Vacation in Thailand

In Hindsight this is quite interesting but worth a retell through the blog.

When we were travelling to thailand we had to fly through GuangZhou and had a 2pm flight from Wuhan to catch an 8pm flight in GuangZhou to Bangkok. We thought that the 4 hours we would be in GuangZhou would be enough. However when we checked in at Wuhan we found our flight was delayed. We waited and waited and there was no update on the screens. Many trips to the customer service desk and many phone calls to my translator who was in-turn talking to the travel organizer at work. After the time the flight was due to leave we checked with
the service counter and there was no one who spoke english (more than "Delayed. No time").

We worked out we had to leave by 5pm to make our connection. At 4pm we finally found out our original flight was cancelled although the board never did say that (the flight # just disappeared off the board). When they cancelled the flight we were standing at the counter and luckily the girl there asked us to follow her. We ended up at check in again and got our flight changed to one
leaving at 530pm. This gave us 1 hour in GuangZhou to get our connection, and we had to pick up our bags and check them in again.

Well we made it by about 5minutes to check in. They were just about to pack up. We then had to put our bags in at another spot because the bag conveyor was stopped. We had to clear customs and there was an hour wait so we went up to the front of the line and begged to be next. The official told us to go to the back but there was a foreigner in the front of the line who let us in.

We made our flight and had a great time.

On the way home after checking in in GuangZhou I must have dropped my passport. I only walked ten paces then realized and went back to the check in counter where the girl said
she had four passports but now I only had three. Oh no. I went to the police and they said the train is the only way to get home, I could not get on a plane. So after talking to everyone in China Southern where I checked in ( I swear it was on her counter ) we decided to try and talk
our way through and act like the foreigners.

While waiting in line a guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to follow him. He took me half way across the airport to another guy how had my passport. Maybe it fell onto the bag conveyor or something. Anyway I had never felt so relieved and vowed to keep the Aus Embassy number with me and keep copies of my passport in my wallet at all times. Lesson learned. If there is one thing I am greatful for it is the sense of Honesty in China.

So our trip consisted of a lot of good times and a few headaches but everything worked out.

banking

The recent stock Market downturn in China reminded me of the Bureaucracy I ran into when I needed to get some cash transferred to China to purchase some plane tickets.

1. Firstly I couldn't use my credit Card at the Travel Agent so I had to try and get the cash for 4 tickets for a trip to Australia. Not a small sum.
2. I talked to the finance department at work and they thought I could go to the bank and get some money wired across.
3. They suggested that I open a bank account and have the money transferred.
4. While all this took some time I needed the cash to ensure the tickets were not lost. So we went to the bank with the intention of getting it all complete quickly.
5. This did not eventuate.
6. The first try at the bank the computers were down so they could not help me.
7. We went away after waiting for a while then came back later that day.
8. I then opened my account and proceeded to ask about a money transfer.
9. Then it got interesting.
10. To get money wired into my account it would take 7 business days.
11. I asked what could happen if I wrote a check and deposited it into the account. Because it is from a foreign bank it would take a minimum of 4weeks to clear the funds.
12. Well both of these time frames were not right so what to do.
13. In the end after talking to the bank in the US we used both our ATM cards every day and withdrew the maximum amount of money.
    
14. After 5 days we accumulated enough funds.

I am now the proud owner of a bank account with the equivalent of 1 US dollar in it and not much use for anything else.

A couple of pics of our Resort. When we were sick of the pool we could walk past those umbrella's in the distance and there was the beach. It was so nice to be near a beach after living in the middle of the US and then in the middle of China. The weather was awesome (30C every day) and the hospitality was great.
In the foreground is Fiona part way through "Mao's Last Dancer". Pretty good read from what she tells me.
The girls had a great time and enjoyed lazing in the pool. Well there really wasn't that much else to do.
Delenn made friends every day she was there and schemed to meet up with them the next day or after lunch and had a wonderful time.
Sheridan just enjoyed the quiet and being left alone. And the space. No crowds. 

We finally organized ourselves enough to have a vacation just for our family.

Thailand. Beach, Sun, Pools and Eating.

The children loved the pool at the hotel in Bangkok that we stayed at on the way to our final destination. The Bar was just too much for them to resist.

We eventually made our way to Cha-am which is about 200km West of Bankok (Around the coast).