Another lie-in until 08.30 in my lonely king size bed and by the time I had a long shower and slowly got my act together it was 09.30 before I got myself down to breakfast. They do the best crispy bacon here so, I had double portions.
Following breakfast I went for a quick stroll outside and found that it must be extremely humid today as I very quickly broke into a sweat. This decided me to have a lazy day in preparation for my flight to the UK tonight. I had been going to visit the “Chatuchak Weekend Market” as advised by the “Groovy Map” guide but, the thought of battling my way through hoards of sweaty bodies in this hot, humid atmosphere just did not appeal.
Back in my nice cool air-conditioned hotel room, I finished yesterday’s Blog, inserting a selection of last night’s photos and then got it published, so that I am now fully up to date before flying home.
That took me until 12.00 and I spent the rest of the day storing up a few Zeds, reading and surfing the Internet, still searching for appropriate Christmas presents. Finally, at 3.30 pm I made Skype contact with Eileen what is the final time before getting back to the UK.
Following our great chat I had another shower and completed packing by 5.30 pm then watched TV for a while before requesting that my bags be collected at 5.55. Checking out from the hotel turned out to be a bit problematic as they had made a mistake with reckoning the bill and had also failed to order my car to the airport although my confirmation voucher clearly indicated a round trip. However, all was eventually sorted out and I arrived at the airport at about 7.30 pm. This, of course, is well early but there was an early check-in operating and I was soon relieved of my large case and issued with boarding passes through to Manchester.
The next hurdle was passport and security control where I was relieved of my belt and shoes before they would let me through. I was having to hold my trousers up to stop them slipping to my knees. (Did I tell you I’ve lost weight during this trip?) I was now on the departure gate side of the airport so sought out somewhere to sit and get something to eat where I could also draft this Blog. The Silom Village Restaurant served a very nice Thai meal although they tried to give me a beer that I hadn’t ordered. The only thing left to do was to wait for boarding at 11.40 pm.
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| Bangkok Airport Check-In Hall |
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| Shrine in Bangkok Airport Check-in Hall |
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| The "Correct" Name of Bangkok Airport |
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| Bangkok Airport Departure Lounge |
Monday 13th December Arrival Is Often Better Than Travelling
At long last it was time to board and I found myself in the fortunate position of being in an aisle seat on the centre block and having the seat next to me vacant. This meant that I was able to spread out and relax more than would normally have been possible so I was actually able to get a couple of hours sleep during the flight and the 13 hours eventually passed without too much pain, with the aircraft landing at Heathrow and coming to a stop at about 05.50. I therefore had 2 hours to make the transfer from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 through the bus transfer and security checks which seem to be interminable.
However, after about 75 minutes I had successfully jumped through all of the hoops and completed the obstacle course and was seated at the appropriate Terminal 5 departure gate, although somewhere along the way I had lost my hat.
Almost inevitably there was a delay to our departure and by the time we were airborne from Heathrow we were 40 minutes behind schedule. However, at this stage I was past caring because I was now on the final leg to Manchester. The aircraft made up a little of the lost time and we landed at Mcr at 09.20 so, by the time I had collected my large case and found my way outside, it was 09.40 and I had actually arrived before my daughter Samantha who had kindly volunteered to pick me up.
After a 15 minute wait, I saw what I thought was Samantha’s car pulling into the pickup point but was confused to note that there seemed to be 2 people in the car. However, I was absolutely delighted to find that Eileen was the other person and I rushed to hold her in my arms. It seems that the two of them had hatched the plan, to meet me together, some 3 weeks before and I had not even remotely suspected. But, I was absolutely over the moon and the discomfort of the long-haul flight was forgotten in an instant.
The journey up the M6 and onto the M55 was all but lost in the joy of being home and the excitement of catching up with Eileen and Samantha and we arrived home in what seemed to me, to be no time at all.
The rest of the day passed in something of a blur until, all too soon, Samantha had to drive us to Preston railway station so that Eileen could catch her train home where she needed to be for the following morning. I managed to stay awake during the return trip home and until Eileen phoned to confirm her safe arrival but then, the long day and jet lag made its presence felt, and with my Antipodean Adventure finally complete, I made my weary way to bed. Good night all, I hope that I haven’t bored the socks off you. It has been a brilliant experience for me in which I visited some amazing places and met many great people, amongst them, many Australians who thought that what I was doing was great and something that they wanted to do if they could ever find the time.
In the next week or two, I will try to put together a summary of my adventure with a few of the statistics and publish that as a footnote to the Blog. Should anyone wish to know anything more, please feel free to contact me directly on johnwb@aol.com and I will respond as soon as I am able.
You may be relieved to know that I have now cut the beard down to size as one of the first things on arrival home. Here are before and after pictures for you amusement.
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| The "Wild Man" look |
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| Cut Down To Size |
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