Day 16 - Phnom Penh

Travel day. Private car to airport. Fly from Phnom Penh to Taipei. Taipei to SFO. BART, Amtrak, Lyft, home.

Traveling Again

@kumimonster and I are traveling again in southeast Asia. Specifically, Thailand and Cambodia. We had an eventful time getting here. Lyft and Amtrak were good. BART had some issues with maintenance, bus transfer, train transfer, and a “security incident” at SFO BART. (Mental note: Probably not a good idea to be standing behind a cop with his gun drawn if the person he’s pointing his gun at also has a gun drawn.) The BART ride which should have been about an hour, took about 2 hours. Still plenty of time to catch the flight though. kumi was already there. Quick check-in, quick boarding.

The 13 hour flight to Taipei seemed short. Probably because I had a window row all to myself. I slept most of the flight. Long layover in Taipei, then off to Bangkok.

We arrived in Bangkok to find Bangkok Airways agents waiting for me. Seems I had a very short layover in Bangkok and they wanted to make sure I made the flight. We also found out that we had been put on different flights for the 3rd flight. kumi’s flight was an hour after mine. Minor inconvenience, but still ok.

I caught the flight and arrived in Koh Samui without issue. Anantara Lawana was there waiting for me. Since the resort close to the airport, the driver convinced me to drop off my bag, check-in, then we could come back to the airport to pickup kumi. That worked for me. Checked-in, welcoming drink. Got a free upgrade on our room to one with a plunge pool. Went back to the airport to pickup kumi. Returned. She got her welcoming drink. Then off to our suite. After more than 25 hours of travel, we made immediate use of the plunge pool.

Day 23 - Return

We didn't have any issues getting to the airport.  Traffic wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. Bandaranaike International Airport does something I haven't seen before in other airports.  They allow people who aren't flying to airport passes to get inside the airport.  Some airports I have been in (mainly US) allow people in, but they don't get past the security checkpoint without a boarding pass.  Others won't let you in the door without an itinerary.  At Bandaranaike, you get checked the door for an itinerary or pass.  Then you go to another checkpoint where your luggage is checked.  After that, you can go to airline counter to get boarding passes and to check your bag.  Next, immigration.   Then one more security checkpoint to enter the gate.  Boarded the plane, over 5 hour flight to Hong Kong.

At Hong Kong immigration is waiting at the gate performing random passport checks.  We also had to go through another security check for transferring flights.  We had a long layover in Hong Kong,  so we decided to spend it in Plaza Premium Lounge.  Food, shower, massage, etc., nice place.  Eventually,  we went to the gate.  Another security checkpoint.  From there we went to the gate where they took our boarding passes. 12 hour flight to SFO.

Landed in SFO.  kumi used "Mobile Passport."  I used Global Entry.  Both of us avoided the incredibly long line for immigration.  Found out there's a Global Entry line for customs too.  (Woohoo!)  After that, BART, Amtrak, Lyft, home.

Thailand - Day 18

Travel day.  I had an afternoon flight, so I had time to enjoy breakfast and leisurely pack. 

Beautiful, sunny morning.  It started raining on my way to the airport.  Anantara provided transportation to airport.  Mercedes with cold towel, beverages and snacks provided, approximately a 20 minute ride.  My driver went above and beyond the call of duty.  I only needed him to drop me off at the airport.  He took my bag out of the trunk; escorted me into the airport; waited while my  bag was scanned through security; took my bag to the check-in counter; then escorted me to the security checkpoint.  That will definitely be included in my Tripadvisor review of Anantara.

1 hour and 15 minute flight from Phuket to Bangkok.  From Bangkok to Taipei, a little over 3 hours.  Taipei to SFO, approximately 11 hours.  At SFO, I got to go through Global Entry instead of normal immigration.  Awesome!  In and out in approximately 3 minutes.  My bag came out of baggage claim about 15 minutes later.  Then it was a breeze through customs and a leisurely walk to a waiting BART train.  About an hour ride from SFO to the Richmond Amtrak station.  Amtrak to Sacramento normally takes about an hour and a half, but due to delays with Union Pacific, it took about 2 hours.  I setup a pickup with Lyft on my way from the train to the curb.  The car was there in 2 minutes.  A short ride later, I was home.