a memorable ride to the airport

It's Saturday at 8 am in Seoul, Korea airport. Just completed my first 24-hours in transit home. The morning began in Railay, Thailand with a longtail boat ride (the good news is that the tide was higher, so we were able to manage our bags easier). We reserved an a/c mini-van ride to Phuket airport (3 1/2 hours). Well, it was not quite what we expected, but, hey, as long as it got us to the airport in time...the price was right.

All was going pretty smoothly in the crammed, old, and slow van...but it was suspicious when our driver who did speak any English handed Jon the phone about half way to the airport. The lady on the other end asked what time our plane left. Wierd, we thought! Well, about 15 kilometers from the aiport the van just stops. The driver again hands the phone to us. The lady was really hard to understand, but we did understand "wait for another van for an hour" and "police." At this point we and the young Swedish couple with us were really getting frustrated. We tried to make the drivers take us to the airport, but they would not budge! Finally, they said "police" and put their wrists together behind their backs to make the point. At that point a man in a truck pulled up and we quickly decided to pay him to take us to the aiport!! One kilometer up the road was a police stop. It started making more sense, apparently our driver and his friend didn't want to meet the police up the road. HA! Who knows why?? All we know is that we made it to the aiport safe and sound with a memorable ride to the airport.

Now I have 7 more hours to kill before my final plane ride to LAX! I arrive Saturday at 10 am, So Cal time!