Getting there is half the battle

I was thankfully more fortunate in travels than the guys were, with easy flights and no delays. If you ever want to fly comfortably to Asia from the States, turkey day is the way to go...on my 11 hour Seattle-Tokyo flight, the plane was about 1/3 full and I'm not exaggerating in saying we all had our own rows to lay down and sleep the entire flight. Who needs first class when you get that for 1/10 the price?!

Sunset in Seattle

Night lights of Tokyo

Sunrise in Bangkok

I flew into the major international airport in Bangkok and then transferred to the smaller domestic airport for my last flight to Phuket. Definitely less convenient, but a huge savings in the $$ department and the airports provide a free bus to transfer between the airports so it was very easy. Note to anyone who does this though, there is no wifi at the small airport (Don Meueng) so make sure you have your kindle books downloaded before you get there if you have a wait :)

Rainbow over the water just before landing in Phuket

Just before landing

I got an email from the guys while in Tokyo that our original hotel was far from as advertised so they were finding a new one. They did a wonderful job!

The Yim Siam Hotel in Patong

The Yim Siam is relatively new so a lot of taxis didn't even know how to find it, but a definite gem. It is small with only about 16 rooms but it is very clean, well decorated, the people are all very nice and all for less than our original hotel. It is not right on the beach but I've liked it that way so far and there is a wonderful night market a few blocks away. Last nights dinner was BBQ chicken, fried chicken, mango smoothies, chicken phad thai, tempura chicken on a stick and mango-Nutella pancakes (basically crispy crepes) for dessert, and all for about $6. Mmm, mmm good!