel agent) claimed that we were a honeymooning couple. So Singapore Air presented us with a very nice honeymoon cake. It was a great flight, and we landed in Singapore about 10 hours later. It was early morning - 4ish, I think, and already very warm. By the time we landed, though, I was feeling even worse, and couldn’t find the energy to do much more than smoke cigarettes. Of course, by this time, it was pretty obvious that Singapore wasn’t our actual destination, since we weren’t leaving the airport. (By the way, Singapore Airport is by far the nicest, prettiest, most pleasant airport I have ever seen. Absolutely astounding. It felt more like walking around an upclass mall than in an airport.)
So we spent 4 hours on layover before heading off to our TRUE destination: Thailand.
Now I’ve mentioned before that my mother is Thai. I’ve never been to Thailand, and have always wanted to go. One, because it has always felt like an imoortant thing for me to do and experience, and two, because (and I’ve also mentioned this elsewhere in a thread I’ll have to dig up) I have a sister there that I’ve never met. So we landed in Bangkok and our shuttle took us to the hotel. Unfortunately, by this time, I was feeling truly dreadful, and pretty much conked out the instant we got to the hotel. Three days went by, and I left the hotel room once. I was just dreadfully, horribly sick. Eventually I went to a hospital nearby, and was given all kinds of meds to help patch me up. The last day in Bangkok - Monday the 21, I went to see a cousin of mine that I hadn’t seen in 10 years. It was wonderful to visit with him, even if I was still really sick, and he gave me a quick scooter ride around his neighborhood, which was a lot of fun. From there, I headed to the airport, to meet up with my husband, who had stayed behind to finish up the packing.
Monday, 3/21 - Bangkok to Phuket
I was thrilled to find out we were going to Phuket. His sister had visited recently, and he had a friend whose bar was damaged in December’s tsunami. According to both, Phuket was again a perfectly viable place to visit. We stayed at a place called Central Karon Village; it was a beautiful collection of small cottage type rooms set into a seaside cliff. When we arrived, the bed had been decorated with flower petals in the shape of a heart. I still felt horrid, but that sight definitely lifted my spirits some. It was a beautiful setting, and the beach was absolutely stunning. The water is the most amazing color, and the temperature is just delicious - warm, comfortable, delightful. The sand is so soft and fine, not the gritty, painful sand that I’m used to on our Atlantic beaches. It was much closer to a fine clay - almost a powder. Absolutely wonderful. I was sick through most of the trip, but improving steadily. We went on a half day elephant safari, where we got to ride elephants, see an elephant performance, and watch various things such as a Thai cooking demonstration, and lessons on rubber trees and coconut farming, etc. I sat on a water buffalo and watched a monkey climb a tree to fetch coconuts. It was an excellent day, wrapped up nicely but a seaside meal at a Vietnamese (don’t ask why Vietnamese, I have no idea - it was part of the package) restaurant.
Wednesday 3/24 - Phuket to Pattaya (via Samui)
We flew from Phuket to Pattaya to see my sister. The challenge here was that I don’t speak Thai, and she doesn’t speak much English. I had a translator call her when we were in Bangkok to let her know when we were coming, and she said she’d meet us at the airport. From Phuket, I had the hotel call her again to confirm that we were coming and give her our flight time. We headed to the airport (again! By this time, I was sick of airports) and flew first to Samui where we would change planes to get to Pattaya. The only thing I can say about Samui is, it is also the prettiest, most pleasant airport I have ever been too. Singapore is a standard airport with moving walkways and duty free shops etc. Samui is an airport entirely apart from any other I’ve ever seen or even heard of. A trolley of sorts carted us from the plane to the terminal. Calling it a terminal seems so wrong. The entire airport was simply a collection of small thatched hut-like structures. Completely open-air, set in the woods, it was absolutely beautiful. And everything was free - free internet access, free refreshments. We sat and relaxed and smoked while we waited for our connecting flight (which incidentally, was actually just the same plane we had just arrived in) and finally headed to Pattaya. A quick flight later, we landed in Pattaya, which was a very small airport. I stepped through the gates and instantly recognized my sister and her family.
I don’t know what I thought the moment would be like. Would it be an Oprah-esque, tear filled, sobbing-and-wailing event? Didn’t seem likely, considering what I know of myself. Would it be awkward and uncomfortable, especially considering the language barrier? It was neither. I walked through the gates, saw my sister, who waved cheerfully. I gave her a hug and shook her husband’s hand, and we got in the car and drove off. Her husband and mine sat in the back of the truck, and she and her daughter (my niece! I finally realized) sat with me in the back seat. The first snag came when it was discovered that she thought I would be there for 3 days, instead of the 1 day that I would be. She was seriously disappointed, and took every opportunity to pout at me cute petulance. It was a little amusing because she’s my older sister, but it felt very much like I was the older one, and she was pouting to get her way. We went to a few places for sight seeing, and later that evening went to the Ripley’s museum in the shopping center where she worked. Unfortunately, by this point, due to a few logistical problems, I was flat broke, and couldn’t do the “lady-man” cabaret show that my sister wanted me to see. I told her I’d rather just visit with her anyway, so we headed back to her place. Of course, I was still sick, so once we got back to her place, I was absolutely exhausted and collapsed into bed. My husband visited with her and her husband, and apparently they had a rather good time. He tried to wake me up several times, but couldn’t rouse me. The next morning was a little sad, and my sister lamented the fact that after having not seen me in 29 years (or, in other words, ever) she only got to see me for 1 day. She spent the rest of the morning trying to convince me to move to Thailand, so that she could see me every day. We finally headed to the airport and said our somewhat teary goodbyes. I managed to pull from the recesses of my mind the one phrase that I needed - and told her that I loved her very much, in Thai. She smiled sadly and told me that she loved me, and my mother, and my brother very much too, and off we went back to Phuket for one last day before heading back to South Africa. On the way to the aiport we had to stop at another hotel to pick up another couple, and it was on the way there that I finally saw signs of the tsunami - pieces of road that had been washed aside, rubble and memorials and wreckage and debris. It was sad, but also reassuring that everything was rallying back so quickly. Of course, the damage in Phuket was nothing compared to that in Indonesia or the Maldives, but it was good to know that recovery was imminent.
Friday, 3/25 Phuket to Jo’burg via Singapore. This was the first day that I was truly feeling myself again. We arrived in Jo’burg in the morning. The financial logistics rectified, we got ourselves the best hotel room we could find (my criteria was I wanted some sort of jacuzzi type bathtub) and just recovered. I was supposed to fly back to New York the next day but after being so sick, and doing so much traveling, I ended up staying until Tuesday night. I was treated to a true South African braai (barbecue) - which was wonderfully delicious, but the absolute worst thing for my stomach. We visited with family some more, and finally I made my departure last night. I arrived in New York this morning, refreshed, yet exhausted, and more than slightly jetlagged. Now I’m at work trying to ease back into the cubicle life after having spent over 2 weeks in some of the most beautiful places in the world, and missing my husband, which might be the most surprising part of it all. Before I went on the trip, our relationship, strained by years of long distance, was in very grave danger. I knew before leaving that this trip would be the deciding moment - make it or break it. By the time I left yesterday, it was very clear that we had gone a long way towards saving it. Of course, the drawback to that is, it made it that much harder having to come home again, putting that big, stupid ocean between us again.
So I made 7 round trip flights in 2 weeks - a total of about 70 hours of flying time.
And boy are my arms tired.