Now I’m not sure why, but for some crazy reason, maybe a lack of serious consideration, or maybe the potential for something exciting, I agreed in January to trail around three countries in Asia for four weeks in November with my constantly travel-restless husband. After our six months trip in Europe, we only arrived in Sydney on September 20th. That gave us five weeks to unpack, put everything back in its place at home, catch up with all our friends and family, wade through the pile of paperwork and tax returns, etc., etc., etc. Then it was down to the horror for me, of packing a small travel bag to drag around Asia. I’ve become so used to having everything I need behind me in Eileen, including the kitchen sink, that the thought of living out of that small travel bag, was rather unnerving, to say the least.
We arrived in Bangkok airport after 9.25 hours of movies, food and a little bit of snoozing. It was a horrible long, slow crawl, shuffling to the left and then to the right, along the zig-zag lines to the straight-faced immigration officials. By the time we stepped into the baggage collection area, ours were the only bags still going around and round on the carousel. Normally we’re standing by the carousel wondering why our bags are not making an appearance as quickly as everyone else’s, but this time we were relieved to see they were still there! The queue for the taxi was thankfully not as long as the immigration queue, but the queue of traffic when our driver turned off the motorway, was almost as slow as the immigration shuffle. Two hours after stepping off the plane, we were finally checking in at the Holiday Inn at Sukhumvit 22 in Bangkok. Our view from room 2320 on the 23rd floor was pretty impressive and the room was lovely. Sadly there was no chocolate on the pillow, but for once there was a lovely selection of teas and an assortment of pillows in our room. We slept well and long, then stuffed ourselves at the breakfast buffet; did I really eat three Danish pastries after a full English breakfast….?!
