Thailand motorcycle tour - day 1: from sleep depravation to Sawatdee Kah!

Well, wasn't day one like a box of chocolates!?!?! There are some clear themes going on! It makes getting on a motorcycle for an 8 day tour from Chiang Mai, Thailand, a walk in the park!

We were happy to start our trip with a midnight flight from Brisbane to Singapore. With the kids busy and car parking not the cheapest, we decided to train it in. Quick trip! Note to self, sitting backwards isn't for me.

Check-in was smooth apart from the inquisitive look from the luggage lady on our carry on soft bag stuffed with 2 motorcycle helmets. It must have looked VERY heavy and somewhat dodgy and as soon as we didn't check it in the hold, she pounced!!! I explained we had to have them as carry on as we needed them to stay safe for our AMAZING THAILAND MOTORCYCLE TOUR. She happily moved us on, ignoring the extra kilo over.

With customs looking as deserted as the streets in the movie I am Legend,, my bag became the focus. The airport security dude quickly sent my hand luggage down the 'dodgy' isle. As the attendant rifled carefully through my perfectly packed bag, I explained I packed pretty much one of everything. He then honed in on my gorgeous new Fox lunch box. Carefully picking it up, he gave me an questioning look.

May I open this mam?

You see, it didn't contain food, but enough medication for 3 weeks of infusions and the obligatory ice pack. No one wants to jab themselves with needles while on holiday, so I was secretly hoping he'd confiscate it. Alas, no such luck and off we went. He was actually really good and didn't even ask to see the paperwork!!! So my visions of being handcuffed and taken away in a paddy wagon didn't come to fruition.

A couple of celebratory glasses of wine (notice mine is bigger-winning) and on we popped. Excited to use my newly refreshed Thai language skills, I happily greeted the flight attendant 'Sawatdee Ka!'. She looked at me puzzled. I was mildly offended until Andy reminded me we were nowhere neat Thailand and were flying Singapore Airlines! Facepalm. 

Much to Andy's disgust, there were no flat beds in sight and you couldn't swing a cat on this super full plane, but we couldn't hear any children so hoped for the best as we stuffed down some chicken tikka and a piece of cake, washing it down with a half pour of SB...at 1am.

Neck minute..... all hell breaks loose and, let's call him Bruiser, has a full on tantrum. After what felt like hour,  the poor mother finally walking him down the isle into a toilet cubicle just near us. I didn't really get any more sleep after that, but I was day dreaming about the 1864 Mae Hong Son twisties I was going to smash, so life was good. 

We had 8 hours to kill in Changi airport before heading to Chiang Mai to meetup with the rest of our friends and fellow riders, so Andy booked us into the Premium Lounge where we were met with the first culinary challenge.... ham chicken. Kinda like spam, but not. I pushed the remains around the plate so it looked like I'd tried really hard to eat it,

Before freshening up we decided we needed a REAL coffee- so off we went in search. Bacha coffee are a franchise. Their decadent shop drew us in like a kid to a lolly shop. But we had no idea what to expect. Oat milk? I don't think so. In fact, they don't serve any milk at all, just black coffee with cream on the side! 

This pic shows what we were given. For our $8.50 Singapore dollars we got black coffee served with real cream in a cup, a glass straw and the cutest little sugar stick. All delivered in its own little serving tray that puts Maccas to shame. The coffee was ok too, thankfully. 

I decided a shower would help refresh me. Upon entering the cubicle, it was clear someone had only just left. It wasn't until I was already undressed that I lifted the toilet lid and dry wretched at the sight. Flushing was never going to work for the previous guest, who had clearly competed in the Guinness World Record competition for eating the most hot dogs and needed a place to 'unload'. Holy sheet batman!

Feeling tense and a little ill, and hoping like hell I hadn't just pickup some sort of new foot fungus from the shower cubicle, I decided it was time for a massage..... I wasn't waiting for cheap Thailand options. This girl needed to relax!

So where do you go for a massage in Changi Airport? BeRelax is in T3 is tucked behind the eatery. They opened at 10 and we were there waiting. Although reluctant, I told Andy it would be worth it as we went facedown into one of those sitting contraptions located at the front of the shop, in full view of people walking by. The masseuse was amazing, but 2 minutes in, there was this god almighty fart, or should I say trail of farts. A crop dust if you will. Moving slowly from left to right, not 2 metres from where we were Be relax'ing'!!! Ten seconds later, off they go again, walking past right where we were being treated. And again!!! 

By this time I'm thinking this is a joke! Was this a joke? Did I fall asleep and was it me? How does someone even hold in that much gas? Curious, but ever respectful I didn't lift my head. But Andy did, and could confirm it was in fact a beautiful elderly gentleman who is clearly hard of hearing, and possibly,...feeling. 

We paid, said our thank yous, then laughed our way back to the lounge, where we decided it was midday in Aus. Time for a Tiger - quite apt as we are riding brand new Triumph Tigers on our tour thanks to Bike Tour Asia. 

We headed through security into the lounge. My lunch box holding my medication went unnoticed thankfully. As we grabbed our gear off the rollers, another motorcycle helmet rolled out. Not shy, I stopped for a chat with the most interesting older gent, who had travelled the world riding through countries and lands most would only dream of. What an inspiration this man was. Covid had hamstrung him for the last few years, and this was his first venture from NZ. We hope to catch up for a chat at the Riders Corner on our first day in Chiang Mai. 

Flight was fairly quick. Enough time for the freeze dried cheesecake we were given, to thaw enough to be eaten. It was yummy! The view of the storm in full flight as we came into Chiang Mai was spectacular .It was like a sheet of rain and made me thankful we didn't forget our rain gear!

Scott from Bike Tour Asia picked us up met us at the airport. We quickly settled into our room, shattered and looking forward to having a good hard look at the backs of our eyelids and dream about the impending curves.

We made it! 

Sa-wat-di Ka!!!!