For starters, this post will be considerably longer than the past ones. This post will cover over two weeks, as opposed to the usual one week. The reasons for this are that the last two weeks have been extremely time consuming, I was trying to truely enjoy each moment I had left on Koh Phangan and with the yoga course being a routine, I will do a separate post for that all together. For the reason of enjoying each moment, my phone didn’t come out very often, so pictures will also be limited unfortunately. If I can find the time, I will continue to do weekly posts before the end of the yoga course, covering some topics I have been meaning to write on (and feel free to suggest some topics/questions you want to be enlightened on since I have been traveling so much). So let’s start where we left off.
Old Friends, New Levels
Ryan and I made our way back to our beloved Koh Phangan (the island from the second Thailand tournament), decidedly one of our favorite destinations from the whole trip. Our taxi to flight to flight to bus to ferry all went very smoothly and just about on time as we imagined. The ferry ride to Koh Phangan from Surat Thani took us into the night, so we got a really cool view of the blood moon, which looked gigantic over the island of Koh Phangan. One of my favorite things about how beautiful stars and the moon are is that it is difficult to get a picture to capture that, which I think just adds to the experience. We arrived to the island and received some inflated taxi prices, but we aren’t new here. We walked away and demanded a price we knew was far. The songthaew driver followed, because he has to drive far either way, so he might as well take any more money he can get. He quietly agreed to our lower price on the condition that we do not tell the other passengers what we paid. Score. We head to Haad Rin, back to SK Guesthouse where we stayed the previous month. A friend from the previous month grabbed us a three bed room for one thousand baht, or thirty three American dollars per night(Thanks, Martin!). Three beds, you ask? Surprise guest from Cleveland, Aaron Tenhuisen.
Aaron and I met playing each other at NEO and when Ryan got hurt, we played a bit together. During a tournament, I mentioned this trip and he mentioned that he was going to travel through Patagonia and India. We also discussed similar views on getting better at volleyball. So when we found training with Olympians in a cool destination, I naturally shot him a message to let him know the option was there if he had the vacation days. We arrived and greeted Aaron, who had already checked into the room. We hit up some favorite dinner spots and got some sleep.
The following day, we went and peppered on the beach and then headed over to Tommy’s, where the camp would take place. We got an early jump on meeting some other camp attendees and got back to moving in the sand after a month on the motorbikes. We had the luxury of knowing the island and some of the people already, so we gave Aaron the run down on where to go and what to watch out for.
How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.
The camp started with an introduction to the team running BeachBox Camps. Amongst some other players from Latvia facilitating BeachBox Camps, the coaches were Latvian Olympian Aleksandr “The Lion King” Samoilovs, Canadian Olympian (and now attempting to represent America in 2020) Chaim Schalk, Latvian professional and brother of Samoilovs Olympic partner Toms Smedins, and Russian professional Elena Ponomarev. After a brief introduction, we were split into groups and set off to play sideout. Essentially, you are matched with another person, and you serve to the defending team. If the serving team gets the point, they move to the defending side. If the defending team gets the point, they get a point. Every time you were removed from the court, you would grab a new partner. Ryan and I were on the same net with Aaron on another. I felt fresh and played out of my mind, but not well enough to get moved up a group. The coaches were watching our games and adjusting the groups. At the end, we found we were placed in the second group, with group one being a bit higher level than us.
With about fifty attendees, the coaches did a pretty good job setting the groups from such a short sample size. The only blaring mistake was Aaron, he was placed in the last group. It could have been because it was his first experience with the international ball or the coaches just never saw him doing anything spectacular when they looked. Either way, we told him it would get sorted out. After the trials, we set out on a hike as a group.
Normally, I avoid things like hiking when I know I am about to play a lot. Forcing the muscles I am going to require a lot of power from to show off their endurance skills beforehand is usually not the best combination. Either way, we hiked up one of the smaller mountain paths near Haad Rin and got a cool view of the coast. We even had some local dogs accompany us some of the way. After that, we headed through the city to the southern part to check out the sunset beach. After seeing the makeshift pier, we walked along a boardwalk to a small lighthouse. From there, we head up another large hill to a hotel bar, which included an infinity pool overlooking Haad Rin beach. A quick cool off in the pool (having a bunch of sweaty volleyball players around probably ruined some girl’s nice infinity pool Insta pic, sorry!) and then we headed down the rocks back to the beach. Some lunch and then off to the first day of practice.
Anyone who has played with me knows I prefer consistency. I always bump set to eliminate doubles and to keep things consistent. For training, I figured what better way to learn clean hand sets than to exclusively do them. The first practice was a lot of passing drills with Chaim Schalk. Luckily for me, Chaim’s coaching style is in line with my learning style. My hands had been pretty consistently clean, but hitting the desired location on weird passes was an issue. A few mental cues from Chaim and I was hitting all my hand sets. Day one of training over and we were off for some dinner and to relax.
After the first day of training, the coaches realized they made a mistake putting Aaron in the last group, so we suggested he be put in ours. The second day of training started at 9:30am, which meant the sun was pounding down on us. Unfortunately, the motorbike trip didn’t keep my nutrition and hydration up to my usual standards. It was hot, I was dehydrated and we were running line to line defensive drills. This training was with Samoilovs and I had no intention of giving up during his training. A little over halfway through, we were doing defense drills followed by hitting. My energy was non existent and we were covering court and then having to jump into the air to hit hard. I tried to play it cool and do some roll shots, but was told to actually swing. Between each drill I would slowly trudge through the sand, saving my energy for the drill itself. Spartan training had taught me that I had much more in the tank when I felt like I had to stop, but that didn’t help things.
After I started to fade, sitting between each drill and running to the water whenever possible, Ryan and another member of the group decided to sit out. Now there were only enough of us participating to properly do the drill, meaning there was no sitting out time. My perserverance had damned me. Post practice, I grabbed my things and walked straight back to the hotel for a cold shower and air conditioning.
The second training later in the day went a lot better. It was still hot but I was more hydrated. My muscles were definitely beaten up by the first practice and now we were doing blocking drills with Toms, the most intense of the coaches. I am a defensive player, so I rarely block and when I do, it is wildly unorthodox. Repeated block jumps left me edging death again. Until I served a ball short on Ryan, causing him to dive and his also dehydrated calf muscle to cramp. He hit the ground in pain and began yelling that he pulled his muscle. Looking at it, I immediately told him it was a cramp and he said he didn’t know the difference so it was pulled. Science. Either way, it bought me some time to relax. Sorry, Ryan. On the bright side, Toms taught us some great footwork that really alleviated the weakest part of my blocking, pulling off the net. Day two of training done, off to Mexican for dinner.
We all ate a small pre-dinner, as we had had Mexican twice on this trip and both times had been underwhelming portion wise. The entire group loaded into songthaews and we road to a Mexican place in Thong Sala. Some decent food and decent portions and afterwards we got to hang out with Samoilovs and Renars, one of the people facilitating BeachBox Camps. Now that we had met people, it became more of training with friends which made it even better.
A Level Player, Olympic Level Smack Talker
Since the start of my volleyball career, I have been known to refer to myself as a “C level player, Open level smack talker”, but my skills have improved in the last two years, and I guess my smack talk had to to. We’ll get to that though.
Two more trainings on the third day and then there was a night tournament planned. We were told it would be fours, but when we arrived it was sixes. Sand sixes, my least favorite version of volleyball. It gets a little more fun when you add olympic players. I was put on a team with Chaim Schalk, Ryan had Elena Ponomarev and Aaron was on a team with Samoilovs.
The first game should have been easy for us. We made a ton of mistakes, hitting into the net and missing serves. I thought maybe Chaim would kill us all and just play by himself. Game two was a little better but still not a win. The next two games, we got it together and starting putting up some points. Chaim was having a blast running indoor calls with us. Dan did a lot better than I did, as he has played a lot of indoor. I was mostly just smiling and nodding and relying on my speed and unorthodox style to put some points down. Luckily, our losses were to the last place team and the undefeated team, so our victories against the other two teams put us in the position to go to finals. It was a mostly for fun tournament so it didn’t last very long and was just straight to finals. Our team had been making it work but we were facing the undefeated team in finals.
Finals was a blast. Matched against Aaron, our friend from the first time in Koh Phangan, Matias and Samoilovs, you know there was a lot of smack talk. Towards the middle of the game, I served a ball to Samoilovs outside shoulder and it went shooting into the ocean. Everyone began cheering but when they looked back, I was gone. I had started running and yelling “Book me a flight! I did it!”. After the dramatics, we played a close game that ended with us winning. We didn’t get a video of me acing Samoilovs but Ryan did grab a video of Samoilovs refusing to give me my medal because I aced him. The most fun night of sixes came to an end and we all went to sleep and had a free day following.
Learn to Relax
For the free day, the camp offered a trip around the island to see some waterfalls and other sites, but we really needed the break after going straight from the Vietnam trip to training. Ryan and I grabbed breakfast and pretty much hid in the room while Aaron went on a hike and went to play. I got my India visa handled and later headed over to the courts to play. I got some good games in and after a few hours decided that my body needed rest. I went and grabbed two dinners and Dan and I decided to get them to go and go watch more pick up. Samoilovs had been traveling with his best friend and wanted to play some doubles, so we had to get back on the court.
Dan is a pretty good player, so to get points, my hand sets just had to be on point. Samoilovs didn’t jump to attack or serve, unfortunately, stating that he had to see my insurance first. Dan and I both got some aces on him but sadly lost our first game. We played him in the rematch and grabbed the win. We never had a chance for the rubber match, so I guess I can say I’m 1-1 against olympic players. Definitely an experience I likely will not get again.
Severely tired, I laid on the side of the court and said I was done playing. Sandra, one of the girls running the camp, offered me up to play and the other guy ran to change. I felt bad saying no after he went to change, so I played. Big mistake, I woke up the following morning with the tightest hamstring.
Everything is Better With Friends
The next two days were the standard two a days of training, but there was a half moon party on the island on that second day. Our final day of training. We all decided to skip it since it was a bit expensive for Thailand and we had the King of the Beach tournament the following day. The group decided to host some games of sand sixes with some special rules. Any time the ball hit the ground inside the court without being touched by that respective side’s team, that team had to drink. They also had to drink if they lost three consecutive points. Our team was at a slight disadvantage as Aaron and I both brought rum and Aaron is big on sharing. Team Rum definitely was not the most coordinated, but we had the most fun. Later in the night, we ended up playing much better and actually pulling out a win. A second time of actually having fun playing sand sixes. BeachBox has some magic skills. Everyone headed off for the Half Moon Party and we got some much needed sleep.
The following day was the King of the Beach tournament, my favorite tournament format. The tournament was split into groups 1 and 2 and groups 3, 4 and 5. Then everyone grabbed a number and the nets were made in numerical order. I got the unlucky draw and was the only one from group 2 on my net. Even worse, my first game was against the two players that everyone thought would win, my good buddies Matias and Dan. I played the worst I think I have ever played against some really good players and didn’t feel good about any of it.
After getting out, I just watched everyone else. Ryan also played poorly and didn’t make it through. Aaron tied for a spot in the next round but had to play a game of volley tennis to take the spot and didn’t end up winning. So we were all out. The BeachBox logo is a lion (because Samoilovs is “The Lion King”) so Sandra added some art to my lion tattoo. Finals ended up being three of the guys from my net, so I didn’t feel too bad. It was a good end to the camp. Following the finals, we were all given certificates for completing the camp and the winners of the tournament were given medals and actual game worn jerseys from the pros.
After that, we all went to a white party at the infinity pool bar mentioned earlier. I don’t travel with white clothes, so I went and picked up a white tanktop with a skull made of flowers on it. The drinks were wildly expensive even for America there, so I kept drinking to a minimum. We all swam and hung out and said goodbye one last time. On the walk there, Samoilovs mentioned that he had wanted the tanktop I had on when he saw it in the store, so I gave it to him, another cool experience I probably won’t get again. Party over, everyone said their goodbyes.
Time Flies
The following day was our last day with Aaron and some of the others from the camp. Woken up with demands of what was going on, I stepped in and planned the day. We would all rent scooters, go to Malibu beach (where the other volleyball nets were) and then head somewhere for sunset. We grabbed breakfast and figured out how many people we had. Eight people, so four scooters. Ryan and I were automatically drivers due to our Vietnam experience. I hadn’t missed driving after how much we did in Vietnam, and the lack of maintenance on the scooters there didn’t make me happy to get back on one.
We made out way to Malibu Beach and were all way too tired to do any serious playing, so we played some laid back fours. Honestly, a great way to say goodbye as we were all involved and just having fun. Some of the group left for the ferry and I found us a bar the watch the sunset.
We made the trek up to 360 bar in the northwest corner of Koh Phangan. The road up to the bar takes you up some pretty steep dirt roads, but we made it. When you park, there is a beautiful view of the ocean. Everyone started taking pictures and a member of the group, Paul, exclaimed how awesome it was. His girlfriend, Milla, pointed to some garbage and replied “Yes, look at this beautiful garbage.”. “And to think he was going to propose.”, I retorted. “Maybe later.”, he shot back. We entered the bar to see the even cooler view to the west that included to island of Koh Ma.
Prices were reasonable, and a purchase was required, so we all grabbed dinner and I got an ice cream bar. While sitting there chatting, Paul pulled something out of his pocket while facing Milla. Confused, I thought “Paul is so dedicated to that joke from earlier, he even found what looks like a ring box.”. As he opened it, Dan and I both sat there with jaws open. Milla was equally dumbfounded. “You still haven’t said yes.”, Paul blurted out. An awesome day topped off with a marriage proposal. We grabbed a bunch of pictures and watched the sunset before taking off. This week will be a hard one to top.
The following day, we went to check out an insane hotel that we all thought was a temple. Ornate architecture and several pools were scattered along the staircases as the property went down to the beach. We checked everything out and went to sit on the beach for a bit. After that, we returned our scooters and grabbed a taxi to Thong Sala, where Aaron would grab the ferry. A stop to Phantip market for his last taste of authentic Thai food and then we took him to the ferry. Traveling so weird in that you spend all day for several days with someone and then they are just gone. Goodbye never quite covers it.
Friendship Catalyst
I have often said that traveling creates my favorite types of friendships. In hostels, you instantly become best friends with people. Especially in a language with a different native language than your own, that person may be the only person you know in that country and maybe even who speaks your language. This creates bonds faster than any other common situation. Ryan was staying on the island after I planned to leave so I shared a hotel with Dan, our new French born American (we’re claiming him) friend from the camp. Dan and I negotiated prices for some scooters near the ferry so we could drop them off when we left. After that, we grabbed a bungalow in one of the western beach towns and headed off to play some volleyball. I played horribly again so I decided my brain needed a volleyball break.
Following the play, we grabbed some dinner and decided to go check out some neighboring beaches. Unlike the always lively Haad Rin we were used to, all of these beaches seemed to die down at 9pm. We rode to several beaches and all of them were dark with no visitors. It was an interesting sight to see the stars with no light pollution and the ocean lit by nothing by boats and the moon. We had planned an early morning hike so we headed home.
Dan had been the one really pushing to wake up at 7am to do the big hike, so when I woke up at 8am, I assumed he wouldn’t be happy with me. When I sat up and saw him laying in his bed, I didn’t feel as bad. We grabbed free breakfast at our hotel and ate looking out onto the beach. In general, I do not appreciate things in the moment as much as I think I should so on this trip I have tried to be very conscious of appreciating things. Eating delicious food on one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet was definitely something I made sure to appreciate.
After breakfast, we met up with Ryan at a nearby waterfall. Due to it being dry season, there was pretty much no water, so it was just rocks. What was supposed to be a short hike turned into over two kilometers. The lack of water let us scramble up the rocks where the water usually runs, making it more of a climb than a hike. After over an hour of walking, we hit a viewpoint of the entire western coast of the island.
I stopped up to the beach to watch Matias and Dan play, but resisted the urge to play to give my brain and body the much needed break. After they were done playing, Dan and I grabbed some Indonesian food that was recommended to us and checked out the night market. I had forgotten how much I missed getting a bunch of different foods for cheap at street markets. On the way bck from the night market, we passed what looked like a carnival at one of the wats. We checked out a bunch of local games, including a ring toss where you could win entire bottls of liquor. I saw soft serve and got a huge vanilla strawberry cone for less than a dollar. This is something I will be sad to leave behind when I leave Asia.
Dan headed to Koh Samui for the day so I planned to take it easy that day. I remembered that Treva, my old neighbor from Ohio State, the one we randomly ran into in a tea shop in Chiang Rai, happened to be on the island that day so I messaged her and found out she was staying at the same hostel as me. She didn’t have a motorbike yet so I offered to scoot her around. Not feeling safe riding without her having a helmet, I stopped at some rental shops to get her a helmet. We stopped at three and all of them wanted more money to rent her a helmet than to give us another bike and a helmet included or just straight up told us no. We opted to get breakfast near where I rented the bike and just got her a helmet where I rented my bike.
After we rode around a bit, I decided I should do some snorkeling. I asked the hostel clerk where I could rent a snorkel and for how much, especially since I had been meaning to try out those new full face snorkel masks. He gave me a confused look and handed me an older style snorkel and separate mask and said I could just take them for free if I brought them back. Not exactly what I wanted but I always down for free. I rode to the nearby beaches that had been suggested for snorkeling. I walked into the water and began swimming through, passing all sorts of different fish and coral. I forgot how beautiful marine life is and was thankful it is so easy to float in salt water. I also remembered why they suggest not have a moustache when wearing a snorkeling mask. It makes it near impossible to form a seal between the mask and your face. Constantly, my mask was filling with water. I continued to breathe through the snorkel and ignored the burning as the salt water filled the nose area of the mask. I walked across the sandbar to Koh Ma and then road off to a few other beaches.
I took the snorkel back and picked up Treva and back to Malibu beach we went. Ryan and I saw some of the people from the volleyball camp and played some sideout with them. After Ryan stopped playing, it was me and three Swedish players who were all better than me. They made a bet on the game in Swedish and then I was notified of the bet. We lost the game and somehow I ended up buying beers for everyone because of it. Thank god Thailand prices are cheap. Back home to take care of some things for India and finally get some sleep.
The End Approaches
It is always funny to me how motivated I become as a deadline approaches. I was fine to lay around the island and do nothing until we played volleyball for days and in the last few days, I had to do everything I could. I made some plans for us to go learn some archery on my second to last day. An older German man named Thomas ran an archery range near where we were staying. For five dollars per person, you got thirty minutes, which included the owner helping you calibrate the sights and teaching you the proper way to shoot an arrow. After each of our bows were calibrated, we went six rounds of shooting. After everyone finished shooting, we retrieved our arrows and Thomas taught us how to add up our scores. As a child, I loved shooting bows and it is still a very satisfying thing to do. Before I left, I had wanted to buy a bow and start that as a hobby but it was a decent investment when I knew I would be fleeing the country (bows don’t really fit in a forty liter backpack and airports probably don’t like them). Side note, there are some really cool places to go shoot in Cleveland if anyone has interest in starting it as a hobby. After the thirty minutes, we all had sore hands so it was the perfect amount of time.
We all went to play and I finally felt like I was back to playing better. Malibu beach is tucked in the Northern coast of Koh Phangan, so sitting in the water post game was a nice relaxation. I had wanted to hit my favorite Haad Rin restaurant, Mama Schnitzel, one last time but no one else wanted to, so I made the thirty minute ride alone. Afterwards, I stopped at the night market for one last sticky rice and mango. We made some plans to do the big hike to the highest viewpoint on Koh Phangan that we missed earlier in the week early in the morning. We were all set to meet there at 7:30am.
When I woke up at 8:15am, I was filled with a bit of regret. It was my last day on the island and everyone was hiking without me because I slept through my alarms. I dropped my bags off because Dan and I were again splitting a room for my last night and stopped off to grab water and snacks. The hike took an estimated one and a half to two hours. I sidelined my regret for missing the hike with everyone and remembered that most of my friends are humans. Lucky for me (and thanks to Jeff), I have that Spartan blood and my body is always ready to blast up mountains. I rode to the hiking trail, strapped my sandals tight, removed my shirt and put an audiobook on my headlines. One hour later, completely soaked from the hour of steep hiking, I arrived at the top to find my friends. They had only beaten me by thirty minutes. The viewpoint was honestly underwhelming, but the hour hike alone was something I had forgotten was such a calming experience for me. We grabbed some pictures and then headed back down the trail.
We headed into town for lunch and then all met back up to play some volleyball. Ryan and I played our last game together and then we all headed to Zen beach so see why it was so popular for sunset. The beach was filled with yogis, people practicing poi, juggling and other skills, and a drum circle. I grabbed a big ear of grilled corn and we all sat and watched the sun creep down behind the ocean. I will never get sick of sunsets over water. We grabbed dinner and ice cream and I said some goodbyes. I headed home and made sure everything was packed and everything was in order for my journey in the morning.
The Storm Before The Calm
I woke up and rode to return my bike. Ryan and Dan met me for breakfast and I finally tried Thai rice porridge. My day would consist of a ferry, a bus, a flight, a taxi ride, another flight, a layover, flight, layover, one last flight and then a taxi ride. It would be about twenty four hours from leaving Koh Phangan before hitting my ashram in Rishikesh, India. Ryan joked that something obviously bad would happen with all of those moving parts, mostly because I was involved. I let my anxiety about the situation subside and enjoyed our final breakfast together.
They walked with me over to the ferry and Ryan and I took a picture together in front of the port together. Over three months of being together every day and it came to an end just like that. My deep love for films and literature always leaves me feeling unsatisfied with goodbyes. I always feel like they should be grand or somehow notable. Three months of adventuring through three countries, countless new friends and a ton of new skills that most people never even think to learn in their lives. All of that has to end with something crazy, right? The action packed trip of a lifetime with your best friend doesn’t just abruptly end…in the movies. We hugged and said goodbye and I walked to the ferry. Hollywood leaves us with such high expectations.
I sat on the ferry and the wave of emotion and anxiety overcame me. Either of us will be quick to tell you that I handled all of the planning and things for the trip, so I wasn’t worried about being stranded or having to handle anything for the remaining travels alone. Now, I was truly alone. My anxieties were not about dealing with the bad things alone, but not having someone with me to experience the good things. Had I appreciated the time as best I could? Three months is a lot of time to spend nonstop with a person, I am sure there are a ton of situations that I could have handled better or enjoyed more. Other than try to appreciate the insane amount of things that we did in the past three months, there was little I could do while sitting on the neverending ferry ride than reminisce.
My ferry finally arrived and I sat at the port and waited for my bus. I took my bus to the airport and made sure I made it to the correct gate. I watched Thai hard court volleyball nationals on a fuzzy television while I waited two hours for my flight. The plane arrived, but boarding didn’t begin. I had three and a half hours for my next layover, and the airport I would land at was thirty five minutes from the airport I had to leave from. Thirty minutes later, we still weren’t boarding. The women at the gate desk informed me it would leave any minute. Thirty more minutes and we took off. Over an hour delay for less than a one hour flight. Now I was down to just over two hours to get to my next flight. The delay also pushed my journey between airports into rush hour time.
I arrived at DMK and had to make to BKK. I acknowledge that the free shuttle would be too slow and headed to the taxi area. The airport taxi area had a queue system and I definitely had no time for that. I opened grab and called a cab and walked ten minutes from the airport for it to pick me up. When I told the cab driver my flight was in two and a half hours, his eyes got huge. I wouldn’t be at that airport for two hours. I told him I have to try. Google said it would take one and a half hours and Google hadn’t failed us yet.
The driver spent the first ten minutes of the ride telling me how I probably won’t make my flight. Great social intelligence from this guy. Google suggested hoping off the expressway and taking streets to avoid a blockage. When I mentioned it, he said no, Google is wrong and continued forward. Google’s predicted time shot up twenty minutes. My anxiety skyrocketed.
We continued forward and Google suggested another change of route that would knock off six minutes. I looked at his GPS and it suggested the same thing. I pointed out that it would save six minutes and he told me six minutes was nothing. I explained that when I am down to twenty five minutes, six minutes is huge. This started a huge argument that ended in me asking him to please take the route the GPS was suggesting. Angrily, he got off the highway…at the wrong exit. Now we sat at a red light while he yelled about me not trusting him and how I would definitely miss my flight now. I tried to explain that he got off at the wrong exit but he was too busy yelling. Cool, now I am late and am getting yelled at. Why didn’t I call a motorbike taxi? They don’t care about traffic and I don’t have to converse with them. My mistake for turning my back on motorbikes.
The driver continued and Google suggested he get back on the expressway. He passed it, exclaiming “Oh, now you want expressway? I thought you didn’t want to be on the expressway before. You make no sense.”. I started some breathing techniques, because I was clearly not going to explain to this man how GPS directions work and I really didn’t want to continue an argument and end up ejecting him from his own taxi. I called Citi to see my options, and they told me that because I was checked in, I had to deal with the airline. I called the airline and they failed to pull up my flight at all, so there was definitely nothing they could do. I hopelessly sat in the backseat watching my ETA approach my flight time.
As we neared the airport, I pulled out money to pay him. He looked at the money and said “What? No tip?”. My usual disdain for people expecting tips was compounded by the fact that this man had actively cost me time and added to my anxiety. I threw him an extra twenty baht and started putting my bags on. As soon as he pulled up, I hopped out and sprinted to the international departures security line. I asked them if I could still make the flight, they waved me through. Twenty five minutes until departure time. I got through security. My bag beeps. That damn screwdriver from Vietnam had made it through four flights, of course it would get stopped now. I reach in, throw out the screwdriver and run off with my bag. I hit passport control. I make it through. Fifteen minutes until departure time. I made it through security and passport control in ten minutes, I got this. I see my flight on the board. “Final Call”, it flashes. I am in C and the flight is in E. I start sprinting wit my almost thirty pounds of bags. It must have been about a kilometer. I began breathing heavy. My legs wanted to quit. I reach the gate, I see the plane. I arrive as a man is locking the gate. “I am on that flight, please let me in.”, I tell the man. “Closed, get another ticket.”, he replies. I plead, telling him I have three other flights. He again responds to get another ticket. I tell him the plane is still there. Another no. Two attendants come out and tell me they have to take me back to immigration. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I genuinely wanted to cry.
They take me the long walk I had sprinted back to immigration and cancel my departure stamp. I am defeated. I walk to an outlet to charge my phone and call my mom. I just want to talk to someone who is not involved to refrain from yelling. I have had Chase handle similar issues with ease, but now I have a Citi card. Not a mistake I will be making again. The flight I missed with a rewards flight booked through Citi. I had another flight in the morning through Citi rewards that had been booked within twenty four hours, and had been eligible for a full refund of points. The initial delayed flight that caused the whole ordeal was booked with my Citi card. I called them, and dealt with the horrendous mess that is their automated system. When I finally got a representative, they immediately transferred me to travel rewards. I never ended up figuring how to dispute the initial delayed flight. I discussed with travel rewards about options for the flight I missed. They explained that they couldn’t help and I had to discuss with the airline. I asked them to cancel my morning flight and refund my points and book me a later flight. Again, they told me that because I was checked in, they could not help. Great, I am doing a myriad of travel planning on poor airport wifi.
I call the missed flight. They tell me that for one hundred and sixty dollars I can have the morning version of the flight I had missed. That’s the best price I had seen. I took it. I checked the AirIndia site for any signs of being able to check out, but all of the reference codes I had been given, including the one to check in to the flight, did not find my flight. I called them and waited on hold for forty minutes without ever reaching a representative. It was now 10pm, I had a flight at 8am and still had to book a hotel. I figured I had done my due diligence, a Citi supervisor could override something. I dealt with their horrible automated interface again. The representative heard my story and apologized, putting me directly through to a supervisor. Immediately she told me she could not help me. I explained to her that none of the numbers they gave me worked and I was on hold for forty minutes with no reply. She told me to wait for longer. Never again will I get a Citi card.
I sat on hold for another hour with AirIndia while booking a hotel and waiting for the shuttle. I finally got a representative. The English was not the best. I explained that I needed to check out of the flight. She asked to cancel the flight. I said no, just check me out. She said she would do that I would receive a confirmation. I asked a second time about the confirmation, she replied yes, I never received one. I arrived at my hotel at midnight. I offered to carry in the bags of an older American couple. While I was carrying their stuff, they were arguing with the front desk about an accidental double booking they needed to cancel. I just wanted to sleep. They walked away to try to cancel while I checked in. Right after I paid, the woman said they couldn’t cancel their room so I could have it for free if I wanted it. Right after I was done paying, the cherry on top of my day. I went to my room and showered.
I called Citi and this time was not my usual polite self. I explained that it had been four hours, Citi had been the opposite of helpful and I just wanted my points refunded. The representative apologized and said he saw that things had been fixed (thanks to my calls earlier). I explained that I had a flight in eight hours and was done dealing with this stuff. He understood and put me on hold for twenty minutes. I resisted my urge to gain psychic abilities and kill him through the phone. Upon returning, he said he could cancel the flight if I gave him permission. I said of course. He replied that I was still checked in and he couldn’t. I almost snapped. I told him I had done more than my due diligence and it needed to be handled. He offered to call the airline for me. I was dumbfounded that the other three representatives couldn’t do that. He offered to call me back in twenty minutes with my options. I told him I would be asleep. I told him I wanted the points and wouldn’t be dealing with anymore phone calls. I still have to call Citi and handle the initial flight and inform them of the nightmare their customer service had been.
The Road to Peace
I woke up in the morning before my alarm. The earliest shuttle was full, so I grabbed a taxi. I got to the airport to find out that my second flight was unable to be checked in. I called the airline again and asked them to settle it. They told me that I had to wait until the layover airport to fix it. A supervisor at the Bangkok airport offered to fix it if I could show her all the necessary documents. Finally, a helpful person. Flights settled, I headed to my gate. It took me about forty five minutes to get through security and passport control this time. I spent the rest of my baht on two slices of pizza, a muffin and a coke zero. The simple comforts. SriLankan Airlines had a good selection of movies on the flight, so that occupied me. At the layover airport, I drank a milkshake while waiting for my two hour layover.
Upon arriving in Delhi, I needed to get the money out for my yoga tuition. The ATMs only let me take out one hundred and fifty dollars at a time and there was a line, so I grabbed a chunk to cover my taxi and some extra. The ashram had booked me a taxi and told me where to meet them so I headed there. Twenty minutes of waiting and no replies to my messages and I began to worry. Finally, they called. He would arrive in ten minutes. I thought the ride would be five hours but he informed me it would be seven. I planned to sleep in the backseat but as we got to the car, he opened the front seat for me. I felt bad telling him I wanted to go in the back so I sat in the front.
The roads in India are not the best maintained, there were limited lights and its similarly aggressive to Thailand, but with mostly cars as opposed to motorbikes. I pulled my buff over my eyes and put headphones on. Every time I woke up, it was to oncoming headlights, which was unsettling. Gas stations in India require you to fully get out of the car, so that didn’t help either. We made a pit stop at the driver’s home for me to meet his family and have some chai tea, which I appreciated but at this point, I had no interest in being social. We got back in the car.
Two hours left, I fell back asleep. I woke up with around an hour left and the driver informed me how tired he was. Yikes. I did my best to hold an interesting conversation. Asking him about himself and asking him to teach me some Hindi. He got me to Rishikesh and informed me that cars can’t cros the bridges over the Ganga river so he would have to go around or the ashram could get me. He got me to the bridge and someone from the ashram picked me up on a motorbike. As he rode through narrow passages and over crushed bricks, I acknowledge that I am not the lightest person and hopped off or pushed off walls whenever we would get stuck. He got me to the ashram. It as 2am and he informed me I could check in in the morning. The days start at 5:30am but lucky for me, the orientation day started with breakfast at 9am. I had booked a shared room but he took me to a private room. I decided to deal with that in the morning and passed out.
That’s the end of the story of the journey to Rishikesh. For the next month, I will be living in an ashram, learning about yoga. This will include learning Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga, as well as meditation, mantras and other aspects relating to the topic. It also includes a yogic diet, much to my dismay. I can get meat in the town but am dedicated to trying to follow the experience as it is presented to me. I will write one big blog post about the whole experience, but intend to get back to the weekly schedule, so I will write some extraneous posts in the next two weeks. Feel free to message me if there is a topic you want discussed or I will write about some other travel related things that never make it in to these.
