Thailand - Flight from Bangkok to Los Angeles (Saturday, November 16th, 2015)

We had a chance to sleep in this morning for the first time in almost three weeks.  Oh my did that feel good!  

We finally got up and enjoyed our breakfast in Bangkok at the Century Park Hotel where this whole adventure began. Many of the people from our tour were in the dining room so we had one final chance to say goodbye before returning to our room for showers and packing.  

As we looked out our hotel window, we noticed some construction on the roof of the temple below us.  They were re-roofing it, using the same bamboo scaffolding we have seen so many times before, only this time, it was set up on a slanting roof.

Nothing scary about this right?!!

Crazy!

All of the hotels we have stayed in for the last three weeks have had the blowdryers hidden away in drawers, so we would go on an adventure each morning to find the blow dryer.  So this morning when I got out of the shower, I started going through drawers looking for the blowdryer.  Steve started the search as well but was also unsuccessful.  So Steve went on the search for our housekeeper.  He found her in the hall not far from our room, and started doing sign language for the blowdryer.  She immediately pulled out a toilet plunger (that must be the most common issue she runs into), but thankfully that wasn't our issue, so next she pulled out a spare bottle of water, but that didn't help either.  Steve finally got her to understand that it was the blow dryer, so she followed him back to the room, thinking that ours was broke.  She walked into the bathroom, pulled the blow dryer off the wall in the bathroom, where it had been conspicuously stored the entire time, and turned it on.  It worked like a charm.  

At this point, we realized how tired we must really be, and were so embarrassed that we didn't see it there, so we quickly gave her a nice tip and sent her on her way.  We both laughed so hard after she left that we didn't see it right there on the wall!  

While I finished getting ready Steve ran out and picked up our final iced mocha of the trip from 7-11 just down the street from our hotel.  We bought coffee in every city we visited, and some of them were quite expensive, but none of them even came close to being as good as the double shot mochas we got in Bangkok at the 7-11.  Amazingly enough, they have a true espresso machine that they use to make them.  And the only 7-11 where we could find coffee was in Bangkok.  None of the 7-11's in the other towns we visited had the machines.....darn!  And the best part was that they cost us 30 baht each, less than $1.00.  Oh are we going to miss these!!

Once we were packed up, we made our way down to the lobby, checked out of our room, and waited for our airport transport.

Hotel checkout was at 12:00 and so we waited in the lobby for our our shuttle to arrive at the hotel at 12:30.  In true Gate-1 fashion our driver showed up about 15 minutes early and came into the lobby looking for us.  Once he found us, he pulled up the van and we got in, so it was such an easy morning.  We were on our way to Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

The Bangkok International Departure terminal is very big but very easy to navigate.  We walked in and looked for the departure screen.  It lists departure time, followed by flight number and then check-in counter.  We proceeded to our check-in counter for our boarding pass and to check our luggage.  They were also able to check our seat assignments  and luggage all the way through to Los Angeles.  As we worked our way through the airport, we had to show our boarding passes and passports four different times, so we learned to just keep them handy.

The Bangkok International Departures Terminal is very big

As we entered the international departure terminal, we were greeted by signs to help us find our way.

The departure screen

Our flight is the third one down, flight CZ3082.  We were directed to isle "U" for our check-in counter

The bright yellow signs mark the check-in rows

Once we found our check-in row, we just looked for the China Southern Check-in windows

The international departure terminal is beautiful!

Looking for our gate.  Not a bad view!

Our China Southern plane left Bangkok at 3:35 pm and landed in Guangzhou, China at 7:20 pm (on-time). We had a two-hour layover in Guangzhou, and were supposed to take off again at 9:30 pm, but we had a medical issue on our flight after one of the passengers got hit in the head by a bag.  

We spent about an hour at the gate as the doctors examined the passenger and finally gave her clearance to fly.  The flight crew took good care of us as we sat waiting for our takeoff.  The plane was air conditioned the entire time, and the flight crew provided drinks if we wanted them.  Our pilot made up much of the lost time in flight, still allowing us to arrive on time in Los Angeles, California at about 6:30 pm on November 16th (the same day we left Bangkok).

Our flight home was interesting, in that we remained on Asia time for most of the flight.  When we boarded the flight, it was about 9:20pm.  After we got in the air, they fed us a nice meal, and then at about midnight, we settled ourselves for sleep.  So we ended up sleeping for most of the flight, then when we awoke, they fed us a nice breakfast, we flew awhile longer, and then landed in Los Angeles at about 6:30 pm. 

We collected our luggage without issue at the carousel: 

One of our bags that held all our worldly possessions for the last three weeks!

We called the hotel shuttle as we made our way through the airport, so he was waiting for us when we exited the airport.  Again, we will stay a night at the Holiday Inn Express in Los Angeles before heading home on Southwest Airlines tomorrow morning. 

We received a text from our oldest daughter (she is trying to fly out of Denver International Airport today to go see her husband for Thanksgiving), and she said that they aren't allowing many flights into the airport due to the weather.  They are trying to get as many flights out as possible, so she is hoping to get out okay.

Our daughter will drive out and leave the car at The Parking Spot (an offsite parking lot for airport travelers).  We will then fly in tomorrow and pick it up.  We all get nice trips, and only have to pay for a day of parking.  Not bad!  She just sends us a picture of where the car is parked, and we let the shuttle driver know.

Although we slept through most of the flight, when we got to the hotel, it was time to sleep again.  And believe it or not, we were ready for more sleep.  But even more importantly at this point, we were both really hungry.  

Unfortunately there are no restaurants very close to our hotel, except for McDonald's, which is right across the street, so for the first time in probably 15+ years, I was treated to a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries.  Since I am kind of a health food nut, I struggled with this concept a little bit, but hunger won out.  It was such a big day in our lives that we even sent a picture to our girls, who thought the world must be coming to an end with mom eating McDonald's!!!!

This sure isn't Thai fast food!

We got a good laugh out of our dinner and headed back to the hotel.  We're very tired, but mostly just mixed up on our time.  I'm sure it will take a little time to get back to normal, but for now we'll try and get a good night's sleep.