Travel Mission.

Written 9th September 2012

On the 30th of August we set off on our travel mission. The first part of the day was spent relaxing and having lunch. The in the afternoon we got taken to the port. It was pretty windy and choppy so we weren't sure if our ferry would be late.

But it turned up on time. We managed to get quite a good seat again. Then it was a long journey back to Athens. It took 8 and a half hours! We were supposed to get there at 11 but we got there at 12.30 so of course all the trains had stopped running which was how we were going to get to our hostel. So we were going to catch a bus. But we couldn't figure out how. Then a taxi driver told us they were not running any more. So he said he could share the take with the other people he was taking for 17 Euro. We were not sure how much a taxi was supposed to cost. Eventually we agreed. It took ages to get there. We later searched to see how much it should have cost and the recommendation was 15 to 17 Euro but it should not have taken so long. He was a horrid taxi driver. He took us on this mission as drive so we didn't get to our hostel until nearly 2 in the morning. The whole time he smoked disgusting and toxic smelling cigarettes. I am so sick of breathing in other peoples cigarets! It is GROSSS!!!

So we finally got our room and were stoked to find that we had our dorm to ourselves. Yay!

We went for a walk to get a snack then asked of a 10am wakeup call for the morning.

The is how the power works - you put your key card in the slot.

The next morning I work up at 10:20. Where was our wakeup call? So we got ready and we ready to leave just before 11 (check out time) the lady on reception was like "Oh, I've been trying to wake you since 10." Our phone wan't working. You would think she would just walk up the stairs and knock on our door! Luck I woke up! So we loaded up the packs and traipsed off to find an internet cafe so we could print out our boarding passes. We couldn't find one and we were running out of time so lumbered on to the train station. The train ride was quite long out to the airport.

Then we had a flight to Zurich which was 2.5 hours and then a host stop over before flying 1.5 hours to Paris. Then we had to catch a metro train to Gar du Nord station and we were back to our Paris hostel and our surf boards.

That evening we had a last European dinner on a Parisian sidewalk then walked up the hill to Sacre Coeur. 

Can you spot the pigeons?

It was a nice night for view admiring.

And cat patting Bethell's Parisian cousin.

The next morning we enjoyed our last patisserie pain ou raisins.

But then we had to go to another patisserie because Steve wanted a flan...

And I wanted a raspberry tart...

And to try a macaroon! YUM!

Then after a bit of a chill we headed off again with more backs than before to the Gar du Nord.

And a plane to England for 1 hour. It was a mission to check in. We went from being 4th in line to last in line. I will explain how... We have 3 bags - a pack each and a board bag containing Steve's 2 boards and my 1. Normally when we check in we can share the weight of the bags between us. Not so today. My pack was 14 and Steve's was 13 and the board bag was 13. The total for each was 23kg. So that made Steve 3 kg over when the board bag's weight was added to his pack weight. They had already sent our packs off. But refused to let us share the weight. So then they called baggage. Go them to find our packs. Took us down to baggage claim. We got our bags. We had to re-pack them so that everything heavy from Steve's pack was now in my pack. So then my pack weighed 19kg and his 7kg. Then we had to lug them back up to the counter and re-check in! So ridiculous! I mean what a waste of time! I was so frustrated. Anyway, after that we went through the customs to the small area were we ate  some average airport food and I spent nearly the exact amount of change we had left on chocolate bars and lollipops. On the plane I donated all the random coins we had to charity (we had HEAPS of crones from Czech Republic).

Then after a short stop over a 11 hour flight to Bangkok. The flight was okay. We had quite an empty flight so we got to have 4 seats between us! We slept most of the way!

When we got to Bangkok we arrived without our boards. They had been left in London. We got taken to our hotel which had a nice big bed.

We ate some yummy Thai food for dinner.

Then tried to sleep. We woke up at 2am feeling like it was the middle of the day. We couldn't sleep. We waited and waited for it to be 7am so we could get breakfast.

After breakfast we decided to go for a walk. The neighborhood was pretty scummy. There were strong smells coming from all directions. Some strong enough to make me gag. We walked along the road in the hot sun dodging cracks, shacks, and dogs. Eventually we found a supermarket and bought a few supplies. Then marched on back. Some of the dogs looked like they had rabies. We have them a wide berth.

We didn't do much for the rest of the day but did eat some more yummy food, our surfboards arrived, and we got a few hours of sleep before our flight. We got ready at 3am and caught the shuttle to the airport of am. The flight was 4 hours. We got 3 seats to ourselves this time because the guy next to us moved so he could sleep. The food was horrible! We got this asian rice thing which was supposed to be chicken but was mostly these cat foot smelling dried little fish! YUCK! It gave me indigestion. We had roast chicken later and that was nearly as bad. 

But finally we came in to land at Indonesia. Yay!