A day out at BKK (2 - 6 January 2012)

So the last few days here in Phuket are not too dissimilar to the first! Lots of relaxing, hopeful market browsing, the continued search for decent why why... But generally a lot quieter as the whole Xmas and New Year business is over so the loud fireworks are a little less, until last night of course when I was trying for an early night due to my early start tomorrow... The biggest challenges each day are crossing the road (but the hotel lollipop man is very helpful) and deciding where to eat. I have come to realise that my choice of restaurant relies on various factors, which are, in order of importance: Is there a smell of drains wafting in Do they have decent why why Is there wifi Is the food any good And am also sorting the domestics for moving on. I am planning to leave some stuff at Bangkok Airport rather than cart it all over Burma. I had to buy a bag to use for this and am now the (not so) proud owner of a rather bad Diesel fake, the best I could find. Non fake label bags either had Thai elephants all over them or pictures of cutesy kittens..... Ant may be using this bag to take my warm clothes back to the UK so it was the lesser of all the evils, although he may not agree..... But if they had been cutesy pictures of golden cocker spaniels, who knows.... So what to pack in which bag? Warm clothes for Lake Inle, cool clothes for Yangon where the temperatures this week have been over 30C. Shoulders covered seem to be de rigeur in Burma, so every top with any sort of sleeve. The advice is not to leave anything of value at Left Luggage so will take my phone but no chance of it working as there is no international roaming there.... will feel a bit strange.


In order to guarantee the connection to Yangon, I had to take the 7am flight from Phuket, the later flight, at a much more civilised hour, would have been a problem if it had been even slightly delayed. But no delays this morning and I found myself sleepily wafted to Bangkok airport, sitting in Starbucks by 9am. My next flight is at 16.20, so it's a day at the airport for me. But I had domestics to do here too. I needed to transfer the stuff I was leaving behind into my new bag and deposit it at left luggage. I don't understand how this always happens. I started out with 22 kgs in London, I have bought very little, just a couple of light blouses, I have left behind some old t shirts, I have dumped a very heavy bag in left luggage, but my bag still weighs 20kgs. So much for travelling light... But I have stocked up on Mozzie milk, these must be heavyish as the bottles are glass, but the increase in weight always seem to happen and is a mystery to me. And I still have to do the Boots run for conditioner and Soltan when I go through, I am not expecting to be able to buy any Western goods in Burma. Given there are no ATM's, I guess Pantene might just be off the agenda too. I also needed to take my new iTouch to the VAT office for a pre claim inspection so I can get a few baht back. But I have been able to check in with Air Asia and drop my bag even all these hours ahead - can't see that happening with easyjet... I love the Thai language. The Burmese Government would say I am going to Yangon, the British Government say I must call it Rangoon, but the Thai's mash the two, and it now appears to be Yangoon. So buddhist, always the middle way! So now at 11am, all my jobs done, I have nothing left to do but catch up on this blog and let the excitement really build. As I sit here, not a lounge in sight, Ant and David are hopefully on their way, lording it at the front of the plane, and will probably arrive better rested than me. Well I hope they arrive and are not delayed, Ant has most of my dollars and without them I am stranded. There is no other way to get cash and only dollars will do...


Eating a bad meal before my flight to get wifi....., restaurant called "the miracle".... Ant and David are due to land at about 3.15 so I will look out for them as I walk to the cheap end of the airport for my flight. If I don't get to see them here, then next stop Yangon, and hope to find them at arrivals, they should get there about an hour after me, but no phones mean no texts to say " where r u" .... And on that note, be prepared for radio silence for a while. Internet access is apparently very difficult and wifi almost non existent. And I'm not sure even if Facebook works.... We will continue to write the blog but may take us a while to deliver it. But you never know, William Hague is there at the moment, he met the Pres yesterday and is meeting up with Aung San Suu Kyi today so perhaps he'll get it all fixed! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad