Friday 4 October – Saturday 5 October – Bangkok – Melbourne
Friday 4 October
Up at 8.30am.
It was here when I went to sleep, but now it’s really here.
We’re down to hours, and not that many of them.
An overwhelming feeling of flatness, along with some body aches; I feel ordinary. To the point that I’d actually find it easier just to pack up now and leave.
I hate that, but I’m tired. I think the whole thing has caught up with me, and it’s now become a real struggle.
But, we’ve got the last day to do, and doing it, is what’s going to be done.
Out about 9.00am, and it’s drizzling.
Wonderful. That just adds to the whole thing.
Down the street; I’m not even interested in a coffee; and then over to Sathorn Pier, with the plan being Chinatown.
Tickets at 30 Baht each purchased, with still no real understanding of the pricing system, and then we do my favourite thing of sitting and waiting.
Finally it arrives, and we’re on our way. Stopping at, and then passing, the shopping centre that is Iconsiam – why does it annoy me so much? – and then eventually on to Ratchawong, for Chinatown.
Off the boat, and then a bit of aimless walking in the general direction.
Streets, mainly of rustic commercial type places, then become narrow alleys of typical market type stuff.
And, probably not surprisingly, of the Chinese variety.
Parts of it is really interesting, but the drizzle, which is perhaps more rain, is impacting things quite a bit, with us spending most of the time trying to avoid it.
And when you do that, well, you miss stuff, as you’re more interested in what your feet are stepping in, as well as looking to see which tarpaulin is funnelling the largest stream of water.
More walking, more dodging, lots of unknown food stuff of Chinese origin on display, and very few photos taken, mainly because of the rain.
It then gets busy, to the point that moving forward is greatly hindered.
I reach the stage where I no longer want to fight it, so we escape to the busier roads, which are nowhere near as interesting, but far easier to navigate.
There’s decorations up, which I assume is for the Buddhist holiday, and with it, lots of temporary carts line the road, selling different food items.
The food reminds Lisa that we’ve not eaten, but I’m not interested in food.
That then, for some reason, prompts an argument, with Lisa ‘insisting’ that I need to eat something.
Really?
I’m not sure if it’s so she feels better that she’s not eating on her own, or if it’s more that she’s just in the mood for an argument.
All I do know, is that it’s not out of concern for my wellbeing.
Yep, I think we’ve been away a bit too long…..
She ends up with spring roll type things, and to appease her, I have a taste.
“Thanks, but you can have it”, is my not unsurprising response.
We find a small café, and I relent, mainly because I just really need a rest. It’s a struggle.
Iced tea (50 Baht) for Lisa, orange and mandarin (95 Baht) for me.
The chance to sit down is the best part of the experience, with the orange thing just too sweet, and nowhere near cold enough.
Back out, past a cat under a car, with just the remnants remaining of the small bird whose day is well and truly over, and then back in the general direction we came in on.
Not sure he was happy being interrupted…..
More narrow alleys are found, but these ones contain, well….., pretty much everything.
Clothing, hats, keyrings, hair decorative stuff, knick knacks of uncountable variety, even Christmas decorations.
There is just so much stuff, and confirmation that I really shouldn’t feel guilty when I purchase, or use, a plastic bottle full of water. Or even when I ask for a plastic bag.
A bit more walking, a little more head shaking, and the interest, which declined significantly after seeing the Christmas stuff, along with the rapidly diminishing hours we have left, necessitate a move needs to be made.
Out of the market, and into ‘normal’ streets, we make our way back to Ratchawong Pier, around 12.15pm.
A quick 2 Baht toilet stop, tickets purchased; this time 40 Baht; and then straight onto the boat.
Down the river for the final time, and then off at Sathorn Pier.
Back towards our area, giving the food court place a wide berth, and then into our street.
A local guy, just down from the Pas Cher, is found, and we head in. Crispy pork with rice, along with a little token green stuff (60 Baht), and it’s, well…., it’s food.
It’s far from awful, but like every other meal we’ve had, with the exception of dinner on our first night, it’s just all been a little underwhelming.
That’s not a criticism of Thai food, that’s more about luck, where we’ve found ourselves at different times, and probably also poor decision making on my part.
But it’s not all lost, as our guy was incredibly friendly, and I loved the, albeit brief, interaction with him.
Lunch done, apparently we need a book.
Back up our street, and over the road next to the modern shopping centre. According to Google, it’s supposedly beside it.
I can tell straight away it’s not, but we still have to go through the motions of looking for it.
Finally that’s given up, and we head inside, for what I know, seeing as she wants a Thai book for art stuff, is going to result in no purchase happening, even if we can find the bookstore.
First level scoured, then the second, and eventually, we find the elusive shop.
It’s all new books, as it was always going to be in a modern shopping centre, and while Lisa browses books that she won’t buy, I head off to see if I can find anything of interest.
Not surprisingly, I can’t, with it all not helped by the fact that most of them are wrapped in plastic, and can’t be opened anyway.
Commonsense eventually prevails, and Lisa gives up on her quest.
Back to the Pas Cher a bit after 1.00pm, and a short, but much needed, rest and recovery session is had, interrupted by a not terribly enjoyable toilet visit.
It’s not stopping me, but gee it’s still hard work.
Some packing, a few notes, and then really wanting to avoid letting this all peter out, I head off around 2.45pm to do my thing for the final time.
Around the corner, over to my girls, and I receive knowing smiles.
I’m going to miss them.
Seat taken, beer quickly arrives, and my world just seems that little bit better.
The usual sights, the usual little interactions, and they have no issue with me helping myself at their esky, when they get a little busy.
That slight desire to give up and leave this morning, has now been replaced with a strong desire not to.
The rollercoaster of travel, with this trip giving it up in spades……
As much as I try and ignore it, the clock keeps ticking, until time is up.
The bill is sorted, and as it is, I ask about buying a glass bottle of Coke, to take as a souvenir.
Alas, they are refillable, and my request sadly, but politely, declined.
I explain that we leave tonight, and give them a heartfelt ‘kap khun ka’, for the way they’ve looked after me, which they seemed to both understand and appreciate, even though I probably got my feminine / masculine thing wrong.
Back to the Pas Cher for the final time, but with a slight detour, because I am a good husband, to my old lady for a can of Coke (18 Baht).
A kap khun ka given, a smile received, but the urge to let her know we’re leaving is resisted, as it would likely be a bridge too far.
Into the lift, and just because, I go the long way, via the rooftop.
The pool is basic, but the view pretty good, and I realise we’ve missed an opportunity, if for only one beer, to take it all in.
Oh well, next time…..
Back to the room; Lisa’s misplaced her home sim card – which is my fault, apparently – and a shower had, followed by the final pack.
Job done, we head down to surprise them with the news that we’re checking out, seeing as we booked the extra night so we could keep the room for the day.
I suspect he thinks we’re unhappy, and while we might be a little that way with each other at the moment, we have no issue with the hotel.
Door card handed back, and 500 Baht returned, which I’d completely forgotten about, and which has now given me more Baht than I really wanted to be carrying at this stage.
Outside at 5.00pm, and then the walk to Saphan Taksin station. Tickets bought at something like 96 Baht, and we’re quickly on the train and on the move by 5.15pm.
It’s busy, but not overly crowded, and after a change of trains at Siam station, which like coming in, required a simple walk across the platform to an already waiting train, we navigate the final brief leg to Phaya Thai station, reaching it at 5.45pm.
Just so, so simple.
A short-ish walk, airport train line found, 90 Baht paid for two tickets, and we’re again on our way.
The sights of a very busy Bangkok below are taken in, with me being not at all unhappy about being up here.
All too soon Bangkok disappears, as we enter the airport, pulling up at 6.15pm.
One hour and 15 minutes since we walked out of the Pas Cher, which is exactly the same time frame it took, when we went from the airport to the Pas Cher a little more than 48 hours ago.
Seriously efficient, and seriously beyond anything we’re capable of back home.
Into the terminal, up several flights of escalators; no one in danger of being bumped off this time; and we manage to find our Jetstar check-in.
No waiting, checked in and finally rid of the big bag, we’re on our way to immigration at 6.35pm.
Immigration is also seamless, and we’re straight through to find where we need to be.
The signs tell us it’s a ten minute walk, but I wonder if that allows for time wasted, when adjustments have to be continually made when everyone seems to get in my way.
Airport people…..
The gate is eventually found, mental note taken, and we head back to find somewhere for dinner, stopping briefly to get told off by a cleaning lady, when I almost walk into the wrong toilet.
She thought it was funny, which it was, but the realisation that perhaps I too am an airport person, did hurt somewhat.
Dinner place decided, green curry at 310 Baht, along with a big boy’s drink of one litre of Chang (560 Baht), and a little girl’s drink of a Tiger stubby (199 Baht).
The food eventually arrives, and it looks nothing like a green curry, with pictures in the menu suggesting it’s congee.
I don’t even really know what a congee is, apart from it looking like something we used to feed the kids when they were babies.
Lisa’s now unsure if she ordered correctly, but having now reached a point where I no longer really care about all things Thai food related, I set about eating what we’ve been given.
It’s actually not too bad, and I’ll certainly keep it in mind should I ever lose all my teeth.
Dinner done, and as we’re finishing our beers, a waitress comes up, all very apologetic, when she realises the mistake.
Doesn’t matter, and it’s all sorted, including the adjustment of the bill, with the baby food being 100 Baht cheaper than the curry.
With our restaurant lacking any real atmosphere, we head off to find somewhere else to wait it out, finding a small bar with stools out in the open, which helps with the people watching.
A few more beers, and then a ready-made sandwich, partly to deal with too much in the way of Baht left over, and partly to solve the problem with the baby food having already moved on.
Lisa then, miraculously, manages to find her ‘lost’ sim card.
I get no apology.
With thanks to Flightradar, I know our incoming plane has arrived on time, so we make a move a bit before 9.00pm.
Gate re-found, we sit and wait for a bit, watching the slowest moving boarding queue I have ever seen.
The inevitability of it all….
Toilet used, more Baht used up on nuts and a Kit Kat chocolate bar, and then we join the almost stationery line.
Finally reaching the front, all is revealed, when we see everyone’s bag being thoroughly checked for liquids, including water.
Ours is hastily drunk, and we’re soon on the plane at the very non-pointy end, and in the middle, in row 48.
Trip Advisor is checked while we wait, which as it turns out, wasn’t a great idea, as I read something that Duc, who I only met a few days ago, has written about me.
My eyes lose the ability to see clearly, and speech becomes difficult, while I can do little else than to, not just think about our catch up, but also Vietnam the country, and its people.
Again, the people we get to meet on this journey.
We’re pushed back a bit after 10.00pm, and then in the air just before 10.30pm.
Sleep is attempted, and while it feels like an abject failure, the flight actually feels like it went reasonably quickly, so perhaps more was achieved than I thought.
Saturday 5 October
Getting close to Melbourne, and the announcement that it is currently 15°C is not an overly welcome one.
Back on the ground at 9.40am, which equates to a touch over eight hours in the air, and then after all the usual stuff, finally into the terminal.
We reach the automatic passport checker machines, and there’s people everywhere. It’s absolutely out of control, to point that I can’t even see them.
And yet Bangkok can do it……
Eventually through, and then off to retrieve our bag around 10.30am, with it arriving reasonably quickly.
Off to customs, and it makes passport control look like a walk in the park.
Welcome home!
Again, Bangkok…..
Fortunately, with nothing to declare, it moves quicker than it initially looked like it would.
Having restarted my phone, several times, to wake it up to the fact that it’s now back ‘home’, I still have no reception.
In desperation, Lisa’s earring is used to remove the Thai sim card, which then allows my local one to start doing its thing.
Thought they would have worked together…..
And it’s done…..
Outside, Lisa books an Uber ($77.00), seeing as both kids are ‘busy’, and we’re soon on our way at 10.45am, being driven by a guy who really should be doing a non-driving job.
Onto the freeway, then onto the Ring Road, and then off in a direction that I would never have dreamed of going to get home.
He’s not helping……
Finally there at 11.45am, and it’s inside to welcome back real life.
I feel like crap. Dizzy and light-headed, as well as ‘sea-sick’, from the bouncing around overnight.
I give up, and go to bed, managing to eek out an hour and a half.
It helps, but not with my mood.
I’m flat. Depressed even, and really struggling to believe it’s all over.
Of course, it’s all first world problem stuff, but telling myself that, isn’t really helping.
We had a great time, despite the occasional moment or issue that cropped up, and it was great to see just a little snippet of Bangkok.
I have some friends who couldn’t work out why we were spending any time there, but I’m glad we did, as what we did see, for the most part, I really enjoyed.
And to the point that I could see myself returning.
But again, it was Vietnam.
It just has me, and I can’t ever imagine a time when I would reach the point where I would say goodbye.
So, the next one?
I don’t know. And that’s what makes this whole feeling worse.
Three trips in three years has been a lot, so it may not happen in 2025.
If not 2025, then the plan would definitely be 2026.
Maybe a bit more of Thailand?
Maybe Laos?
Maybe somewhere else in south east Asia.
Partly because I love the area, but mainly because we can tie in Vietnam so easily.
Hey, got too much Vietnamese Dong left over, not to.
Cheers,
Scott
seriouslynot 