6 Counties in 4 days sounds like an absolute nightmare. I’m sure you’re wondering why on earth I chose to go to 6 countries in 4 days. How could I enjoy any of them? Am I totally insane?! Perhaps I should clarify things a wee bit. You see, this epic journey from Cape Town to Penang was slightly out of my control. After spending 6 weeks traveling from Kenya to Cape Town with Intrepid, I was due to fly to Penang, Malaysia. Intrepid booked my flights for my Africa trip, and due to logistical reasons, they thought it would be best for me to fly out of and return to Toronto. Which is fine, except I then needed to fly from Toronto to Bangkok and then on to Penang. Enter my 6 countries in 4 days scenario.
As i arrived at the airport in Cape Town and checked in for my first flight, I knew what was ahead of me. I knew I would be exhausted by the time I got to Penang. I knew I would be sleeping in airports. I knew there was nothing I could do, expect suck it up and accept it.
While waiting for my flight to board I made the decision to keep track of my journey. Kind of like a statistical tally of sorts (hope that makes sense, my brain is still on auto-pilot). So, instead of boring you with a long chronological post, I’m going to break things up and give you the stats. Enjoy!
Miles Flown: 24,459 +
Hours in the Air: 42 hours
Layover Hours: 44 hours
Airports: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur & Penang
Continents: 4 (Africa, Europe, North America & Asia)
Times Zones crossed:
Movies Watched: Thor, Hanna, Bridesmaids, Rio, Kung fu Panda 2, Arthur, Pirates of the Carribean
Hours Slept: 18 hours
Money Spent: 70 Rand, 50 Euro, 70 HK Dollars, 500 Baht
FREE Wifi: Amsterdam, Toronto, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur
For the most part my flights were fine. Sleeping on the floor in the airports was not a lot of fun and having long layovers in Amsterdam, Toronto and Hong Kong sucked out my will to live. On my flight from Toronto to Hong Kong I was a zombie and managed to score a second meal with lots of buns with butter as I was feeling a tad light-headed.
Needless to say, by the time I was in Hong Kong (on day 4), I was exhausted. In fact, as I sat and waited for my flight to Bangkok I began to look for flights to Penang. I didn’t have a lot of money on me and thought of using my Asiamiles instead. When I found a flight that I could afford with my miles, I sent a Facebook message to Colin & Tracy Burns and Christine Gilbert. This is what it said…
“Colin Burns, Tracy Burns & Christine Gilbert Opinion Poll…. I have a credit with Delta Airlines. I could use it to fly from BKK to PEN, however it will take 33hrs as there is a 4.5hr layover in Narita & a 15hr layover in Taipei. Should I? (my mind is almost mush at this point)”
Clearly, I was delusional. Thankfully I was turned down as I needed to book 15 days in advance. In the end I made the call to fly with Air Asia via Kuala Lumpur -after a much needed rest in Bangkok for a night (in a bed).
Many people have asked me why I decided to take the route that I did. Here is my answer…Half of the trip was out of my control. It happened. I survived. I will probably never do it again.
About Pamela