{"id":986,"date":"2014-01-29T18:06:50","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T11:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=986"},"modified":"2014-01-29T18:06:50","modified_gmt":"2014-01-29T11:06:50","slug":"phuket-junket-begins-12514","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=986","title":{"rendered":"Phuket junket begins! 1\/25\/14"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yea!!! Today we travel!\u00a0 We\u2019re up around 2:30 am, and are walking out to a taxi at 4:00 am.\u00a0 There are two parked out front of the apartments, and both drivers are in their passenger seat, with the seat propped back, sleeping.\u00a0 I knock on the window of the first one in line, and he groggily wakes up.\u00a0 After a few minutes of language struggles, we\u2019re driving away.\u00a0 There is no traffic this time of the day.\u00a0 We saw a traffic accident site for the first time in Beijing on the way to the airport.\u00a0 It looked like the driver might have gone to sleep and crashed into the side railing.\u00a0 As crazy as the traffic is in Beijing, I\u2019m surprised we haven\u2019t seen more.<\/p>\n

Airport arrival and check-in is smooth.\u00a0 We make the long trek to our departure gate, through Immigration and then through Security.\u00a0 We get to our gate after another long walk.\u00a0 This is a really big, new, wide-open terminal.\u00a0 About a half-hour before our flight is scheduled to depart, Judy realizes she can\u2019t find her phone.\u00a0 She races back so security, thinking maybe she left it there.\u00a0 She returns 10 minutes later empty-handed.\u00a0 They needed her passport and also wanted to see her bag.\u00a0 I go back with her this time.\u00a0 Her phone shows up on the \u201cFind My iPhone\u201d app on my phone, and the map shows it\u2019s in the airport terminal.\u00a0\u00a0 Back at security, they scan Judy\u2019s bag and check her passport.\u00a0 Then they scan my bag and check my bag also.\u00a0 They want to make sure it\u2019s not hidden in our bags somewhere.\u00a0 Now, the \u201cFind My iPhone\u201d app map shows Judy\u2019s phone near the gate.\u00a0 We\u2019re beginning to think she put it in her coat sometime in the taxi ride.\u00a0 She put her coat in her suitcase right before we checked the bag.\u00a0 We won\u2019t need coats in Phuket.\u00a0 As we board the plane, the app still shows the phone close by.\u00a0 The phone has got to be in the suitcase (we hope).\u00a0 We\u2019ll find out in Phuket.<\/span><\/p>\n

No problems at the Bangkok airport.\u00a0 We make the transfer to our Phuket flight smoothly.\u00a0 No sign of any political unrest.\u00a0 The flight path into Phuket comes in over water.\u00a0 I was beginning to wonder if we had pontoons on our plane. It\u2019s a small airport, with only one runway, shared by incoming and outgoing flights.\u00a0 After we disembark and get our luggage, we run the gauntlet of taxi entrepreneurs.\u00a0 I find one with a price close to what I understand is the standard fare, and it\u2019s air-conditioned.\u00a0 It\u2019s definetly warmer here (around 85 degrees F).\u00a0 There\u2019s not much need for sweaters and layering now.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ride to the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa is about 20 minutes.\u00a0 We arrive and it\u2019s gorgeous.\u00a0 Cold face towels and fruit juice greet us at check-in.\u00a0 We make it to the room, and it\u2019s equally luxurious. \u00a0NEWS FLASH: \u00a0WE FOUND THE PHONE IN THE COAT! \u00a0We have a great view of the lobby and restaurant from our balcony.\u00a0 Our first job is to rest.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a long day of terminals and flying.\u00a0 The combined flight time of our two legs from Beijing to Bangkok, and then Phuket is 6\u00bd hours.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a long time since 2:30 am in Beijing.\u00a0 We begin enjoying the resting part of our vacation immediately.\u00a0 We\u2019ll explore the area tomorrow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lobby\"<\/a>

The lobby area as we drive up<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Lobby2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>

Our room, as viewed from the lobby: top floor, 4th from the left.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"View<\/a>

View from the room back towards the lobby<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yea!!! Today we travel!\u00a0 We\u2019re up around 2:30 am, and are walking out to a taxi at 4:00 am.\u00a0 There are two parked out front of the apartments, and both drivers are in their passenger seat, with the seat propped … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}