Tuesday 26 July 2016.  Photos and Videos.
Highlights: Louis Taven Business Lounge.

Today was all about getting to Sri Lanka which made this a lengthy travel day. Luckily that didn’t mean an early day as I had a 12.20 pm flight out from Siem Reap. This meant I had time for a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and time to watch Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention (great speech btw).

I left the hotel with Chris, James and Sarah with Bal and the Royal Angkor Resort staff proving us all with a farewell gift.  The ride to Siem Reap Airport was very short and the airport itself while small had a lot of gift shops and food outlets once airside.  At this point I said goodbye to Chris and James as they boarded there AirAsia flight to Thailand.

The flight to Bangkok was uneventful, service was fine.  At the airport it took a while to explain to Immgration I was only going to be in Thailand for around 7-8 hours before my flight to Sri Lanka.  Unfortunately I couldn’t check my bag though to my final destination as the airlines aren’t aligned.  

After clearing immigration I farewelled the amazing Sarah as she was meeting up with her husband and flying onto Bali and then Australia.  Sarah was probably the person I felt closest to in the group, well probably Sarah and Graham, and I’ll miss her smile and insightful world views, hopefully we will meet again.

While at the Bangkok International airport I found a Burger King to sit at and eat very slowly for over an hour using the last of my Thailand money saved from earlier on the trip.  I worked out to exactly what I had left.  

From here I just walked slowly around the checkin area waiting for Sri Lankan Airlines to open up the flight.  As a Oneworld Sapphire member I was entitled to use the business class checkin and receive a lounge pass, although I had to remind the agent to issue this pass.

For the 3 hours until the flight I mostly stayed in the Louis Taven Business Lounge taking advantage of the free food and drink, nice seats and power charging for my various devices.  One of the best things about airport lounges is the opportinuty to have a shower before your flight, keeps you nice and relaxed and I enjoyed the shower after walking around earlier for several hours especially since Southeast Asia is so humid.

Airport Lounges have their benefits!

The flight itself took off at 9.50 pm local Thailand time and three hours and 20 minutes later landed at 11.40 pm Sri Lankan time (which is 1.5 hours behind Thailand time).  Despite my bag being tagged priority it was almost the last out after I had been waiting 30 minutes from the first bag delivered.  

My driver and guide for the next few days (excluding tomorrow) meet me and I was away to explore Sri Lanka, well at least my hotel.  I was definitely ready for bed given it was 1.30 am local (3 am Siem Reap time, 6 am Melbourne) and looking forward to a free day tomorrow.