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It seems to have come to me to do the blog today. Jacq is feeling less than creative. After setting out at midday Wednesday from Paignton, we finally got to Aleenta around Thursday at 7pm (which is 1pm London time) - travelling time of around 25hrs. So we're both feeling decidely time-lagged, a condition which will no doubt be rectified over the next day or two whilst relaxing in and around the villa by the beach (or on the beach, I'll let the soon to be posted photo's tell the story).
More on the Thailand trip shortly, but first my rant on the Brits. Having now experienced Brisbane, Bangkok, Athens & Santorini airports, Heathrow brings chills to the spine. The service people are generally unhappy, the travelling poms (sorry Lee & Sarah) are genuinely whinging everywhere you turn and even the newer terminals are on a par with Santorini in presentation. Once checked-in, things improved a little and we were so, so glad to see the sleeping pods once we made it onto the plane.
Finding the optimum sleeping position using the array of buttons was however a bit of a black art (Jacq kept asking, what's wrong with a bloody Jason recliner???). Jacq endeavoured to sleep the trip away between some lovely meals served by the happy Thai hosties whilst I caught up on a few movies. Evan the Almighty seem to tickle a few of the passengers as the deck erupted regularly into laughter - people seem to forget how loud they are with headphones in place. For those yet to see the movie, it's enjoyable simple, clean humour.
We had arranged to be picked up from Bangkok airport and we were glad to see our names on the sign amongst the thousand faces in the terminal. We had expected for the journey to Aleenta to take 1-2 hours and eventually arrived in 3. The driver did a wonderful job of keeping us on the road as some areas were less than perfect (reminded me of the Chinese roads - a new concrete bridge but at the end, a potholed barely there experience four lanes wide) and coupled with the tropical rain which started to fall about 40 mins into the trip, it proved an "interesting" journey.
We were met at Aleenta by staff brandishing umbrellas and whisked away to our villa (just be patient, photos will be there soon so I won't endeavour to describe it). I will however make two comments - whoever cleaned the villa must have spilt a litre of peppermint oil because combined with the air-con, it was strong enough to make the eyes water and feel like you swallowed a tube of toothpaste all night. The villa included a private although semi-outside shower and toilet and for those that know Jacq, she suffers a little from performance anxiety. I'll admit, it's a bit weird having some personal time looking up at blue sky or stars - even a camping toilet at least has a roof.
Aleenta is also apparently known for it's cuisine and we partook of some fine Thai after settling in. We explore this more over the next few days.
Jacq drifted off to sleep, so I had a chance to reset the Brick-bat balance and read a little. I dare say, as my bodyclock was still 6 hours behind, it was a long night and I didn't break her score as my eyes continued to water from the peppermint scent but there's still a week girl!!
Until tomorrow ... Jacq & Richie xxx
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