I know it’s been awhile since the last posting, but we’ve
been busy with our move and settling in.
So far, we’re loving our new home of Chiang Mai, Thailand. We’re slowly settling in and getting
our to-do lists done! We are
familiar with the city, have moved into our house, unpacked our furniture,
set-up Aidan’s room, and are exploring every nook and cranny of Chiang Mai.
The biggest challenge of the move so far has been the
dogs! Ron literally spent
the last 6 weeks we were in the US talking to Delta Airlines about getting our
dogs to Thailand. Initially, it seemed
so easy, but everyone at Delta that we talked to gave us different
information. It literally seemed
that Delta never moved dogs before (which is not true). Ron made several trips to the Seattle
airport to talk to Delta staff in person, and he even brought the dogs and
their carriers for a run-through/pre-approval. After all of that, Ron ended up making a lion cage for Bleu-
the wooden “room” is almost 6 feet long, 4 feet high and 3/5 feet wide (it
doesn’t fit in our house so sits in the driveway and someone has yet to come
over that hasn’t complemented it)!
It is rather impressive and was cleared through “inspections” of Delta
Cargo!
Ron and I were extremely nervous the days up until we
moved. Not only were we moving to
a new country, but we weren’t sure if the dogs would be on our flight or how we
would get them out of Customs in Bangkok.
Ron called the Thai Embassy in Washington, DC, who then called Thai
Quarantine and Customs. They gave
us the go-ahead with the dogs and said that our process would be expedited
(which we foolishly believed).
On Sunday, the day we moved, Patton, Christie and Tony took
us, the dogs and all 8 suitcases to the airport. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends who spent
a good part of their day seeing us through! It made leaving Washington that much more difficult knowing
that we wouldn’t be seeing them as often as we would like!
Once at the airport, we were able to check-in without any
issues! Paige and Kai’a were checked
as baggage in the airport. Once
they were all clear, we bid them our good-byes and wished them luck before
heading to Delta Cargo to work with Bleu.
There were forms upon forms, but finally, Bleu was all set to go. He was going to be on our flights, just
in the cargo hold.
Ron and I couldn’t have been any more relieved that all 3
dogs were checked in and ready to go.
Finally, we could relax, laugh and take a deep breath!
The flights to Bangkok went really well. The flight attendants updated us on the
temperature of the cargo hold and they all knew the dogs were on board. We even saw Bleu’s carrier on the
tarmac in Tokyo! I really wish I
knew what they were thinking and what was going through their minds during this
adventure!
Once we arrived in Bangkok, we were able to clear
immigration without any issue.
Paige and Kai’a were at baggage claim, crying like crazy. Poor girls- they had no idea what had
just happened or where they were.
I brought all their forms to quarantine, where 2 quarantine officials
worked to clear the dogs. After
multiple stamps on the same sheet of paper and $30.00 later, all 3 dogs were
cleared without inspection or even a glance.
Once outside the airport, we were met by another Army
officer that is stationed in Bangkok.
He was wonderful and had arranged for 2 vans to come pick us up. After loading our 8 bags, 2 dog
kennels, carry-ons and empty stroller (yes, we pushed that through the airport
so we wouldn’t have to pay for another bag of checked baggage- we seemed crazy
to the security personnel), we loaded in.
We then began the epic search of finding Bleu.
In Bangkok, Delta outsources its cargo to BFS: Bangkok
Flight Services. There isn’t a
cargo area, but a “Free Zone”- a separate section of the airport that requires
you to pay and show an id to enter. After driving around the airport for almost an hour, we
finally found the “Free Zone.”
Once inside, Ron was able to locate Bleu about an hour later (thank
goodness for his Thai as no one spoke English).
Bleu was safe and sound inside BFS. Just as we were about ready to load him
up, we were told we couldn’t because he wasn’t cleared through customs. After discussions, showing the
officials all of our pre-approved paperwork and offering bribes (a common thing
to do here), we still weren’t allowed to take Bleu. Ron and I had joked before our trip that if Bleu couldn’t
leave the airport, I wouldn’t leave the airport….
Well, since Bleu couldn’t leave the airport and we had no
idea where the customs office was or how we would locate/clear Bleu if we left
the “Free Zone,” we decided that I would stay. Ron had to in-process at the Embassy in 6 hours (it was now
1AM), so he headed to the hotel with Paige and Kai’a while I stayed.
At first, the employees were shocked that I was staying with
my dog, but I kept saying I wouldn’t leave him (especially after some joked
that he would taste good…although Thais traditionally don’t eat dogs, especially
white ones (just black), I didn’t trust that something wouldn’t happen). I was given a “Visitor’s Badge” and was
lead to the “Live Animal Hold” room.
The room was actually a small closet that was
air-conditioned. I was told I
needed to stay there with Bleu.
The staff brought me in a chair and a large sheet of paper that I could
lay on. In the corner, taking up
about ½ of the room, were 4 stacked wooden crates. Luckily, I didn’t look to see what was inside that night.
Bleu was restless in the room…he kept circling and insisted
on lying between me and the crates.
Finally, we both laid down and I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep,
using my purse as a pillow and my cardigan as a make-shift blanket. Bleu didn’t sleep at all.
At 6AM, I went to the bathroom, only to come back to the
Animal Hold to find the door locked.
Bleu had locked it accidentally!
It took over 30 minutes to find someone that had a key to the room, but
finally, someone did! That was a
scary thought thinking Bleu was locked in that room without a key, which would’ve
added just yet another complication to my day!
Once back in the “closet,” I turned on the light and really
noticed the 4 crates. The first
thing I noticed was, “REPTILE.” I
thought, “Oh NO! Snakes!” Then, I read, “Non-poisonous snakes,”
and I thought, “Oh, good.” Then I
saw, “500 live scorpions.” My
first thought after seeing that was, “Oh good, there aren’t any snakes in
there” before I realized, “HOLY S***!!!!!! I just slept in a room with 2,000 live scorpions!!!!!”
I then realized why Bleu was so restless and why he insisted
on lying down between me and the crates.
I then loved on Bleu like crazy as he became an even more perfect dog
that night! I sat in the chair and
for the next 2 hours, Bleu was able to finally get some sleep knowing I had
taken over scorpion watch!
At 8AM, the customs office in the Free Zone opened. I’ll spare the details, but I literally
spent the next 3 hours going from building to building, office to office,
trying to clear Bleu. There were 2
Thais that were a significant help to me, and I’ll be eternally grateful! After more forms, countless stamps (I’ll
never understand all of the stamping), and a few fees (some I’m not sure I
needed to pay), Bleu was cleared!
I literally did a happy dance!
But then…how was I going to get Bleu and his lion cage to Bangkok, which
was 45 minutes away.
After asking a lot of people and using charades, I was
finally able to find a driver that would drive Bleu, his kennel and I into
Bangkok for $30.00 in the back of his covered pick-up. We loaded Bleu in the back of his truck
in his kennel and were off!
Keep in mind that all this time, Ron and I didn’t have cell
phones so Ron had NO idea what was going on. He spent the morning in-processing and asking everyone he
could if they could call the airport customs to help me. Somehow, someone at the hotel had told
him I had checked in around 10AM, so Ron stopped worrying (even though I was
still in the “Free Zone” at that point).
I’m glad this happened though so Ron could relax and not stress.
When we finally made it to the hotel, Ron was just getting
back from in-processing around noon.
He saw me in the lobby and I just ran to him and gave him the biggest
hug. He was really confused why
Bleu was in his cage in a truck outside until I explained the whole story to
him. He was shocked at how crazy
my night had been, but was definitely very proud of me! :)
Once we had Bleu in the room, Ron told me that Paige and
Kai’a had gotten out of the room that morning. Our room had a latch door, which Kai’a knows how to open by
jumping up using her paws. Ron had
gone to breakfast and 15 minutes later, he found Paige on the stairwell when he
was going back to the room. Paige
was on the stairwell of floor #2, our room was on floor #4. Kai’a was found on floor #6. Thank goodness the girls didn’t make it
down to the lobby or they would be loose in Bangkok with the hotel’s automatic
doors!
The whole story made me laugh at our “kids.” Despite all of the travel, they were
still themselves….Bleu was beyond perfect and protective, Kai’a caused some
trouble, and Paige simply went
along for the ride!
I think Ron and I will always laugh about the night we
cleared Bleu through customs. It
is now known as the “Night we slept with 2,000 scorpions” and we call Bleu our
Scorpion King!
